1973 FIAT 500

In the care of the vendor for the past five years and only 177km, this restored left hand-drive Fiat 500R has been dry-stored in a garage and a Carcoon since coming here from Italy in 2016, which helps explain its excellent condition.

Finished in Giallo (mustard) with a Tela Gommata (rubberized canvas) sunroof and a Nerro Finta Pelle (black artificial leather) interior, this delightful 500R was built in 1973. Fully restored (please see the photo album for details) it is certified by the A.S.I. (Automotoclub Storico Italiano) as being all it claims to be.

Only for sale because he’s not using it as much as he thought he would, it’s being offered with no reserve, so will sell from the very first bid no matter how derisory that might be!

Freshly restored, the Giallo coachwork looks terrific. We’re used to seeing 500s wearing a light patina – and to be fair, few cars wear one better – but cars of this quality are a much rarer sight. With very good panel alignment and glossy, even paint, this is a 500 you could probably take to your local classic car show and drive away with a couple of rosettes.

Because the chromework is excellent too, as are the badges, glazing, light lenses, and numberplates.

The folding sunroof is in the same shape as everything else, which is to say it looks terrific and is utterly fit for purpose. It opens and closes easily, and seals tightly when it’s closed.

The simple pressed steel wheels very good. Painted silver, they’re fitted with matching 125SR12 CEAT tyres. (Yes, nerds like me will recognize that the tyres have the same width as those fitted to the Citroen 2CV…)

As we will never tire of explaining, our experience shows that matching tyres like this are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but it does perhaps give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

Extra storage space is taken care of via a suitably diminutive rear-mounted luggage rack. Made of chrome and wood with leather straps to keep your suitcase safe, its design suits the car’s period looks to perfection and we applaud the good taste of whoever chose it.

The Chiltern Hills Vintage Classic Car Rally sign you see on the engine cover is magnetic, so could be removed very easily if it’s not to your taste. Regardless, it’s an excellent indicator of the sort of lifestyle this car would facilitate.

There no issues as such to deal with. We can see that the new owner might want to sort out the pitting on the mirrors (slides #34 and #66) at some distant point in the future but aside from that, we can’t see anything that would bother us.

This is going to be a really short section because a) everything looks lovely in here, and b) there’s not a lot of it.

The black vinyl interior is almost certainly not the original and looks to have been replaced or retrimmed during its refurbishment in Italy. It is, therefore, in a fabulous condition with no serious wear, marks or damage we can see.

The seats are still firm and practically unblemished, with only very light creasing to the driver’s seat showing any buttock has ever sat on it. The passenger’s seat is like new and the rears eat is very good.

The single Veglia gauge is wonderfully Italian and all the better for being solitary; it’s a lovely thing and shows that you don’t need to cram instrumentation to create an ambiance.

The front boot is well-stocked with a tool kit, spare wheel and warning triangle in addition to the fuel tank. It’s neat and clean too, and lifting the rubber mats shows only solid metal.

It’s much the same story everywhere else; this is a Fiat with a freshly fettled interior that needs for almost nothing.

Almost nothing? Well, the steering wheel boss has a small crack in it (slide #10). It looks superficial but would be worth checking out. Oh, and the paint on the handbrake lever is worn (#30) and the sunvisors are a bit saggy (#57). But that’s the extent of your interior woes, which is okay, isn’t it?

The good news continues because the 500R demonstrates in the clearest way possible that Fiats do not have to rust; the combination of a recent restoration followed by careful curation in a Carcoon has left the underside in a wonderfully clean condition.

Comprehensively serviced in 2017/18, the work included fresh engine oil, a new coil, rotor arm, points, and condenser plus an air filter and a front wheel bearing. It’s also had a new battery very recently.

As you can see in the video, it fires into life with a characteristic burble and revs nicely.

The restored engine bay is very clean and it, like the underside, needs nothing that we can see.

The Fiat comes with the original handbook detailing its specification, a workshop manual, and its Italian ASI plate and certificate. The A.S.I. is a government recognized federation of Italian car clubs that certifies whether a classic car meets the stringent requirements needed to qualify for reduced car tax and a less intrusive annual testing policy. And the car you see here has been recognized as meeting its exacting standards, which you should find as reassuring as we do.

The Fiat doesn’t have a current MOT certificate, and while it is exempt by virtue of its age, we would strongly encourage the new owner to have it MOT’d at the earliest opportunity. The cost of an MOT is a small investment when offset against the purchase and upkeep of any classic vehicle, and it gives an independent, third-party assessment of the vehicle's condition, which not only provides reassurance to the owner (and any subsequent purchasers) but might also be invaluable in the event of a bump when negotiating with the police and any interested insurance companies…

The recent Vehicle History Check shows nothing of note.

The vendor has enjoyed his time with the Fiat but he’s ended up only using it to attend a couple of classic car shows, as he uses his Mazda MX-5 more than he anticipated.

So, his beloved Fiat is for sale to free up some much-needed garage space. Still his loss could be your gain because this is an absolute peach and an incredibly rare opportunity to get your hands on a recently restored Fiat 500R with the desirable and more flexible engine fitted. Having been barely used since being completed and imported from Italy, it’s still looking fabulous and driving as it should.

How much do we think it will sell for? Offered with no reserve, we think it should fetch between £7,000 and £10,000, a sum that should leave you plenty of headroom to run it for a few years and still come out the other end smelling of roses.

But, it’s going to sell from the very first bid so why not insult us by popping in a cheeky bid? After all, the worst that could happen is you end up owning a 20th century icon, and that would hardly be a disaster, would it?

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.