Today, we’re back at Techno Classica Essen 2014, with the pretty little Fiat 850 Coupé, which was based on the Fiat 600. The 850 Coupé was designed by Fiat itself, and was first introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1965.
I'm not sure if this will get picked up by the pics bot but this is a very #WeirdCarMastodon post on Reddit r/lotus with a two car garage with the same engine.
Today, we’re looking at Fiat’s mid-engined X1/9. I should logically have done this one after I covered the Fiat 128 as it uses the 128’s engine and gearbox shifted to the rear - rather in the manner of the later Metro/MGF ‘flip’ I also featured recently. The X1/9, introduced in 1972, was designed, and later manufactured, by Bertone. It carried that company’s badge, rather than Fiat’s, from 1982. I saw this one at Techno Classica Essen in 2014.
Got hit and run today! Well, hit and dawdle. Just parked up and the car next to me was leaving, thought he was a bit close, then the whole car wobbled and he KEPT GOING. Honked my horn, got out to shout at him and he just stared at me, the other people, said nothing and drove off super slowly. No apology, nothing.
Really quite cross about it because it's not worth putting through insurance.
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More sporty Fiats today with these two quite similar Fiat 500s that have been given the Abarth treatment. On the left, a 500 “upgraded with the Abarth Classiche 595 Engine Tuning Kit” and on the right, one “with Abarth ‘record’ tuning”. Both cars were on display at Techno Classica in Essen in 2019.
In 2016, Fiat introduced the 124 Spider, which was designed to capture something of the character of the 1966 124 Sport Spider I featured yesterday. This car was based on Mazda’s MX-5/Miata and manufactured by Mazda as well. But the appearance was modified quite a bit, and the engines came from Fiat too. Geek point - the cooperation with Mazda was initially aimed at producing an Alfa, not a Fiat. Snapped at the Geneva Motor Show in 2016.
@flockofnazguls
CBC's organ music Thursdays was the best time to be driving around downtown with the sunroof open and the radio on full blast. #WeirdCarMastodon
Most Autobianchis sold in small volumes. The exception was the 1969 A112 hatch, which was seen in significant numbers all over Europe in the 1970s. It stayed in production until 1986. Under the skin, it borrowed much from the larger Fiat 128, and also provided the basis for Fiat’s own pioneering super-mini, the 127. Always really liked these. This one was at Automotoretro in Turin in 2016.
Just in case anyone is interested, I’ve managed to find another photo of an #Autobianchi A112, this one from Techno Classica in Essen in 2013. Like the colour scheme.
Today, the most important car most people have never heard of, the 1964 Autobianchi Primula. Fiat often used Autobianchi as a test-bed for new ideas - one of those was the end-on gearbox set-up later used in the Fiat 128. You’ll read a lot of stuff this year about how ‘innovative’ the Volkswagen Golf is as it celebrates its fiftieth anniversary - but the Primula, also available as a hatch, had it all ten years before. Pic details: see alt txt
Now we’re on the subject, I thought I’d do a few more sporty Fiats. This is the 128 3P Coupé, which I snapped at Automotoretro in Turin in 2016. The ‘3P’ is a reference to the three-door hatchback body. The original 128 coupé was launched in 1971 as a two-door fastback, with the 3P hatch being introduced later on. Based on the Fiat 128 saloon/sedan, but with a shorter wheelbase. Orange.
One last car from the illustrious history of MG. I somehow missed the MGA in my recent broadly chronological sequence, so here it is. Produced between 1955 and 1972, the sleek MGA marked a complete break from its more traditionally styled predecessors. This one, in Old English White, was snapped at the NEC Classic Car Show last year, and has a few choice under-the-skin upgrades such as a five-speed gearbox.