About as close to an Italian “wagon” as most of us are likely to see on the road today would be an SUV: a used Maserati Levante or an Alfa Romeo Stelvio or Tonale, which are often much cheaper than a used Maserati SUV. For $6,500, you can have this 1966 Fiat 1100-D Wagon that’s posted here on craigslist in Brighton, Colorado. Here is the original listing, and grazie to Mike F. for the tip!
Other than the two doors on the left side being a shade darker, I don’t see anything of concern on the exterior of this car. That’s rare for a car that’s a decade old, let alone one that’s almost six decades old. The seller says it’s a true barn find, and that they found it in a barn where it had been parked since 1989. They have since gotten it running, so that’s great news. Here’s an old ad telling how you can drive this car to the theater with your family or on a fishing trip with friends, or both. This car has stabilizer bars, both front and rear, and aluminum-finned brake drums.
This car looks amazing, condition-wise. We don’t see the underside, and I’d bet that there is some rodent damage in spots due to sitting in a barn for decades. The body really looks nice, I dream about buffing old, dull paint like this, is that a sickness? Fiat made the 1100-D from 1962 through 1966, and they only came in a four-door sedan and four-door wagon. I wonder what a two-door wagon may have looked like? The rear cargo door opens from the right side and is hinged on the left, for a crowd-gathering display at the next Cars & Coffee event.
The seller doesn’t show photos of the underside or the rear cargo area, but they show two good interior photos and an engine photo, so all is right with the world, or at least my world. For a craigslist ad, this is a good one. Seats and door panels shouldn’t be an issue for any good upholstery shop, or you can tackle it yourself. The back seat looks great, and these would absolutely be redone in red if this were my project wagon. There’s no floor shifter as this car has a four-speed manual with a column shifter. This car was $1,759 new in 1966, which is $17,362 today.
The engine is Fiat’s 1.2-liter OHV inline-four with 55 horsepower and 62 lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by the column-shifted four-speed manual sending power to the rear wheels, the seller says this one runs, but the brakes are soft. I can’t imagine a more fun project to tinker with than this Fiat. I’d sure be interested if if I had the time and money. Any thoughts on this one?
You mentioned the Alfa Romeo Tonale. Shortly after seeing that name for the first time, I contacted Alfa Romeo through an online inquiry form, asking when the successor to the Tonale, the Fingernale, would be available. I actually got three (likely AI-generated) replies from their “customer experience” department before it probably wound up on the desk of a human being, as the emails stopped. 😉
Good one…did they mention the Hangnale or Ingrownale?
Too cool for school. It looks like an old Volvo wagon that was left in the dryer too long. Nice find.
I was taught it was okay to tease other countries ( especially WW2 countries from you know who), thankfully those attitudes died with them, and as I got older I realized, other countries were really no different than us. They all had jobs/school to go to, dentist appointments, and what not, and all needed some way to do that. Take this car, for example. This car did all the jobs our parents LTD/Fury wagon did, just a different application. Me, being a stout opponent to EVs, I think cars like this, with small motors again, could easily compete with an EV. This, like an EV, is not meant for long trips, and would totally work for me in my current situation. I’m sure there are plenty of parts overseas, it just might take 3 months to get it.
Thanks to Mike, and I can say without reservation, there are some unusual finds in Colorado, probably because of the odd group the state attracts,,,like me. In my little town alone, I bet I could find a dozen or more unusual vehicles. Make a good story,,,
H, I bet Colorado has some nice finds, as from what I know about it, they don’t use a ton (or thousands of tons as with a lot of other states) of road salt, and a lot of the state is dry. Not a sandy desert like Arizona, more like the New Mexico desert. Every time I drive to or through there, I see a ton of nice old vehicles just parked outside in yards, probably abandoned from years ago.
This Fiat wagon is one of my favorites. This would be a fun car to own, at least until it isn’t fun to own anymore – if the crank goes haywire, as gippy (below) mentions.
RockAuto has a few parts for this car, but not many.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/fiat,1966,1100d,1.2l+l4,1492933
eBay has a few others…
A friend owned a FIAT dealership in the sixties and these were still being sold just prior to the introduction of the 850 series. The 1100s had a weak crank which would break at an odd angle so that it still stayed locked together but would make a loud knocking sound and continue to run for quite a while before separating completely.
I ALMOST bought one of these in the
Spring of 1985. My neighbor had one that he was selling so my wife and I went next door to see it. It wasn’t in that bad of condition and actually ran
okay for what it was. My wife actually
liked the car but the column shifted 4
speed was a big problem for her to drive easily. Before the deal was done, I càlled my Dad to see if he had any info on this model as he was partners in a restoration shop in Sand Springs Texas back then. They were
restoring a FIAT 1100 sedan at that time and after talking it over with his
partner, Dad called me back and said
“Oh hell no” and proceeded to tell me why. The biggest elephant in the room was parts. Dad told me that since Italy had no factories to make replacement parts, all the work was done by hand, which meant getting your name on a wait list to get what parts that were available at that time.
Seems that Dad and his partner had been on a wait list for 5 years just to get engine parts for the sedan they
were restoring. So I called a friend of
mine who was waiting for parts for his wife’s ’78 FIAT Strada sedan since
1981! And that when he and his wife
junked the car, it had less than 7K miles on it. Bare in mind that this was in the Midwest where foreign cars hadn’t caught on quite yet. There
were good parts and service networks for VW, Toyota, and Datsun,
but for British, French, and Italian made cars, not so much. Woe be unto you if you were dumb enough to
buy one. There was a guy who was
combing the junkyards just to find a
decent set of plugs and wires for his
Austin America! If I ever did but one
of these, I’d convert to an EV. At least
you could get parts for it! Good luck to the seller, he’s gonna need it!
They were looking in the wrong place – the 1100D was still in production in India until jus t before the turn of the millennium . For that matter the Strada was still in production in Italy . Just shows how much the Internet made it easier.
Great weekend/chore ride! I sent the seller an email requesting photos of the underside and trunk. More of these for city and suburban families, instead of the 50K plus SUV.
From a glance at the thumbnail picture I thought it was a Volvo until I looked closer . What a interesting ride you might be stuck with haveing to modify parts to fit not sure if you can get a new master cylinder or brake cylinder for it. But I once made a Ford pinto carburetor fit on my Datsun so just finding parts that fit the space could be fun.
The column shifter on these puppies was a delight to use. I had a ’61 sedan and it was, overall, a delightful vehicle. Upright seating, precise steering, good “stick-to-it-ivness” and great stopping with the large, finned aluminum drums.
Shifting, except for getting to reverse, was a “keep your thumb on the wheel” operation. Slick a goose grease in August, in other words, smooth, precise and actually fun!
Paid $1,550 for it in suburban DC in ’61. Sold it in Ankara, Turkey, in ’64 for $1450 with 61K miles… and the Turk paid the equivalent of another $2000 in customs!
Just like the one I had: https://cloud.leparking.fr/2021/04/15/00/04/fiat-1100-1960-fiat-1100-delux-4-door-saloon-saloon-petrol-manual_8068089556.jpg
Fiat is/was one of the largest carmakers in the world with markets all over Europe, the UK, and probably parts of Africa and maybe South America. The internet and patience are your friends. I hate to think of this car being abandoned because it’s thought to be an orphan-it is anything but, and if I recall correctly the 1100’s were even raced so there might be aftermarket performance parts. Fiats are fairly reliable once sorted and maintained, and they nearly always handle great! Get one that hasn’t been visited by the tinworm for best results.
@nlpnt: Bare in mind that this happened in the Spring of 1985, long before the Internet was even thought of. Except for VW, Toyota, or Nissan,
many British, French, and Italian cars
were often crushed because there were no parts networks for them at that point in time. And it may have been much worse depending on where you were living back then. Here in Florida, we didn’t get a foreign
car repair shop until 2015. A friend of mine waited weeks to get a water pump for his ’91 Chrysler New Yorker
after the mechanic told him that a Chrysler was an imported car and they only serviced Ford’s and Chevy’s.
After they got the part, he had to wait another 3 weeks until a specialist was sent down to help the mechanic make
the repairs. Such was life in Polk County Florida back then. And that’s
why I always buy American .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobianchi_Bianchina#/media/File:Autobianchi_Bianchina_Furgoncino_tetto_basso.JPG
lets go smaller, more stylin?
(said the guy locals call “Wagonman” as I’ve had different makes/models almost exclusively for 1/2 century). Even pronouncing it is fun:
“ AutobianchiBianchinaFurgoncino… teeeehhto… baaaso “
longer than the car….
Saw one of these Auto Buanches with
a Harley Davidson engine in it on YouTube many years ago. The owner was doing burnouts with it. Craziest
thing I ever saw! That HD mill put out
so much torque I thought he was gonna flip it!
I had a 1960 Fiat 1200 Gran Luce. Basically the same as this car except a 4-door sedan. I loved that car. Wasn’t made for very long highway cruising, but was very comfortable and would set 4 people quite well. Great around town.