Silly season has spread to Fiat 500's

[barchetta]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FIAT-500-D-1964-SUICIDE-DOOR-BODY-SHELL-EXTREMELY-RARE_W0QQitemZ200436264151QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item2eaaeeacd7

The "anything related to messerschmitt costs a lot of money" disease is spreading to the Fiat 500 community...

[Jim Janecek]

I don't see anything in the listing referring to Messerschmitt. 

[barchetta]

No , its just that the heights that most schmitt prices command ( or are listed on ebay at ) seem to have rubbed off on the little fiats,,,,,this shell is priced £7,000 more than my friend paid for a tidy suicide door fiat 500 taxed and mot'd

[Bob Purton]

Dave, whilst I have your attention, as a Fiat man, Have you heard of any problems in registering Zastaza [fiat 600's] in the uk? I have seen a few on ebay and they appear to be a bargain, is there a catch?

[Stuart Cyphus]

 If Zastava's are problimatic, it might help to list them on paper as Yugo's as then officialdom will have heard of those & have records.....   Maybe?

 Is a 1972 Fiat 500 windscreen worth owt to anyone? Plus steering column & most of a black interior? All left over from the one we had which rusted away in the early '80s.  If no offers, the screen will be heading to Beaulieu Autojumble in May....

[marcus]

Blimey that's quite a price!
In the mid 80s I did a tour in Yugoslavia (as it was then) and saw millions of Zastavas, which I had never heard of before. Mostly 600s, but also a Lada Riva style car (ex Fiat 124?) and the Zastava Yugo which was like the old Simca 1100s that sold a few in UK.
I have to say the style of driving and airliner piloting over there made Italians seem extremely tame!

[Bob Purton]

I dont know that Zastavas ARE problematic to register, it just occured to me that its getting impossible to find a sound bodied Fiat 600 these days, with a zastava you get the same cute body shape but with no rot plus the benifits of a 750 engine [I think]. Also according to my little Serbian friend they are very reliable and go on forever with good parts availability. I think I have just talked myself into getting one! 

[marcus]

The only problem with Zastavas, from my experience, is that they only have a 2 speed gearbox. Park or H.S.M.*

*Homicidal Suicidal Maniac.

I think the 5oo is a nicer shape, but the 600 does have a bit more room and performance. They must be tough little cookies because they survive drivers over there. Sometimes they do drive on the road (if there us a road) but diversions onto embankments and fields, and through quarries and building sites are normal overtaking manouevers.

[Big Al]

That shell does seem very expensive. I must admit I thought Fiat 500s were in the lead with Schmitts on price increases but I stand to be corrected as I have not really watched closely. I find Fiat 500s to suffer a little from VW Beetle disease in that many owners want to buy an image not a piece of automotive engineering and do not research the subject. In this new world of Microcars going to investors perhaps I cannot throw stones but when you own something like a Wiensburg Coupe and Middle Barton - the 'experts' and most Fiat owners have never heard of it you kind of think 'what the hell is going on here'. In the same vane I have a Fiat Jolly. How do you access records for these cars? I know its genuine but Fiat supplied cars to Ghia (was it, my brain fails) who converted them. It seems, therefore, that Fiat do not differentiate a Jolly from the production run of standard cars. I have not tried Ghia yet but of course they have been bought and sold a few times so there is every chance the records have been destroyed. Most Jollys were built to order so if the records exist then I should be able to find out which spec it should be and who it was supplied to. Is there someone who has a register or holds information on Jollys out there?

[P50]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320447520387&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm38%26_nkw%3D320447520387%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1

Make of this what you will.  Quick T-cut and free off the brakes it is not...   I have a genuine '64 595SS Abarth racer in my collection...

[marcus]

Nice!
A few years ago a Black 500 Abarth with 600 engine (and concommittant open boot lid!) visited the motorcycle shop in our yard. I went over to gaze at this lovely car and the owner came over and we chatted about them. He then said something like "have you ever seen such a small car?" It would have been rude not to invite him round the corner to have a look at a proper micro! When he saw DUF, my Trojan, his jaw dropped, and being Italian a stream of delighted expletives poured out of him, but I declined all his purchase offers!

[Bob Purton]

Do you think the advent of the new 500 could have awakened an interest in the real ones that otherwise would not have happend, hence a fresh demand and increased prices?

[marcus]

Is the Pope....bear....woods?!

[barchetta]

Ref the Zastava enquiry,,,, I had one up to about 5 years ago ( i did chauffeur the current ICR chairman about in it on the saturday run to the midland railway museum.... was this from Southwell racecourse? )

 The problems with registering mine;
 It had no import papers as it was bought over by an Army captian from the former Yugoslavia,,, he didn't have to stop at Dover customs .
 It had no documentation or number plates.i worked out it was a 1982 model, as it had plastic hubcaps and an Alternator.
 I emailed the Zastava works for year of manufacture information ,They didn't reply ,hardly surprising as the RAF had flattened 75% of the factory during the Bosnian conflict ,not sure if the Yugo 45's being made at the time were WMD,they were a dodgy driver though.
 I ended up paying the customs the VAT on my receipt from the Army captain,,,about 35 quid ,and ended up with a Q plate.DVLA man came and had a chat as he needed to inspect it ,That was when he travelled to you.
(Incidentally  i was offered an old logbook for a Fiat 600D , but wanted to keep it genuine.)
 Bit of good news,,, parts are very cheap,its a bit of a game getting them from Bosnia ,how about a set of 4 wheel cylinders, a master cylinder and 4 flexi brake pipes for £22.00... Water pump was from Middle Barton Garage in Oxfordshire,they know what  Fiat 600 parts will fit.

[barchetta]

Here's a pic of my old one Bob....
 As for Jollys there is a US contact,,,,, Fiat Jolly Register, 3012 Ardsley Dr., Orlando, FL 32804 USA