eBay

We’ve decided to sell our little Fiat and treat ourselves to a modern 500 Abarth so as we can use it all year around rather than having to tuck her up for the winter.

It was purchased in Italy in 2000 in good running condition and was driven back to the UK  and used for about 5 years before being taken off the road for restoration.  From memory this was the bodywork that was either replaced or repaired :  Nearside front inner and outer wing, both inner/outer sills, repairs to floor/seat rails/cross member as necessary, front inner wing reinforcement plates, jacking points, Rear bumper mountings, repairs fabricated for underneath rear side windows, front valance repair and lastly two complete new doors.  She was then treated to a full professional respray with red stripes added as per the early 500 Sport.  Since then she’s been used in dry months only so is still in very nice condition.  At the end of the day though she’s a 40 year old Fiat and is actually used (unlike many) for runs to the shops, school runs, the odd commute, local classic shows etc etc so will no doubt need tinkering with from time to time but won’t need any bodywork attention for a long time.  The interior is pretty much standard L and in good condition with black vinyl and red carpets.  The only addition I’ve made are the fitment of inertia reel seatbelts as I didn’t feel that comfortable with the old fashioned ones, a period Karobes ‘Monte’ headrest and a 1960’s road atlas for a bit of fun.

The engine was upgraded to a 650 with synchro gearbox so it now bumbles along quite nicely.  The only changes I made to the engine were the fitting of a performance (I use the term loosely) exhaust and some Iridium plugs which do actually seem to make a difference.  If I was being picky I’d say there’s sometimes a bit of a ‘chatter’ from a loose cooling fan blade (a new one was purchased but I never plucked up the enthusiasm to change it).  The wheels were refurbished and new tyres fitted.  All sorts of minor bits and bobs have been replaced as needed but I won’t detail these as I’ll be here forever.

My long term plan was to convert it to an Abarth replica and I have for sale by separate negotiation if required a complete fast road/race engine with lightened flywheel/higher compression pistons/sporting camshaft/Panda head/Weber DCOE40/Alquati manifold/Abarth sump/123 Electronic ignition/etc etc, basically everything you could possibly want (if you could find it as some of these parts are getting quite scarce) and an unused Abarth specification lowered Suspension kit comprising, front spring, two rears and four shockers.

I have the current V5c and the Mot/Tax both run until the end of next May.   Any RAC/AA/Personal inspection is very welcome.  When a sale is agreed I’d like a £250 deposit and the balance in cash within 7 days please.  Many thanks.