SIX QUESTIONS WITH A FIAT 500 OWNER

Ian Hunter on a dream that was almost a nightmare

1 Why did you buy it?

‘In 2012 I was in Rome with my wife Tina when we saw a 500 parked between two modern cars and we loved how cute it looked.

I’d owned two 500s years ago and when we returned home we decided that we just had to have another.’

2 How did you buy it?

‘We looked at several cars in the UK, some of which were already rusty soon after being restored.

I started looking on Italian ebay and saw several suitable cars keenly priced. One vendor was especially helpful and seemingly honest about his 1965 500F, and that inspired confidence.’

3 So, you flew to Italy and simply drove the Fiat back home?

‘That was the theory; in practice it wasn’t quite so simple. After just 20km the oil light came on and the car had to be recovered. The engine was flushed through, but 200km later the oil light came on again. We looked at getting the car recovered back to the UK and were quoted £300-£400, so decided to go for it. But when the real cost turned out to be £3000-£4000 we had to get the car fixed in Italy.’

4 How was it fixed?

‘We tried a few workshops including a Fiat dealer, and by luck someone came in who knew a 500 specialist about 50 miles away. We drove there and he had a workshop full of immaculate 500s. We agreed a budget, flew home and then returned six weeks later to collect the car and drive it back to the UK. He’d not only done everything on time, but also to budget.’

5 Was the car what you’d hoped it would be?

‘Pretty much. The seller had been honest, as the bodywork had been done to a high standard, but the British MOT is much more stringent than the Italian one. As a result, the car needed work to the brakes, kingpins and suspension damper bushes to be deemed roadworthy here.’

6 What’s it needed since?

‘We’ve fitted some fresh tyres and the gear linkage disintegrated which meant it had to be completely rebuilt, but so far the car has needed little more than routine maintenance.’

7 Any regrets?

‘We’d do it again, though things have changed since 2012 in terms of exchange rates. But owning a 500 is a delight as these cars are full of character; our Fiat is completely standard other than having a 500L interior. I avoid motorways and dual carriageways because of the little 500’s lack of poke, but these cars are enormous fun to drive, although fully mastering the crash gearbox takes some skill.’