Well today was a very sad day. I said goodbye to my 1951 Fiat Topolino. Not many people can say that they have literally grown up in one car. My Dad bought this car for my Mom in Italy in December of 1950 when I was three months old.
- I rode, slept, cried, and pooped in the back as a baby.
- My Mon would drive us to school in this car.
- My Dad taught me to drive in this car, a non-synchro four speed requiring double clutching through most of the gears. You drive it flat out all the time, accelerator floored and you're lucky to hit 60 in a strong tailwind.
- When I got my license my Mom gave me the car.
- I took my girlfriend to the prom in this car... it took me a while to understand why she never went out with me again.
- I once drove it from NY to DC on a whim to see some friends, It got 45 miles to the gallon and it took me 12 hours to get there!
The car is 56 years old and still runs like a top! It's been stored in the barn for the last few years so it's suffered some surface rust and may not look like much at the moment but it's rock sold, built like a tank, and should outlive us all!
I was offered so much money for it by a collector/restorer in Arizona that I just couldn't pass it up. I kept saying I was going to restore it or turn it into a hot rof but I knew I'd never get to it. So off it goes to Scotsdale to a new home and a very excited new owner.
Of course I took pictures of the long goodbye, see them here http://dftowel.com/byefiat
Some of you may recognize this car as a very popular dragster of the 50's and 60's. Hot Wheels still makes models of these dragsters.
By the way, since the huge transport couldn't make it up my road I had to bring the car to him in the entrance to the Bentley of Long Island lot. Salesmen and customers kept coming out and wanted to see that "tiny little car" being loaded in that big truck. Everyone wanted to know what it was!
When I went back to my car it was surrounded by Ferraris. Aston Martins, Lamborghinis, a Rolls Royce, some Bentleys, a 57 T-Bird and some 50's Chevy's. It was some parking lot! They were having a party to intorduce the new Bently Continental convertible. I went in to see it... whew... $195,000 sticker and expect to pay nearly $250,000 to even think about getting one! Needless to say I passed on the opportunity
