Posts Tagged ‘Fiat’

Boano-Designed: 1969 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe

September 25, 2009

These were quite popular on the roads back in the 1970s and 1980s, to the point that I remember seeing them as a child, and yet today they’ve virtually disappeared from the roads. Why these, with about 280,000 built, would survive less than their spider equivalents is not too clear. You might suspect that a coupe lends itself better to being an all season car, and would therefore die sooner, but other cars such as Alfa GTVs, BMW 2002s, and Datsun 510s (all period competitors) have much better survival rates. And yet, this is an appealing competitor, with an attractive design, nice tall greenhouse, and a very competitive drivetrain setup.

Anyway, let’s move on to our subject – a 1969 coupe, which makes this an AC-style car. These were the earliest style of 124 coupe, with the hood dipping low between the headlights at the end of each fender. Many consider this to be the most attractive, with the later BC and CC coupes becoming less and less appealing. Additionally, the earlier cars are lighter, and should be reasonably quick even with the less-powerful 90hp 1438cc engine. This particular car is listed in Hacienda Heights, CA for the low, low price of $500!

1969 Fiat 124 Coupe front

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1964 Fiat 1100D

September 18, 2009

If you were setting up an Italian garage, circa 1964, I think a Fiat 1100 would look pretty neat parked next to something less practical – like, say, a 1964 Alfa Giulia Sprint GT. While retaining a bit of the charm of older Italian sedans, it’s become a bit more angular, keeping up with more modern designs like the aforementioned Alfa. This particular car is available on craigslist in Parker, CO near Denver for $1800. With only 39,000 miles – admittedly unverified – and in running condition, this car shouldn’t need much to run the next California Melee in comfort, with plenty of trunk space under its boxy rear for tools and parts.

1964 Fiat 1100D right

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RustyButTrusty Goes to Peru!

September 8, 2009

The team at RustyButTrusty (okay, it’s a team of one, plus the fiance) has just returned from Peru, and we thought it would be interesting to share some of the vehicles still in daily use, some even earning their keep as taxis. A couple of interesting things I noticed:

  • There are a fair amount of classics in daily use. Some of the cars I saw but was not able to catch on camera include various older Opels, many Peugeot 404s and a couple of 504 wagons, first-generation European Ford Escorts, late 60s Hillman Hunter sedans and wagons, and a Fiat 1500 sedan. Beetles are also dead-common, and I even spotted a couple that appeared to have 4-doors. There are also many oddball Japanese sedans sporting frameless doors and coupe-like rooflines – and Japanese cars old and new are what dominate the street there.
  • Cross-ply tires are still in use. I had no idea they were used except for collector cars, and I’m not sure why they’re on cars here – they must be more affordable.
  • This is maybe less surprising, but older cars are more common in some cities than others. While we saw few old cars in Cuzco, wealthier cities such as Arequipa and Lima seemed to have more. Trujillo disproved my theory about greater wealth being correlated to higher survival rates, since Trujillo was apparently less, but has many older cars.

Anyway, let’s move on to some of the snaps I did get:

Peru taxis

Typical street scene in Arequipa. This was worse than usual since there was a strike around the Plaza de Armas, so all the streets a block off of the plaza were closed. You can see most of the taxis here are Daewoo Ticos – if you do a Google search for those, one of the first results will explain why I refused to ride in a Tico taxi. Other cars put into taxi duty included Toyota Proboxes & Corollas, compact Nissan wagons, Nissan Micras, a Geo Metro, a Renault 5, various old American boats, and pretty much anything else with 4 seats.

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