Description

1968 Fiat 500F

Original RHD UK market car; only 52,500 miles from new; few owners; freshly restored; a lovely example of this charismatic little Italian runabout

The successor to the legendary pre-war Topolino, the Nuova 500 was Fiat’s most famous people’s car. Nippy and frugal with wonderfully direct steering, it was powered by a rear-mounted 18bhp 499cc engine that drove the rear wheels and could launch it to 60mph in as many seconds before it ran out of steam. A four-speed gearbox with a floor-mounted gear lever was precise and fun to use and the car featured all-round independent suspension.
Beautifully engineered and surprisingly pleasant to drive, they were a masterpiece of design packaging, shaming most modern cars with their efficient use of space and elegant simplicity. Gordon Murray, the designer of the immortal McLaren F1, owned one for many years and remains a big fan to this day.
As the original service book confirms, this lovely Fiat 500F was supplied new by Spur Garage of Wimbledon to first owner J Andron of Beulah Hill on 15th January 1968. Notes in the book record five services up to December 1976 by which time it had covered 25,122 miles.
An old V5 shows that it was still owned by Jack Andron in 1993 when ownership transferred to the Williams, a married couple who kept it for the next 17 years. After getting a new gearbox and differential fitted in 1994 at 41,000 miles, Mrs Williams used the car to go to work at a film studio near Fulham and once got done for speeding – quite an achievement in a Fiat 500!
In 2010 they sold it to lady in Monmouth who kept it garaged, had the top-end of the engine overhauled and used it only lightly before selling it to our vendor in 2016 by which point it had covered some 52,000 miles. Over the next couple of years he thoroughly restored the car to the wonderful condition you see today. Bills on file show that almost £1,500 was spent on new parts alone including: bumpers; front and rear lights; indicators; door hinges; window rubbers and weather strips; sunroof; exhaust; a full interior retrim plus much else besides. The bodywork was also restored and the car was treated to a glass-out repaint in the original dark blue.
The car has still only covered 52,500 miles, as warranted by no fewer than 32 old MOTs stretching right back to 1972 and a good amount of service history from new. Affectionately known as ‘Jack’ (in honour of its first owner), this adorable little Fiat retains all its original handbooks and is in sparkling condition throughout, starting promptly and running beautifully as we moved it around for these photos.
For more information contact James on 07970 309907 or email james.dennison@brightwells.com