Is it enough that it’s a Fiat? No, it has to be front-wheel drive too. Four-cylinder, yes; manual top, yes. And Maggiora, the coachbuilder hired by Fiat to produce its Barchetta, managed to go bankrupt mid-stream, leaving Fiat in the lurch. Stellantis – owner of Fiat – delicately describes this as a “hiatus”. The company’s Turin factory took up the task, and the Barchetta lived to see another day – several in fact, as it was made from 1995 through 2005. Never sold in the US, the Barchetta is now found here in tiny handfuls, thanks to the 25-year import rule. Here on eBay is one such immigrant, currently bid to $5001 (not a typo), reserve not met. The car is garaged in Daniels, West Virginia, and if you have no qualms about adding to the 39,096 km odometer reading, it can be driven home.
Powered by a 16-valve, 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, good for 130 hp, Fiat’s “little boat” can propel itself to 60 mph in about 8.8 seconds. The engine employs variable valve timing, but even with that dose of technology, torque rings in at only 121 lb-ft at 4300 rpm. The gearbox is a five-speed manual. This example has been serviced to within an inch of its life; the seller is clearly an enthusiast. The only mechanical flaws noted are an occasional belt squeal (which goes away as soon as the car is taken to the mechanic!) and a flicker of the airbag lamp on the dash.
The interior is in fine condition, with good gauge visibility through the steering wheel, color-keyed door panels, and ice-cold AC. The rest of the accessories, gauges, switches, and lights work as they should. The trunk contains a spare, which doubles as a tool kit receptacle. Leave it to the Italians.
The Barchetta was designed in-house at Centro Stile. The front end and forward lines are Bertone-esque, but the rear end is a somewhat unfortunate resolution of its curves. The advent of the Miata no doubt discouraged Fiat’s US ambitions – we were completely besotted with Mazda’s sports car. Today, the few Barchettas that have sold in the US registered mid-four-figure prices – about where this one is bid to now. A Miata will cost twice as much. What do you think, go for the rare Italian, or would you prefer the ubiquitous Japanese option?
Looks very cool, but i have no clue. The seller has over 1,100 listings.
I would like to have a red Barchetta like the one in the song by RUSH
And this particular specimen is most definitely not it.
yeah me too Red Barchetta RUSH before Niel died
The song’s inspiration is from a short story featuring an MGB.
Also, took my kids to Rush in 2012 for the oldest 18th birthday.
Rear-end design looks a bit like a truncated (pun intended) Chrysler CrossFire (2004-08).
Dunno…I’d rather have a Fiata than this creature, but that’s just me…
A great buy until something breaks.
Good luck finding parts!
Hm, even Gerhard Berger of formula 1 fame had one back in the day´s.The next owner lived in my home town so I had the pleasure (no!) to work on. It broke the belt and the engine was sort of toast. After fixing I heard the timing belt tensioner so I had another look at the tensioner when running and boy it had hard work to do. It was jumping back and forth but I was assured thats all right. I for my part had enough, was educated by my father never to buy a Fiat, one of the few things I believed. Regards from snowy Tyrol!
I like
I like the Miata/MX5 but I would buy this little Fiat before the Mazda as it’s a far more interesting car, apart from the rear design which looks like it was thought up 5 minutes before “knock off” time!
Anyone know the manufacturer of the red car shown to the left in the first photo? Looks familiar but I could not read the hood decal. O well, looking for a fiberglass project now so please find one barn finds.
I was ging to say it looks like an Alfa Romeo 4C, but the side scoops are all wrong
How about a Series 2 Lotus Elise?
Looks like a Lotus emblem.