I found the Italian car show photos! So I took these in November last year, a car show that was already hard at it and I got there towards the end of it. I had actually spent the morning at a truck show, and just thought I'd pop by this one and see if anyone was still there. As you can see from the gaps, they must have had a good turnout earlier in the day.
Still managed to find lots of lovely Italians to show you.
#Minicar La Dogana di Livorno ha sequestrato 134 esemplari del quadriciclo elettrico #Fiat#Topolino di #Stellantis (derivato dalla Ami Citroen) provenienti dal Marocco dove sono costruiti, perché portavano una etichetta della bandiera tricolore italiana, in possibile "fallace indicazione sull’origine del prodotto" (articolo 4, comma 49, della Legge finanziaria del 2004). Il ministro competente, Urso:"La legge è uguale per tutti, in ogni settore"
Ancora problemi per #Stellantis nel suo rapporto con il "Made in Italy". Il 15 maggio, 119 #Fiat Topolino e 15 Fiat Topolino Dolcevita, sono stati sequestrati dalla Guardia di finanza e dall'Agenzia delle dogane e dei monopoli al porto di Livorno.
Le macchine riportavano degli adesivi con la bandiera italiana. Per questo motivo è stata contestata la "fallace indicazione sull’origine del prodotto". Ricordiamo che la Fiat Topolino viene prodotta in Marocco.
«Italian fiscal police seized more than 130 Fiat cars imported from Morocco this week on the grounds that a sticker with the colours of the Italian flag on their doors could give a false indication of their origin»
@GustavinoBevilacqua@snow
Personalmente trovo la legge sul "made in Italy" un po' esagerata. Detto questo, si scopre solo ora che ci sono vetture prodotte altrove?
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.
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.
@davidwilkins Very cute sporty wee motor with fine handling. A pal had one of the last ones, a gran finale, the big bumpers kinda ruined the lines, but still a nice car. The longer he had it the more like him it became, his name was Rusty! 😂
@Glencoe@davidwilkins This car was never meant to have bumpers... Removing the inside end blocks was mandatory to keep the line as slim as possible. Later US style bumpers were an absolute disaster...
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.
@davidwilkins I'd like to like this car, but I can't for various reasons (turbocharged engine decked out with artificial pops & bangs, flashy shape, much more expensive). I'd rather go for a ND 160, with a few bits and bobs from BBR-GTI (Super 200, suspension & brakes upgrade).
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.
Italian verve #Fiat has brought the 500 bang up to date as the 500e, an electric #car with plenty of Italian style and character. And, as Jack Yan found out, you can forget about range anxiety
Today in Labor History March 29, 1973: Workers launched a wildcat strike and occupation of Fiat plants at Mirafiori. This came during a wave of Italian student and worker protests going back to the 1960s.
See, this is exactly how it happens. This is the reasoning being employed today, right?
Giovanni Agnelli, FIAT WWII:
“The Agnelli family say that Giovanni never believed in fascism and was only with Mussolini for business reasons. They saw themselves living in an amoral world, and he was only doing what anyone smart would do.…
When the Italian dictator came to visit Fiat, Giovanni wore the Fascist’s black shirt. Mussolini named him a senator for life, a title that made him proud. During the Second World War, Fiat produced an endless stream of tanks, machine guns, and vehicles to fuel the Axis war machine, and as it did, Giovanni built his fortune in an unprecedented way.”