Hollywood star Tom Hanks has just sold his very own custom built 1974 Fiat 126p at auction for $83,500 and that, whichever way you cut it, is an enormous amount of cash to spend on a Fiat.
However, there are three good reasons why somebody ended up paying this much for the car: the celebrity factor, the story behind it, or the fact that the money will be donated to charity.
But let’s start with the car.
The car…
The 126 isn’t particularly rare or unique, just about every ‘nonna’ in Italy had one at some point, and just like most Fiats from the era, it was produced in several locations in the Eastern Bloc.
This particular model is called the 126p and the P stands for Polski, because between the early 1970s and the year 2000, over 3.3 million Fiats were built in Bielsko-Biała, Poland.
The story…
Back in 2016, Tom Hanks was visiting Poland and Hungary on a promotional tour and posted a picture posing with a Fiat 126p as a joke, the caption read: “so excited about my new car!”
She even got the dashboard styled to look like a vintage typewriter because Hanks is a collector.
The car was unveiled in Poland during a ceremony, which also helped raise funds for a hospital in the city of Bielsko-Biała.
It was then shipped to Los Angeles.
Tom Hanks’ 1974 Fiat sold for $83,500 at auction, but it pales in comparison to the $10 million asking price for the “Wolf of Wall Street” mansion features a ten-stall stable for your horses and a four-car garage for your horse…power.
The car is in excellent condition, with 12-inch steel wheels, a new battery, fuel system and new brakes, It even features “Bielsko-Biała for Tom Hanks” and “One of One” badging.
The charity…
Hanks will donate 100% of the money he got from the sale to the Elizabeth Dole Foundation and its Hidden Hero Campaign.
The Elizabeth Dole Foundation, which Hanks is actually the chairman of, is a nonprofit organization which provides support to military caregivers.
