• Unique example of only three prototypes built
• Designed by Giuseppe Benelli
• Restoration started by Giancarlo Morbidelli

This charming little Italian car takes its name from those involved in its manufacture: Messrs Giuseppe Benelli, Giuseppe Beretta, and Viscount Guglielmo Castelbarco Albani, the latter being responsible for funding the project. It was intended that Benelli would look after design and Beretta, head of the eponymous armaments manufacturer, would put the car into production. Guiseppe Benelli had contemplated diversifying into car production as long ago as 1940, while Beretta was looking for a means of reviving his company following the collapse of military orders after WW2.

Benelli drew up a simple chassis consisting of two box-section side members with tubular cross bracing, which carried the engine ahead of the front wheels. Air-cooled, the engine was an overhead-valve wide-angle v-twin of 750cc, which produced 21bhp and drove the front wheels via a four-speed gearbox. Other advanced features included rack-and-pinion steering and independent suspension all round.

Very much in the modern idiom, the pretty two-door saloon body was built by Carrozzeria Rosso in Turin, while the lack of a transmission tunnel, and the fact that the fuel tank was mounted just ahead of the firewall, meant that there was plenty of room inside for the four passengers. Top speed was said to be in the region of 63mph, which compared favourably with that of the BBC's main rival, the less powerful FIAT 500 Topolino.

After the first prototype had been completed and displayed, the project stalled. Some sources maintain that Beretta pulled the plug as a result of pressure from FIAT, while others attribute the BBC's demise to a revival in worldwide demand for weapons, enabling Beretta to concentrate on what had been its core business.

Unwilling to give up, Giuseppe Benelli built a further two cars, one of which (that offered here) was displayed at the 1952 Turin Motor Show under the FAM (Factory Auto Motoveicoli) brand name. Sadly for Giuseppe, the car remained only a prototype and he returned to motorcycle production in his native Pesaro under the MotoBi brand name.

Of the three BBC/FAM prototypes built, the original BBC belongs to the Beretta Museum while the two FAM cars (one only an incomplete rolling chassis but complete with engine) have formed part of the Morbidelli Museum Collection for many years and are offered for sale here. The Turin Motor Show car was rediscovered, with the Benelli family's help, in an old country house in Italy. In poor condition when found, and still lacking an engine now, it has since been cosmetically restored by Giancarlo Morbidelli and is a fascinating piece of Italian motoring history.