We've all heard "My Dad had one of those" about cars.
I want to know what your Mum had as her car to get about. Wherever you are in the world, whatever time period. What vehicle did your Mum (or other maternal guardian) cherish and use and wax lyrical about?
I might be planning a little project...
My Mum had a moped, a Honda Cub I think (I'll have to dig out a photo), that was her freedom in the 70s.
Yesterday’s Seat 600 and 133 are a reminder that prior to being acquired by Volkswagen, the Spanish manufacturer mainly made Fiats under licence. Car makers draw heavily on their historical models for inspiration - a problem when your back-catalogue is based so heavily on a rival group’s designs. Seat has therefore always struggled to define itself clearly but this third-gen Leon (snapped at the 2013 press launch in Spain) was one of the better efforts.
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.
We're part way through this month's automotive art piece and if you'd like to see more, please do sign up to my Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/NoExpenseSpent
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.