Fiat 1100 Monza

Vehicle Overview

The body of the Monza was so successful that it was used on different chassis. Over the years, Riva specialized into hearse vehicles becaming one of the leader in Italy. Carrozzeria Riva from Merate hasn’t always been connected to car production. Journalist and racer Giovannino Lurani Cernuschi came to Riva for the maintenance of his cars, and eventually he asked Riva to build him a car: the ‘Nibbio’ record car from 1935. On a basis of a Gilco-Cattaneo chassis Lurani also let build some Alfa Romeos. The Gilco-Cattaneo tube frame was designed by the technician Guido Cattaneo in cooperation with the specialised company of Gilco, who also delivered the tube frames for the first Ferraris. Cattaneo still had some pre-war Alfa 2500 SS engines and placed these on the Gilco-Cattaneo chassis. Some of these Alfa Romeo-Cattaneos got a body by Colli, but also Riva has made one or two cars after a Lurani design. After this period Riva stopped the production of car bodies and concentrated on reparation and transformation of existing bodies.