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fiat history

A Look at a Rare Fiat from Down Under

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Brodie Bishop’s Fiat 501 turns 100 next year but certainly doesn’t look it. It was shipped from Italy to Adelaide Motors in 1923 as a right hand drive rolling chassis and bodied as a four-door tourer nearby at Mile End by Horwood Bagshaw. Brodie Bishop and Daniel Clarke have a go.

Photos and captions by Vince Johnson
Additional text by VeloceToday Staff

Vince Johnson did a brief on this remarkable Fiat photographed at the Barossa Vintage Collingrove Hillclimb in South Australia October 2. It is enthusiastically invigorating to see such a nice old Fiat in use, particularly when the car was purchased by Brodie Bishop when he was only 15, and he then embarked upon a restoration which was finished some 10 years later. Brodie is still only 29! This prompted us to find out more about this now rare Fiat model and add a bit to Vince’s excellent captions. [Read more…] about A Look at a Rare Fiat from Down Under

Jonathan Sharp’s Visit to the FCA Heritage Hub

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Lancias are featured in the new FCA Heritage Hub.

This week we are happy to present to our readers a sneak preview of Fiat’s fantastic new museum, thanks to the assistance of Fiat Public Relations agent Umberto Hardouin. For this special feature, VeloceToday has installed a slide show feature, so you can enjoy the 36 images at your own speed. If you wish to speed up the slide show viewing, simply click on the right arrow.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

As we related last week, we visited the Fiat Centro Storico and then had lunch at the New Holland staff canteen. Our journey to the afternoon destination was a walk of just a few meters, as it was located in Workshop 81, situated next door. It is called the FCA Heritage Hub and it is not yet open to the public. [Read more…] about Jonathan Sharp’s Visit to the FCA Heritage Hub

Jonathan Sharp at Centro Storico Part 2 Postwar

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Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

We spent the morning at the Centro Storico Museum, as we related in last week’s Part 1 and below in Part 2. But it now was time to eat in Italy.

So where does an Italian working for Fiat go to take lunch? A nice little trattoria hidden down a small side street in Turin? No. Signor Hardouin has graciously arranged for us to eat at the Mirafiori factory where most of the workers eat. [Read more…] about Jonathan Sharp at Centro Storico Part 2 Postwar

Jonathan Sharp at Fiat’s Centro Storico

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We bet you don’t know what this is. To find out, read on.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

After our first day or so in Turin (see Scaglietti in Turin) and the visit to the Scaglietti exhibition, the next day went well, in fact I would say very well. As previously planned, Signor Hardouin from the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Press office arrived bang on time to pick us up from the Hotel Lingotto, paying our respects to the fascinating Siata Amica as we went out the door. [Read more…] about Jonathan Sharp at Fiat’s Centro Storico

Racing Fiats in the U.S.

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By Karl Ludvigsen
This article was originally published in three parts at a length of 4,500 words in 2009. Links to the original articles are posted at the end of this article.

Louis Chevrolet, Louis Wagner and Walt Hansgen are among the best-known racing drivers the world has seen. What do they have in common with Don Parkinson, Pietro Bordino and Paul Richards? Just this: all of them were race winners in America driving Fiat-or Fiat-based racing cars. For over a century Americans and racing Fiats have been linked together in the world of auto competition. [Read more…] about Racing Fiats in the U.S.

Museo dell’ Automobile Part 1: The Car and the XXth Century

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For about ten years, the Isotta-Fraschini was perhaps the world’s most refined car, a rival of Rolls-Royce’s and Hispano-Suiza’s models as the status symbol chosen by the celebrities of the hour. This one on display features a splendid example of the torpedo body designed by Castagna of Milan.

Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp

History

Rare document from the Museo prior to its official opening and before the death of Carlo Biscaretti in 1959.

After dropping our bags in our super nice room in the Lingotto Hotel, (See part 1) we decided to go straight to the nearby Museo dell’Automobile. I was afraid my wife Jose would stay behind, but she came along and later said that “To my amazement I really enjoyed it. Usually I go and sit in the coffee shop or sit in the car and read a book – not this time.”
[Read more…] about Museo dell’ Automobile Part 1: The Car and the XXth Century

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