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January 2019
Emerging from the first Topolino and 1100/1500 clubs of earlier years, the current Fiat Club Africa was re-established in 1989 by
enthusiastic owners and supporters of Fiat cars, and works toward promoting the ownership, preservation, maintenance, enjoyment and creation
of general public awareness of these fine cars.
The Club maintains a web site that has news of events, member restorations, market place and a gallery and can be seen at.
The IL Topolino, (Little mouse) is the official monthly electronic news letter of the Fiat Club Africa and has, as an objective, to provide information and news of the Fiat Group cars, technical tips, report on previous and future events, and provide general club and other news for the benefit of the members.
Readers of the IL Topolino are advised to use caution in following any technical or other advice read in the news letter as the Club and Committee can accept no responsibility for its accuracy or reliability The views expressed in the this news letter do not necessarily represent the views
of the Club
www.fiatclub.co.za
Greetings and a very Happy New Year to you all.
May 2019 be a tremendous year for everyone, it is not just Fiat’s 120th Anniversary, but the 30th anniversary of Fiat Club Africa, discounting the other incarnations of the club going back a further 30 years. Imagine, just our modern club has been around for a quarter of Fiat’s existence and over half if we add the earlier versions.
In our recent committee discussion, in view of the fact that we now get the excellent weekly newsletter from FCA with the latest happening in the group world-wide, we discussed the possibility and viability of re-purposing our newsletter of the early 2000’s, The Il Topolino.
It was decided that a newsletter with more information pertaining to our club activities, earlier events, our own cars, projects done on them, member info etc was indeed needed, instead of trying to please everyone would be a good track.
Thus it it gives me great pleasure to announce that from this month, the return of our erstwhile editor Abie Fullard, who will be drafting and laying out the newsletter from his hidey-hole in Pringle Bay, our club members will be receiving monthly issues of The IL Topolino, the official news letter for the Fiat Club Africa.
For those older members who were in the club in the earlier 2000’s, you might remember the IL Topolino and will welcome it back.
A Big Reminder:
We start this 120th year of Fiat (3 oldest manufacturer still in existence if you allow Mercedes the leeway, they started as Daimler), with a lunch at our
popular hangout, Buonissimo, Queens St, Modderfontein.
We will have display parking next to the dam and again rather picturesque, and while the event is open to all Fiats, we propose a 500 (of all ages) special display
and photo opportunity.
It is important to get your RSVPs with the numbers of people accurately by the evening of the 16th latest, as it will allow our hosts, Daniel and Gabriella to prepare some special for us, at very affordable pricing in their completely
renovated restaurant.
Date: Sunday, January 20th
Time: Start arriving from 11:30, Lunch and Meeting at 12:00
Place: Buonissimo, Queens St &, Johannesburg Rd, Modderfontein, Johannesburg, 1644, -26.100093, 28.152145,
RSVP (Essential otherwise you might not get fed): to Hansie on [email protected]
At the AGM we’ll share the draft Calendar for the year.
All the Fiat best
Ian Huntly Chairman
Never thought I would ever be able to say, like old Arnie, with “I’ll be back” But here I am. Some of the older members might remember me and the first
ILTopolino of the early 2000’s
Ian and the committee thought it might still be nice to have our own news letter with some news that is centered on the club and its activities.
With that in mind, and with the excellent news we get on the modern FCA products from their weekly news letter, the Il Topolino will, when discussing
road tests etc, concentrate on the older Fiat models so as not to duplicate information
So here is the first edition of the reinstated IL Topolino
I like to write quite informally, in the hope of making it more readable, and use lots of photos.
So sit back and enjoy, or if you are not concerned about the Amazon forests, print it and read at your leisure.
In future we plan to have some more pages like Members Profiles, Member restorations, mystery car quizzes, and more..
I am currently also updating our web site that seems to not have changed much since I last introduced the current look to it.
Nicolette and I have now discovered the benefits of animated web sites and we will introduce these to our web site.
In the meantime, I would appreciate our members sending me some high resolution older (By many years) photos of themselves with their Fiats
If there are any readers living in or near Cape Town, contact me and we can discuss a local event some time
Email [email protected] Mobile 083 347 1168
Hope you enjoy our new news letter..........
Cover Picture
A 1966 Fiat 1500 Pininfarina Coupe that is the focus of “Our Fiats And Us” later in this issue
Picture On Page 2
Mario’s gorgeous little Fiat Cub
I was alerted to this event in an article that appeared in the Autumn 2018 edition of the “Parliamo” the quarterly magazine of the Fiat Club (GB) and then
took the info off the internet
If you're going to drive somewhere in your Fiat Panda, where better to go than the small town of Pandino in Northern Italy?
This was the thought in 2017 of a young Panda owner from the south of Italy, who announced on Facebook her idea to drive to Pandino – and social media did
the rest! Last year's event saw 200 Pandas turn up, but the second edition of 'Panda a Pandino' on June 24 this year became the biggest Panda meeting in the
world.
A record 365 Pandas turned up to the event. Owners met up in front of Pandino Castle, the 14th century hunting residence of the Visconti family, and took part
in a 27km parade from the castle through several nearby towns and villages
Panda at Pandino
Acknowledgement
Sandro Scarpa, Honorary President of the Fiat 500 Club Italia, sent us some news saying that they had been visited by Quattro Ruote on Wednesday, 5th of December busy making a film. (QR is the equivalent of Car Magazine in
Italy) They had with them a new version of Fiat 500 Cabrio and a 500 X.
Quattro Ruote visits the Fiat 500 Club Italia
On Sunday 21st October, a group of Italian cars of all heritages descended on French Toast Cafe just outside Hartbeespoort Dam for a wonderful breakfast.
The venue is the film set for the film French Toast and certainly a fun location. An uninvited cold wind decided to join the families from Alfa, Abarth, Ducati, Ferrari, Fiat, Lamborghini, Lancia and Maserati's for breakfast and to ensure lots of hot coffee was consumed, while downing the French Culinary
pastries and delights. Familiar and new faces abounded, with Terry Pryke making the final entry.
Copies of the film are available and the little but varied French market offered the credit cards a chance to get some exercise too. Other than the cakes, soaps,
books, perfumes, wines all in plentiful supply. We must get back again soon. Venue gets really busy, so it will be an early outing
(Editor) It is very nice for me to see, after an absence of some 9 years that the Ciao Club is still in operation. I actually remember the originator, Nick Pryke, very well, was a member of the Lancia club with him and even bought one of his Lancia
Series II Fulvia’s just before he tragically died of cancer.
Ciao Breakfast Run October 21st
Our next event will be our AGM on Sunday, January 20th. As discussed in Ian’s Chairman’s Message. Please join us, I am
intending to come up to attend and to meet old and new friends
Fiat Club AGM January 23rd, 2005 Who can remember ?
On January 23, we held the 2005 Fiat Club AGM in conjunction with a scenic drive to Wickers in Magaliesburg.
This event was covered in our February newsletter, the last of our hard copy printed news letters.
In March 2005, the club moved toward an email news letter. What was important in January 2005, was that Gerrie Engelbrecht of the Fiat Uno
Turbo Club also participated, and that we shared events in later times.
Ken Aitken-Smith resigned as chairman and Martin Pomeroy was elected as the new chairman. Frank Nash was thanked for 6 years of providing the printed news
letter. Myself and Pieter Bouwer were elected to be committee members
Attacking the food at Wickers
Some of the Fiats that were there
All the way from Lydenburg, the X1/9 of Charl and Rina van
Rhyn
Jose’s stunning turbo X1/9
Ian’s cute little Fiat 126
Some of the Fiats that were there
Abie and Lesley listening intently
Gerrit and Hentie Bekker sharing a joke
Frank and Pixie Nash. Sadly, Frank died of cancer some years ago. I really miss Frank with his very dry sense of humour and his stories of when he
was in the military in the UK.
Ian’s Fiat 130 negotiating some bad roads on the way back
The Fiat 500 is one of 12 cars in contention for the 2019 What Car?
For 2019, it appears that changes are the introduction of a hybrid – alongside more traditional petrol engines – and the imminent arrival of both all-electric and
estate models.
The hybrid will use mild, self-charging electrification technology to boost fuel economy and reduce emissions. The all-electric model will arrive from 2020, with
the estate – likely to be called Giardiniera – following after that.
Likely to be called the 500e, the electric 500 is expected to offer a shorter range than many of today's conventional electric models, simply because of the
limited space available to store batteries inside the car
Fiat 500 News For 2019
The car in the story is a1966 Fiat Pininfarina 1500 Coupe arguably, the only one in the country, and it has a sad tale attached to it.
The car was brought in from Genoa in the late sixties by Sergio Vaccara and his wife Pina. (I think Pina is a nickname for a longer Italian girl's name) They were both doctors (One can still see the Doctors little box on the
dashboard) Until I met Sergio, whom I was told about by Ian Huntly, our President, even as an owner of many Fiats and very knowledgeable about them, I did not know that Pininfarina had also made a 1500 Coupe. The Fiat 1500 Spider is quite well know and quite a few reached our shores. I had a white one at one time in quite bad
body condition and Mario bought it to restore for his friend
A Lovely, But Sad Story of A Fiat 1500 Pininfarina Coupe
My 1500 Spider with the 1500 coupe in the background
I had visited Sergio at his flat in JHB a few times, never actually saw his wife, and he would often tell me how they used to travel down to
Durban on holiday in the Fiat, holding hands and singing little songs on the way. I found this quite hard to believe, but what the Hell !
He had, naturally for years, been pestered by members of the Italian club who wanted to buy the car but seemed to want the car for nothing, not really
knowing what a scare item it is for South Africa. But Sergio would never sell it as the car was actually his wife's car and was
certainly never for sale considering the memories they had of their travels in the little car.
However, after some 40 years, the car was not in very good shape, the upholstery was torn and missing in places, the mats had got very wet and had
rotted away and brake fluid had fallen on certain parts of the paint work and had virtually dissolved the paint work
Sergio, showing me the coupe, notice the bad upholstery and dashboard
At The body Shop
As I realized the emotional bond the car had with them, I naturally never bothered to make an offer not wanting to insult them.
Then, in January 2008, while I went to pay him a visit, I was shocked to see a broken man as Sergio’s wife, Pina had only just, unexpectantly, passed
away a few days before. To my my surprise while consoling him, Sergio offered the car to me, as he
considered me to be old and mature enough to not only look after the car, but to bring it back to some level of its previous condition.( Sometimes it pays to be
quite old) However, he made me promise to adhere to the following conditions.
The body had to be redone nicely. The torn upholstery had to be replaced in leather.
The engine had to be opened up and overhauled as it was making loud noises. The last condition was the strangest, that Pina’s name that was on the dash
board was not to be removed. I of course agreed to this and did everything as requested.
First step was to have the paintwork redone in the original colour
The body as it appears now
Then had the interior done in leather matching the original colour. As well as having new mats made to the original style and fitted
Pina’s name still on the dash board, notice the little doctors box on the top of the dash
Lastly, I opened the engine and put in new bearings and rings and Had new valve guides fitted, the head skimmed and valves ground
It was a moment of great joy one Saturday morning, after it was all done, when my wife and I went to visit Sergio and showed him Pina's car looking
very much as it was when they travelled down to Durban with it. He was very emotional and started crying.
Subsequently, I moved down to the Cape and and as a result of having to drastically cut down on my collection, the car was sold to Dave Lyons of
Houtbay.
1 Syd Gibbs is looking for a 1953 Fiat Cub drive rod from the Distributor drive cam to the fuel pump.
If anybody can help him, he can be contacted on
2 Johan Albertyn has offered the following if there is anybody who needs Fiat Panda spares
My brother's daughter was involved in a prang and she did not have insurance. I stripped the complete car and selling for spares. Engine is perfect(176000km). The rest of the power steering, suspension parts,
wiring loom, dash, electronics, ABS, ECU, DOORS etc etc etc are all available. (Front end damage: lights, bumper, bonnet, windscreen and
radiators are wasted...)
I reside in Centurion Pretoria
Johan can be contacted on [email protected]
As befits any Italian Car news letter, the dominance of the Italian cars, and the sometimes extraordinarily performance of the
little Fiats during this once famous race, is something that deserves a better look.
So, I have done some research on the internet and have compiled a report on the races starting with the first one after the war, 1947. For down loading
convenience, we will probably only look at one year at a time.
Mille Miglia 1947
Clemente Biondetti
The war had been over two years before another Mille Miglia would be held. The pre-war ban on racing had been for the most part forgotten in the face of the
publics desire to turn their back on the deprivations of the just concluded war.
In 1947, entrants were to learn the viability of the Bailey bridge, a temporary floating structure that spanned many of Italy’s rivers. Still suffering from massive damage from WWII bombings, gas and tires were still rationed.
Back were the Alfas, now un-supercharged and innumerable Fiats, now joined by a fleet of 1100 CC Cisitalias. The name "Cisitalia" derives from "Consorzio
Industriale Sportive Italia," a business conglomerate founded in Turin in 1946 and controlled by the wealthy industrialist and sportsman Piero
Dusio. The famous Tazio Nuvolari had entered, driving one of the small 1100cc Cisitalia’s.
The race, scheduled to run in April, was delayed till June to allow the Fiat factory in Turin more time to produce a new 1100 cc model in sufficient
quantities for the pent up demand. The race was also the first appearance of a Ferrari racing under its owner's name, driven by Franco Cortese.
One other major obstacle presented itself to the potential entrants, The shortage of petrol and or tires. Only through persistent negotiations
were special compensations extracted from the fuel companies and Pirelli, the supplier of racing tires. Every entrant was given a full tank of gas as well as
five new tires. Upon hearing the news, the list of entrants grew to 245 cars. The Italians being
ever clever, ninety of these "entrants" promptly drove home before the race with their shiny new tires and full tank of gas!
But the real story was the ailing Tazio Nuvolari and the Cisitalia vs the borrowed privately entered Alfa 8C2900 Touring coupe
of Clemente Biondetti. The early race saw a titanic struggle between the small Cisitalia using only a
60hp Fiat 1100 cc engine and the much larger Alfa Romeo 8C 2900.
Although listed as a 1949 model, this beautiful, Fiat based Cisitalia MM is virtually identical to the one driven by Tazio Nuvolari to second place in
the 1947 Mille Miglia.
Driving the Cisitalia, Nuvolari, with his head bent to the side to inhale fresh air, opened up an eight minute lead. But on the return leg from Bologna there was nothing that he could do to compensate for the
horsepower advantage of Biondetti's Alfa as it sped along the Autostrada on the way back to Brescia to win with Nuvolari coming in a close second to the
much more powerful Alfa.
This 1947-48 Nardi-Danese was originally equipped with the same 1500cc Fiat based engine that was used in Enzo Ferrari's 815 of 1940.
An example of "siluro" coachwork, and driven by the team of Masini/Masini in this year's event.
(Editor) To me, Clemente Biondetti is the hero of the Mille Miglia. Although already suffering badly from cancer, he went on to win the next
two races, as well as competing competitively in the following races. (See February Edition of the IL Topolino)
The race winner, Clemente Biondetti’s Alfa 8C 2900B Berlinetta
1 Biondetti – Romano Alfa Romeo 8c 2900B 16h 16m 39s 2 Nuvolari – Carena Cisitalia 202 SMM 16h 32m 35s 3 Bernabei - Pacni Cisitalia 202 SMM 16h 38m 17s 4 Minetti - Facetti Cisitalia 202 SMM 17h 00m 40s 5 Capelli - Gerli Fiat 1100S 17h 17m 38s
Race Results 1947 Mille Miglia
Easily recognizable Fiat 1100 engine in the Cisitalia 202 SMM
Here are some funny, but unfortunately, not very far from the truth, pictures of how ridiculous things have become with the use
of today’s smart phones
