Out for a Jolly: Flickr photo of the day

Once upon a time, Fiat, with a little help from design house Ghia, made a limited edition car called the 600 Jolly. The term "Jolly" presumably resembles something like "ridiculous" in Italian. It was ridiculous because they chopped the roof off a Fiat 600, removed the doors, fitted it with whicker seats (because whicker was the carbon-fiber of 1958, or something), and attached a canopy from what appeared to be a beach umbrella. It was the most idiotic thing you could do to a car. And yet they sold upwards of 100, with some landing work as a Catalina Island taxi, while others appeared on the yachts of the well-heeled.

Ghia also made an even rarer Fiat 500 Jolly, pictured here by John Lloyd (no relation to me). Looking fresh from a Saturday Night Live skit, this jokey Jolly features American spec headlights. It must be the most unsafe vehicle ever made, short of crashing a bath tub. It's so ridiculous, so idiotic, so ill-advised that it becomes fantastic. I mean, I want one; even more than I want a regular original 500. Which is a lot.

In the case of Ghia's silly creation, the witless became the witted. At least in my eyes. If you have a shot to share, add it to Motoramic's Flickr group, or send us a message via Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.