Jeweller’s car project is a gem
Stephen Brown’s first-up car restoration effort has proved to be a winner.
The Timaru jeweller’s three-year restoration of the 1973 Fiat 124 sport coupe includes an amateur paint job that looks professional and basically turned the car into an Abarth sports coupe.
His car caught the judges’ eyes when it was named the best restoration out of 30 entries at the recent Fiat 124 Sports Coupe and Spider reunion in Nelson.
Brown said he painted it in a tent converted into a spray booth in winter, heating the inside to 20 degrees Celsius while outside it was 6C.
‘‘I painted it myself. I had never painted a car in my life before.
‘‘It has got five coats of two-point paint on it.’’
He had been advised to use a specific spray gun which he said turned him from an amateur painter into a ‘‘half-pie’’ professional.
‘‘Every nut and bolt is new. It is completely new.’’
It was also one of very few Fiat 124s still in existence, he said.
‘‘They rusted out and rotted away.’’
Brown’s love for the model was sparked from the days of riding his bicycle to school when a man, who worked at a bank in town, regularly drove past him in his Fiat 124.
‘‘I liked the sound and look of it.’’ Brown said he purchased the Fiat from a friend in 2011. ‘‘It really was a basket case’’ and it sat for six years ‘‘before I plucked up the courage to restore it’’. The car was full of rust, and the wipers and parts of the upholstery were missing.
Fortunately, Brown had a donor car to rebuild it with.
The 1800cc twin cam engine with Abarth head had made it the racing version of Fiat in a similar way to what Lotus was to Cortina, he said. ‘‘Fiat never made a 124 Abarth sports coupe but did make a Spider convertible which won numerous rallies in its day.’’ Though Spiders had the same orange and black colouring, their yellow accent has not been copied for Brown’s car but it does have Cobra wheels designed for the Fiat Abarth.
Many of the parts had to be imported from California in the United States and the camshaft came from Kent in England.
‘‘It has German suspension, it is quite sporty.’’
With five speeds, a lot of noise and no air-conditioning, though it does have a manual air vent at the back, it reminds Brown of the hotted-up Ford Anglias of his teenage years.
‘‘Like a true Italian sports coupe it has the Ferrari influence of leather upholstery.’’
It does 193 kilometres per hour (120 miles per hour) and 12.7km to the litre (30 miles per gallon).
Anywhere Brown drives the Fiat passers-by wave or give him the thumbs-up.
‘‘It is well-received by muscle car drivers.’’
Not one to take all the credit for the award-winning restoration, Brown wanted to acknowledge John Knowles, Stu Jenkins, Robin Matheson and Andy Neale for their input.
‘‘It really was a basket case’’ and it sat for six years ‘‘before I plucked up the courage to restore it’’. Stephen Brown