I’m hardly a Fiat expert, and as far as my Italian goes, fuggedaboutit. And for those reasons, I was confused by the listing for a 1958 1100D “Millecento“. What we have here, besides an initial failure to communicate, is a Fiat 1100D/103D that was labeled, via a grille emblem, as a Millecento which is supposed to be Italian for 1100 (my translation program claims it means 100,000). Anyway, this two-tone, compact, four-door sedan is known technically as a Fiat 1100/103D. It’s located in Escondido, California, looks quite tidy and is available, here on eBay for a current bid of $3,150 with seven bids tendered so far. I gotta give Araknid78 two thumbs up for this unusual discovery!
Generically speaking, Fiat’s 1100/103 was offered between 1953 and 1969, though an Indian version was produced in Mumbai until the end of the nineties. Body styles included four-door sedans and wagons and a two-door spider. The 1100/103D, such as our subject car, was offered in ’58, ’59, and ’60.
So, the body is straight, there’s no rust, all of the trim is in place and the chrome shines. The mileage recording is 37K miles though there is no claim of authenticity. Little is said of this car’s past, as in where it has been for the last 65 years and the description is light. It’s obviously been properly stored and well cared for – the finish is deep and still possesses a respectable shine. The light and dark two-tone combination hue lends a refined look to this 2,000 lb. sedan. Note the front doors, they are reverse-hinged to the central B-pillar and open outward.
Power is provided by a 48 HP, 1100 CC, in-line, four-cylinder engine. Utilizing a four-speed manual transmission, the powertrain drives the rear wheels and the seller tells us, “it runs and drives well“. The engine compartment is neat and original though that barrel-shaped air cleaner appears to have been refinished or replaced.
The two-tone blue and gray vinyl upholstery, and matching door panels, are in remarkable condition considering this car’s age, and the entire environment does look to have been gently used. The instrument panel sets a standard for an exercise in minimalism. I’m not sure what’s covering the floor, my thought is that it’s a temporary protective covering as it certainly doesn’t look like it belongs.
So, who would be the likely acquirer of this curious little car? It’s hard to say, perhaps someone who owned one years ago and wants to relive the experience, an eclectic collector, or just someone who likes odd cars. Whatever the case, they’re likely to have the only one in town, right?
Yeah, “Mama Mia” is about all the Italian I know. Actually, a few of these did make it into the Beer City, in a “what the heck is that thing” mentality. Something that odd art teacher in HS would have driven. Naturally, we laughed with our dual quad Corvettes, but I read, this car was a very popular car worldwide, kind of like the 4CV was. It was made in a dozen counties, like the 4CV. Police, taxis, it was the car for the masses and still is. 16 years is quite a run for any car. I’m actually surprised it’s not getting more attention, 8 bids, $3250, seems like a steal here, I swear, some peoples are the goofiest peoples,,,good thing we’re okay. Great find. My vehicle purchasing days are over, but for my small town, I’d love to have this.
Yes it does seem a lot of small imports from those days are going for a tidy sum if they’re in good condition. I’d probably give $5k for this but it will go higher most likely.
A quite handsome little car, as many Fiats back in the day were. Hopefully this is a cut above many other Fiats in the reliability department.
I had a similar version but it was a 1200 cc with conventional front doors, not the suicide kind. Anyone interested in these small Fiats should see the car in person and make sure they can fit in the front seat. I remember mine was geared very low for good performance around town but the engine was screaming at 50 mph.
Jay Leno has one of these. Saw him
driving it on YouTube when he was doing Jay Leno’s Garage there. His
looked very similar to this one. It looks nice, but it’s not really my cup of tea. I say this because here in Florida, it’s very hard, if not impossible to get parts and service for these cars especially where I live.
If it doesn’t say Ford, Chevy, Dodge,
Toyota, Volkswagen or Nissan, Kia,
Honda, or Hyundai, you won’t find a
mechanic that can service Italian
cars the way they need to be serviced. My SIL’s Alfa Romeo was
rear ended and she’s having the devil’s own time finding someone that
can fix it properly. When it comes to
Italian cars, they’re just too finicky and
unreliable for our roads. Fiats remind
me of English cars– only they often
burn to the ground due to wiring issues and those side draft carbs that drip gas into hot manifolds and
poor! Instant fire! Might consider it if I
didn’t live in the South.
I worked for a Fiat dealer in ’65 and we used to get these in on a regular basis with a loud knock. The cranks were weak and would break just behind the front main bearing at an angle so the car would still run fine.
Well, I do speak decent Italian so I can vouch for the fact that Millecento means 1100. The larger 1500 would have the poetic name Millecinquecento.
These were solid and nice cars. Back when I was 20 years old and doing Civil Service in the city of Sundsvall Sweden I somehow got to know an elderly lady at the church. She at one point offered me to buy her car, a -59 1100 in dark blue with a white roof and side spear. She had bought it new, done one vacation trip to Norway with her sister but it was time for her to stop driving and I was given a price equivalent to $400. This was too much for me who usually paid $50-100 for cars. But it was in an awesome condition. Around 50,000 kms, original paint, not a scratch or dent, always garaged and drove really well. One of the cars I didn’t buy that I still remember so well!
It’s at a dealer. Guaranteed he wants big bucks for this wheezy little thing.
These are cute and had an important role in Italian motor sport in the 1950s. The car itself ran in Mille Miglia, but probably most important was the use of the engine in 1100 cc Etceterini race cars such as Siata, Gilco, Stanguellini et al.
Through its long history, FIAT has mainly been a progressive company with good design and an important patron of other Italian marques. The Fix It Again Tony /Fires In All.Temperatures stuff is unfair and usually uninformed.
Martin,
I suspect that FIAT’s bad rap originated in the 1950’s when Italian automakers were forced to employ British Lucas (aka: the Prince of Darkness) electrical components due to reparations from the last great international misunderstanding. Having owned a post reparations Fiat for 8 yrs. (+ a Lancia for 12 yrs.) with Marelli electrics, I can vouch for the reliability of both makes given proper maintenance. For the benefit of the uninformed, judicious selection of Abarth and FAZA mechanical parts allowed outrageous performance from small Fiat engines.
“Given proper maintenance” is the key. Italian cars are great given proper maintenance—which most Americans didn’t do.
I owned a 1959. Bought it in St. Paul, MN and drove it to Tucson. It took me a week, because I had to drive on blue highways…trucks would have eaten me alive. Unfortunately, the piston rings were shot, and I lubricated the roads I travelled on, with gallons of oil! Still, it was a head-turner going through all of those small towns along the way. One stop to fill up in Oklahoma I think, a young man comes out of the coffee shop that was part of the gas station and asked me what it was. I told him that it was a Fiat. ” A what??!” ” A Fiat.” “Well, it’s as cute as a bug.” and turned around and headed back in. The older men in the place probably told him to go and find out what it was. I loved that little car for it’s uniqueness, but it needed a new engine, or better yet, a Japanese power plant conversion.
Back in the day it was Fiat’s answer to the VW Bug, claiming that it had four doors, which made it easier to get in the back seat. Nice trunk… all in all a very simple design which worked well. There is still a great many running around Italy, and the Padmini that was introduced to India, while no longer available for the taxi fleet, still is popular there.
If were on this side of the country…
I worked in Italy in 1962 and the boss had one, things were still pretty poor there, if the Fiat 500 corresponded to a Ford here, and the 600 to a Mercury, this was at least a Buick in terms of who drove what. The boss had a Ph.D. and wore very nice suits, and was very proud of his Fiat 1100. His boss had a Lancia.
Wait a minute, the front doors “open outward”? Italian innovation that might catch on. Just poking fun. Nice write up on a very cool car.
Mille=1000 and cento=100, so Millecento does if fact mean 1100.
As an American and a young kid growing up in Casalpalocco (suburb of Rome) in the 70’s these were prevalent on the road. Even the Vigili Urbani (Polizia Muncipale) basically “Suburb Cops” had these with a little blue light on the roof. The nicest ones were civilian owned and some even had white wall tires. The car is tiny for US standards but they would get up and go and the occasional “speeding” Lambretta or Vespa would blow by and the Vigili Urbani would give chase, again with the blue lights on and a handheld wand of “frying pan” White and Red handheld “Ferma” (Stop) waving out the window. :-) Memories…..
BTW
Mille Cento stands for 1,100
Mille = Thousand
Cento = Hundred
Ahhh Casal Palocco… Infernetto! La conosco bene!
I lived in Rome for five years. A good friend of mine lived there… great memories! Thanks 👍
We have the later 1100R with as they say normal doors. A 2 owner car from Italy in White with original Red Vinyl Interior. At Classics & Cabriolets Collection.
Wow! I couldn’t believe my eyes! My first car was a1960 Renault Dalphine for which I paid an exorbitant fee of $50 US. However, with bucket seats and 3 speed on the floor was not date friendly. So I ponied up and indulgently spent$75 US FOR A ‘58 Fiat 1100, bench seat and 4 speed on the column.The sexy Suicide doors enticed Ivy Jo Martin to spend many a rainy night exploring the seating arrangement. As you car guys know, having a French car and an Italian car was essential to insuring that you would have ONE that ran.
Winning bid:US $6,600.00 [ 21 bids ]