As I'm sure I mentioned a couple of times I have recently spent a couple of very pleasant weeks in Tuscany, and a brief forray over into Umbria from there.
This is how living should be. The pace of life seems unhurried, there are countless unspoilt little mountain top medieval walled towns and the food is all local and delicious.
This was Spotmobile for the duration. A very nice Alfa 159 turbo diesel 6 speed jobber. Just the thing for the fun mountain roads as well as the Autostrada.
And there seems to be very little in the way of rust.
I even saw Mk3 Fiestas with uncorroded rear arches. I know it sounds improbable in this day and age, and I know I have no actual photographic evidence to back this up (and it would probably be as quickly dismissed as ap hoto of the Yeti or Loch Ness Monster if I did) but you will have to take my word as a gentleman and former expellee of a fine Roman Catholic boarding school that this is true.
Italians seem unphased by the passage of time as regards their cars and there are many many old cars out there, many in very nice condition, being tooled around in by elderly ladies and the like.
ciò è primo vedere
"Win a Ferrari" in the airport.
But then the more traditional tranport for Italians... the Fiat 500...
Compared with the only example I saw of the new 500...
Of course, then theres the 126...
And the Panda. Seriously the most numerous cars on the roads must have been the Panda and a fair number of them where the oddball 4x4 version.
Here's a typical example.
Many are still in use as various official "municipale" cars.
As above.
I'd also forgotten that there were at least three versions - the original has a body coloured grill which is only about 1/3 width, then they went to a full width black grill and then to a colour coded full width grill. Or so I observed.
Anyway, here's the rest of the random spottage.
GDM yo. Opel Nova or somesuch
WTF BMW Camper!
He's Inocenti I tell you!
Plenty of unrusted early Unos too
Late model Lada
You think this is a Lancia Y10?
nope. Its an Autobianci. Whats the relationship between Autobianci and Lancia then?
Front view of similar
Nice 164. When was the last time you saw one in the UK? Autotrader has one when I looked and amazingly the guy wanted £3995 for it.
Nice Opel Kadett Belmont thing.
Mk1 Fiesta was a local car where we were staying. 3 spots on 3 days.
Italian driving is very special. Yet on no occasion did I ever see any road rage.* The place is too nice, too calming, too chilled. Anyway, here is typical Tuscan parking SkillzorZ (Autobianci Y10 again)
You don't see many modified cars over there. I saw two in total. One was a very Max Power Focus I couldn;t get a photo of and the other was this Panda. Notice the chrome wheel trims and the fart can exhaust. The owner was revvin' it up in true barry boy fashion too.
Panda City Van, apparently.
Odd Lancia.
Rat look yo!
Or it may have just been abandonned and left to rot. I never can tell...
Strange modern Lancia, about the size of a Corsa, demonstrates why big cars never caught on in Italy...
More Autobianci delights
There was also a Jeep type Mini Moke thing based on a 127 of this vintage but I saw it several times, yet spotted it never
I remember these being way common over here, and Madness chucking one out of a 'plane in the Wings of A Dove video.
Nissan Vanette is called a Practica for some reason. Saw several the same so not a one off.
Sambas are worth huge money on the VW scene I hear.
I should have snagged this one then, huh?
later Fiat based Van. Is that a Uno? Or something else I forget.
Traditionally these rural guys go ape for, well, the Ape - a 3 (and occasionally 4) wheel truck made by Piagio/ Vespa.
Same cafe, several hours later...
The BIG (excuse the pun) thing in the region now is these micro car jobbies. All seem to be powered by miniscule diesel engines. No idea of brand or model or what, but there were loads and in several varieties.
But for those for whome even 2 cylinders of diesel is too much, the Italians still love to get about by pedal power. Amazing considering the damn hills there, but hey. Heres a selection of un-powered retro stuff I thought you may enjoy...
And finally some agricultural flavour. Or something.
This is a Fatorria. A place that sells stuff which makes me fat. Simple.
Italy wouldn't be Italy without scooters. Here's a small selection...
[/li][li]
This is how living should be. The pace of life seems unhurried, there are countless unspoilt little mountain top medieval walled towns and the food is all local and delicious.
This was Spotmobile for the duration. A very nice Alfa 159 turbo diesel 6 speed jobber. Just the thing for the fun mountain roads as well as the Autostrada.
And there seems to be very little in the way of rust.
I even saw Mk3 Fiestas with uncorroded rear arches. I know it sounds improbable in this day and age, and I know I have no actual photographic evidence to back this up (and it would probably be as quickly dismissed as ap hoto of the Yeti or Loch Ness Monster if I did) but you will have to take my word as a gentleman and former expellee of a fine Roman Catholic boarding school that this is true.
Italians seem unphased by the passage of time as regards their cars and there are many many old cars out there, many in very nice condition, being tooled around in by elderly ladies and the like.
ciò è primo vedere
"Win a Ferrari" in the airport.
But then the more traditional tranport for Italians... the Fiat 500...
Compared with the only example I saw of the new 500...
Of course, then theres the 126...
And the Panda. Seriously the most numerous cars on the roads must have been the Panda and a fair number of them where the oddball 4x4 version.
Here's a typical example.
Many are still in use as various official "municipale" cars.
As above.
I'd also forgotten that there were at least three versions - the original has a body coloured grill which is only about 1/3 width, then they went to a full width black grill and then to a colour coded full width grill. Or so I observed.
Anyway, here's the rest of the random spottage.
GDM yo. Opel Nova or somesuch
WTF BMW Camper!
He's Inocenti I tell you!
Plenty of unrusted early Unos too
Late model Lada
You think this is a Lancia Y10?
nope. Its an Autobianci. Whats the relationship between Autobianci and Lancia then?
Front view of similar
Nice 164. When was the last time you saw one in the UK? Autotrader has one when I looked and amazingly the guy wanted £3995 for it.
Nice Opel Kadett Belmont thing.
Mk1 Fiesta was a local car where we were staying. 3 spots on 3 days.
Italian driving is very special. Yet on no occasion did I ever see any road rage.* The place is too nice, too calming, too chilled. Anyway, here is typical Tuscan parking SkillzorZ (Autobianci Y10 again)
You don't see many modified cars over there. I saw two in total. One was a very Max Power Focus I couldn;t get a photo of and the other was this Panda. Notice the chrome wheel trims and the fart can exhaust. The owner was revvin' it up in true barry boy fashion too.
Panda City Van, apparently.
Odd Lancia.
Rat look yo!
Or it may have just been abandonned and left to rot. I never can tell...
Strange modern Lancia, about the size of a Corsa, demonstrates why big cars never caught on in Italy...
More Autobianci delights
There was also a Jeep type Mini Moke thing based on a 127 of this vintage but I saw it several times, yet spotted it never
I remember these being way common over here, and Madness chucking one out of a 'plane in the Wings of A Dove video.
Nissan Vanette is called a Practica for some reason. Saw several the same so not a one off.
Sambas are worth huge money on the VW scene I hear.
I should have snagged this one then, huh?
later Fiat based Van. Is that a Uno? Or something else I forget.
Traditionally these rural guys go ape for, well, the Ape - a 3 (and occasionally 4) wheel truck made by Piagio/ Vespa.
Same cafe, several hours later...
The BIG (excuse the pun) thing in the region now is these micro car jobbies. All seem to be powered by miniscule diesel engines. No idea of brand or model or what, but there were loads and in several varieties.
But for those for whome even 2 cylinders of diesel is too much, the Italians still love to get about by pedal power. Amazing considering the damn hills there, but hey. Heres a selection of un-powered retro stuff I thought you may enjoy...
And finally some agricultural flavour. Or something.
This is a Fatorria. A place that sells stuff which makes me fat. Simple.
Italy wouldn't be Italy without scooters. Here's a small selection...
[/li][li]