Posts Tagged ‘italian’

1971 Fiat 850 Sedan Special

August 11, 2011

Sometimes, you see a weirdo car that just says Buy Me, ‘Cause There Aren’t Many Like Me Out There. This is one of those cars – a lightly warmed over 850 sedan. When’s the last time you saw one of these that wasn’t either rusted out, sun-parched, or both? This is a long-time (maybe original) California car with an interior that doesn’t look like it spent its life in the sun. With the same powerplant and underpinnings as the 850 spider, this should have the same fun quotient, feeling like it’s going faster than it ever is while allowing you to bring along more friends than the spider. It’s listed with bidding currently at $2550 and 1 day to go in Highland, CA (just near Sacramento).

1971 Fiat 850 sedan front

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Cross-Germination: 1977 Fiat 128 3P

May 18, 2011

Here’s an unusual example of a fairly rare brand of car, if you discount 124 spiders. Fiat’s 128, while innovative and quite successful elsewhere, did not sell too well in the US due to Fiat’s reputation for rust and lack of dependability. And if you thought the 128 2-door, 4-door, and 2-door wagon were rare, just wait until you see the 3-door. Wait, what? Isn’t that the 2-door wagon?

Nope, it’s this little beauty, which looks like a VW Scirocco with a recessive gene for weird tail lights humped a VW Rabbit. You can find it listed in Spokane, WA for $1500.

1977 Fiat 128 3p rear

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Ballin’ on 14s – 1977 Spider on the 2011 Snowball

May 14, 2011

In what hopefully becomes a tradition, the spider has successfully completed its second road rally. The first was the Mother Lode 400, which I ran with my father last year, and since then most of the spider’s driving has been local and constrained by winter weather. Not that a northern California winter is so tough, but it’s more pleasant to go out in a closed car when it’s cold out. Anyway, the plan was to run the 2011 Snowball in the same high style in which we did the 2010, but it was not to be, since the restoration of the Alfetta’s body was not complete in time.

1977 Alfa Spider and 1948 MG TC

Thanks to Ben Buja for this picture; he got a lot of great shots of the car doing its thing on this 700-mile journey.

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