The Essential Buyer’s Guide: Fiat 500 & 600 Saloons/sedans, Multipla, Giardiniera & 126 1955 to 1962. By Malcolm Bobbitt. Published by Veloce Publishing Ltd. 33 Trinity Street Dorchester, Dorset DT1 1TT, England. ISBN 978-1-84584-147-8
By Pete Vack Copyright 2008
This is one of the very useful Essential Buyer’s Guides published by Veloce Publishing in the UK. In the past we have reviewed the Alfa GT Coupe guide in the same series.
Veloce Publishinng has published an entire range of these mini guides. Of interest to VeloceToday readers, in addition to the Fiat 500 and 600 and the Alfa GT Coupe is the Alfa Spider, the Citroën 2CV, and the Citroën ID/DS. As we have mentioned, the guides are not only useful, but because of their diminutive size, 7 11/16 by 5 7/16 inches, they can be easily taken along on site while inspecting a car. The covers are glossy paper, but ruled at the binder to facilitate easy opening.
The ‘baby Fiat’ guide covers the 500 and 600 models, built from 1955 to 1992, including the Multipla and Giardiniera, and the 126 but the book naturally focuses on the 500 and 600 sedans. If you’re looking for information on the Abarth versions, or derivatives, this book is helpful in terms of overall body, mechanicals and suspension details, but does not address the specific derivatives such as an Abarth 595 SS, etc.
The 500 and 600 were similar cars insofar as the suspension, body design and construction, interiors etc. The engines, of course, were day and night, but both cars fit very well into one book. Furthermore, it is likely that anyone with an interest in the 600 will probably have a taste for a 500 as well, and vice versa. Combing both cars into a buyer’s guide was a good move and aside from the 126, everything was covered in ample detail. We might add that the 126 was little more than an updated 500, but there are few if any photos relevant to the later car.
The author, Malcolm Bobbit, is a well known writer with 25 books to his credit, including the excellent “Fiat & Abarth 500, 600 & Seicento†also published by Veloce Publishing, and also reviewed here in VeloceToday. The earlier book likewise combines, to good effect, the 500 and 600. In both cases, Bobbit knows his subject matter and leaves no leaf unturned.
Each chapter is well thought out and has its merits. All guides in the series have a chapter entitled, “Is it the right car for you?â€, which lists the pros and cons of the cars covered. Size, controls, interior space, luggage capacity, running and parts costs and investment potential are all topics addressed. It gives the prospective buyer a high level checklist to see if they want to continue to search for a 500 or 600. Those who suffer from claustrophobia and an aversion to engine noise, for example, should probably shy away from the baby Fiats. The next chapter describes “Living With…†the car, and provides much more detail about the pros and cons of the Fiats.
Also part of each booklet, a chapter to remind the reader of what tools to bring while checking out a potential candidate. Magnet, screwdriver, spectacles (!) overalls, mirror and camera are all items one should not forget.
Chapter 4, “Relative Values†is as useful but initially confusing. Taking the entire range of models covered, this chapter rates the models by relative desirability. For example, a Fiat Multipla is rated at 100%. A much more common 600D is then rated at 80%, the earlier suicide door 600s at 90%, and so on.
Speaking values, these guides are wise enough to not quote current market prices. In the past few years, Fiat 500 prices in particular have risen rather abruptly. But the minute one publishes a value, it will be out of date, and not always because prices are continuing to rise, but may suddenly fall, as they did in 1990. There is a guide to parts prices, however, and set up so that you can plug in the Euro, Pound or U.S. dollar. This is much like overall value guides in that prices tend to fluctuate wildly depending on time and place.
The core of the book is the chapter on Serious Evaluation–a series of inspections that should take at least an hour and be done on a lift. Included are boxes which can be checked while inspecting and provide a level of ratings for the particular area, suspension, tires, engine, etc.
Just reading the chapter will make one an expert at finding the whim fancies and woes of the entire baby Fiat range. It is remarkable specific, well illustrated, the photos are all in color and although rather small, are clear enough to be very useful. In almost all cases, the photos are from cars which have problems or need work. That’s both good and bad, for on one hand the mechanicals would be easier to see if the wheels, brakes, driveshafts etc were clean and new, but on the other hand may not be of great help in spotting trouble areas such as grease stains, bad hoses, leaking gaskets, etc.
As with the Alfa GT Guide, we like these offerings and at around $20 each they are well worth buying if you are in the market. For the value alone, Highly recommended.