Family FORTUNES

When Colin Hitchcock brought home his tiny Fiat 500, the rest of the family got stuck into it, too

NNever buy a car that’s just a box of bits, the experts always tell us. All sorts of parts might be missing, and you’ll have no feel for what the car was like before it came apart. ‘Yes,’ says Colin Hitchcock, ‘I know it’s a big no-no but I wanted a project to do.’ Now he’s done it, and very nicely it has turned out. ‘I wanted it to be in the spirit of the original 500 as launched in 1957 rather than an exact restoration, so I’ve made a few changes. People look at it and smile when I’m driving it, especially teenagers when I put the klaxon on. My wife Julie enjoys driving it, too.’

Colin’s Fiat is a 1973 500L, the (relatively) posh version launched late in the little car’s life. The L model featured front and rear nudge bars, bright metal trim around the windscreen and rear window, a bigger instrument pod, ribbed trim in black vinyl, a covered dashboard and carpets. Colin’s car, though, has lost the bars and the black vinyl.

Instead its dashboard is finished in the cream colour used for the pod and steering wheel of earlier 500s. As for the seat covers, door trims and sunroof, their materials are reproductions of those used in the very first 500s. It’s all set off beautifully by the period pale blue paint.

Making a start

Such visual niceties were far down the list when Colin found the Fiat, originally Brighton-registered, in March 2014. ‘It had been in Scotland, half stripped down, and a lady in Swindon called Helen bought it with the intention of restoring it. She finished the stripdown, had it chemically dipped and coated, and then she had a minor stroke and couldn’t finish it. So, the Fiat sat in her garage for five years before she eventually put it on ebay.

‘I went to have a look. She was quite passionate about it and really didn’t want it to go to a dealer. She agreed to end the listing early for £1200 on ➽