Franco Sbarro had been working on his prototype for two years, in his spare time at Scuderia Filipinetti. His workshop was located in the former stables of the Château de Grandson. It was there that one Sunday Georges Filipinetti discovered his employee working on his prototype. His reaction was surprising: he offered to finance the construction of the car, on condition that it bore his name. And implicitly, he became the owner! Financially, this was very interesting for the young builder. But it was a little harder to lose the paternity and ownership of his work. Years later, however, Franco Sbarro was able to buy back the prototypes. Georges Filipinetti considered proposing to Volkswagen that the coupé be built in small series: this led Sbarro to design the Filipinetti 2 coupé.

The first coupé was used by Franco Sbarro. He was at the wheel when, dazzled by the sun, he slammed into the rear of a Peugeot 404 at high speed. The latter was declared a wreck by the insurance company, while the Filipinetti 1 coupé was repaired and ready a few days later for a trip to his family's home in southern Italy. The polyester absorbed the impact and saved Sbarro from serious injury (there were no seatbelts). From then on, he never stopped studying this material and using it for his future constructions.