When in Rome...

[Mash]

Just returned from a short trip to Italy for work and managed to blag a few hours wandering around Rome sightseeing. I was disappointed that there was not as much autoshite as I had expected, but here are my meagre offerings anyway. Top spots were actually a Fiat 131 and 132 but frustratingly I was not in a position to get photos so you'll just have to take my word for it! Sorry

 

Initially I was very surprised at the enormous number of Fiat Pandas still on the roads throughout Italy especially for a car not renowned for being particularly robust. However, after some study of them I get the impression that it was still in production until about 2002

 

Saw a lot of beautiful Alfa 166 and Lancia Thesis, though taking pics not advised as they mostly seemed to be run by the Carabinieri or accompanied by drivers in expensive looking suits....

 

Battered 126:

 

Pre-facelift Uno:

 

Fiats now becoming rare in UK but still in abundance there:

 

Shame we didn't get these Deltas:

 

Woohoo, Prisma! Very tidy:

 

Turbo seems a little superfluous in centre of Rome:

 

Panda van thing:

 

Saw three of these in total:

 

And various Cinquecentos:

[Spottedlaurel]

Rome eh? Lucky boy! My last work trip was to Mildenhall (though a bit like being in America there sometimes).Having said that, I went to Italy with Mrs SL on a school trip a few years ago. I'd agree that it's not crawling with old stuff, but did manage to see a few things like 500 estate, Guilietta and an old Fiat 1500 (?). Naples looked good for scrapyards and tat, but being bus-bound there was no chance to explore it.What amused me were the amount of comically small (and some not so small) things with three wheels and commercials you just don't see here. Do recall a few Nissan (Ebro) Trades.Good pic's Mash.

[mk2_craig]

Shame we didn't get these Deltas:

 

Yup, agreed. Though basically just a slightly less ungainly Tipo I guess? Don't suppose they ever knocked out an Integrale version

 

I've only ever been to Rome once, on our charity banger rally back in Oct '06 (yeah yeah, I know...) and like you noticed that tat was thin on the grounds, though 1960s Fiat 500s still fairly commonplace. I also noticed that some incredibly modern stuff was running around with every panel damaged, and the average age of scrapyard contents was remarkably low. We certainly had to drive pretty assertively through the city to make any sort of progress but our dented, stickered-up Citroen ZX was visible enough to discourage Giuseppe from crossing our path too close

 

Led to believe though that it's incredibly difficult and expensive to transfer ownership of motor vehicles in Italy? Something about getting a lawyer involved for the transaction, sounds like similar ballache to buying a house in Britain

[pompei]

Tat in Italy is certainly disappearing fast, something to do with incentives to frag them and buy new I've driven a few times in various parts of Italy, but Naples and Palermo left the brownest seats. I'd be less worried were I in something old and battered, and not at risk of denting the hire car.You're right about buying a motor out there - incredibly cumbersome, and in the typical Italian bureaucratic no-hurry tradition, can take up to a month I'm told! And it's highly illegal to sell anything that's been scrapped, no matter how rare/desirable etc it might be. I'll post up an article if I can find it.

[r.welfare]

I seem to recall from chatting with a mate of mine whose in-laws have retired to Lake Garda that because they aren't domiciled or permanently resident (by this I assume he means they have not taken up Italian citizenship), they can't even buy a car there. So they had to buy a LHD Fiesta here, and keep it on British plates...the kicker being they need to bring it back every 12 months for an MOT!

[maximalist]

Aaah, the sound of roaring twocylinder Fiats...

And yes it is complicated to buy used cars in Italy and you must have your papers in order. Italy is a country were people dont care so much about rules and regulations and most of the time you get away with it.

 

But when the authorities do care and i documenti non e in ordini you are in a world of trouble...

[Gompo]

Don't suppose they ever knocked out an Integrale version

They did a 'HPE' version, and there is atleast one in the UK. Cant really remember the spec, might have had the Fiat Coupe 16v motor? I think it was only FWD though..

[Betaphile]

HPE = 3-door, and yup, front-drive only. Engines are the same as for the 5-door, which included the integrale/Coupe 16V turbo lump, detuned a little from final Evo spec. Nice car IMHO but the cambelt gives problems on the 16V units (unlike the bulletproof 8Vs on early 'grales and Themas) because they narrowed the belt width to make it fit, what with the extra width of the head, and they have been known to fail prematurely. Very rare car though - I think from memory they made less than a thousand turbo HPEs, so if you see one you're doing well.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Whenever I've been to italy, I always come back disappointed from a shite point of view. I always have big hopes of spying an Alfa 33 3-cyl diesel or a Lancia Trevi but I never have done yet. Just loads of shabby Puntos, which although undoubtedly shite, dont tick any boxes for me.Also the big daft bling designer sunglasses that all the lasses wear, wind me up.My view on italy is that its a sort of 'slapstick comedy country' which doesnt really seem politically or socially developed enough to be allowed to join the EU, but gets in on the strength of being right in the middle of europe geographically and booting it out would be a massive ballache.

[55bloke]

Some lovely stuff there- I especially like the Fiat 500s, surely the "cutest" of all the ultra-small cars? I have clear memories if holidaying with family in Naples in the late '70s, and being astonished at just how much "stuff" it's possible to transport in and on one of those things!! Wardrobes, complete suites, livestock, unfeasably large Italian ladies.... amazing!!

[Volksy]

Whenever I've been to italy, I always come back disappointed from a shite point of view. I always have big hopes of spying an Alfa 33 3-cyl diesel or a Lancia Trevi but I never have done yet. Just loads of shabby Puntos, which although undoubtedly shite, dont tick any boxes for me.Also the big daft bling designer sunglasses that all the lasses wear, wind me up.My view on italy is that its a sort of 'slapstick comedy country' which doesnt really seem politically or socially developed enough to be allowed to join the EU, but gets in on the strength of being right in the middle of europe geographically and booting it out would be a massive ballache.

I Lived in Italy for about 2 years, all the best shite is to be found in the rural areas, there's hardly anything left in the cities these days. The italian government had a massive drive on getting the older cars off the road a few years back, with huge incentives to scrap.Buying a car in italy is horrifically complex, needed you to be a resident etc etc..I was lucky and bought my Seat Marbella off an italian freind who was willing to keep it in her name. I always found it ironic i was driving round in what is basically a cheap copy of a Fiat in Italy.It was such a ball-ache to deal with cars, even though part of the company I worked for was based in Italy, that we all ran French registered cars bought through our Nice office.

[Jazzy Jeff]

My view on italy is that its a sort of 'slapstick comedy country' which doesnt really seem politically or socially developed enough to be allowed to join the EU, but gets in on the strength of being right in the middle of europe geographically and booting it out would be a massive ballache.

What do you mean? Are you suggesting that having 4 different types of Police, all competing against each other, isn't a good idea!!?? Surely not!!The only thing tat wise I can ever remember seeing in Italy is a few Innocenti DeTomaso Mini's and a small number of Innocenti Elba's which are rebadged Brazillian Fiat Uno Estates.

[mk2_craig]

Fiat Uno Estate! I'm sure there was one here in Jersey years ago, Duna Weekend:

 

There was also a four door saloon, looked like that Metro prototype from the back, amazingly these cars have a Fan Club in Argentina

[Mr_Bo11ox]

You could briefly buy a van version of that Uno Estate in the UK as the 'Citivan', quite a cool looking thing actually, even if it fell apart after 6 months.