Vehicle Description
Vehicle to be offered for Auction sale August 17th - 19th, 2017 at
Russo and Steele's 17th Annual Monterey, California Auction. Please
contact us for more information. Preservation Class 1957 FIAT 1200
Trasformabile FIAT introduced the 1100 TV Trasformabile in 1956,
designed by Rapi at FIAT, and built by Pinninfarina. It was hugely
accepted worldwide. It even made the cover of the September 1957
Road & Track magazine. In fact, FIAT has one in their museum. The
car did not however meet USA bumper & lighting regulations, so FIAT
introduced a modified design of their own and started selling them
in the North American market. For 1957 the car was upgraded to the
FIAT 1200 running gear, and sold as the FIAT 1200 TV Trasformabile
as presented here. The following year, in 1958, FIAT was forced by
the stricter regulations to address a cost issues with the car.
Changes were made for the last production year of this model. The
decision was mostly based on expense of parts used exclusively on
this car, but represented it and sold it as the same FIAT 1200
model. The revised version lost the twin round gauges on the dash,
which were replaced by a ribbon speedometer assembly as used in the
more common FIAT 1100 Sedan. The much coveted wings on the chromed
hood ornament were trimmed, the fabulous wooden NARDI steering
wheel was replaced by a plastic one, and numerous other cost
cutting measures were taken, including the deletion of the spoke
hubcaps with spinners. You will see none of those cost cutting
measures on this car! At the national FIAT Club annual meeting in
2008, I was approached by the (then) president of the Detroit
chapter of the club and asked if I would have any interest in a
FIAT 1100 TV Trasformabile, since I already had a 103 bodied FIAT.
After some discussion, the owner of the car was contacted and
negotiations began. The car was quickly identified instead as a
1957 1200 TV Trasformabile, and it was revealed that the car had
been purchased and parked in the garage of the home they had moved
into in about 1962. The widow remembered that her late husband had
spent some time trying to get the little car running, but after
some frustration just parked it saying he would get back to it. As
things go, months became years became decades. I personally had to
dig thru years of stacked garbage to get full access to the car,
and to get it out of the garage. The tires were inflated and the
car was transported to its new home in the Carolina's, where it
again sat in a garage, until in 2009 when the car was transported
to Santa Cruz, California, and put into deep storage in a warehouse
before its first appointment with North Americas leading FIAT
expert, Chris Obert Upon the initial inspection of the car it was
discovered that the car was parked into its Detroit garage with
21,300 miles. Before being parked in 1962, there is evidence that
the paint had been refreshed in its original Aqua-Verde paint,
which is considered to be the rarest of the colors offered. More
than likely that was due to the harsh weather in that area. She
sits on her original Michelin wide white wall tires mounted on the
original dark red rims. The original spare is in the trunk. The
interior upholstery is also original and is made from an
interesting and hard to find Pegamoid style vinyl. The originality
of this car is amazing. It is unmolested. Due to the fragile nature
of the carpeting, I have chosen to install a clean new black carpet
with an appropriate weave for the year, for my daily driving. The
original mats are available and used when I show the car. The
mechanical bits told their story. The car seems to have had a
piston issue, and all of the pistons were obviously replaced and
found as new. Unfortunately the crankshaft journals were worn (as
all of these motors are), and the timing chain was severely worn.
The previous owner obviously got frustrated with it, he probably
heard noises coming out of the engine, and that told him to shut it
off... Mechanical work to date This car deserved to run. The car
recently had its matching number engine removed (the first time out
of the car!) and rebuilt by FIAT expert Chris Obert. The radiator
has been rebuilt, the fuel tank completely cleaned and then sealed.
All fluids changed. The brakes completely rebuilt. Everything that
is supposed to work does! Interior, rubber, felt, chrome, and all
of its originality and patina have been painstakingly maintained.
The years of storage required the paint to be only refreshed, and
it cleaned up very well. And yes, the over-spray inside the wheel
wells is factory original. Based on other examples of this model in
the workshop, it appears the bodies, specified with a metallic
paint, were undercoated before being painted. This car really
stands out in its Aqua-Verde paint against the sea of Italian red,
all 5 original white wall tires on their red rims, spinner retained
spoke hubcaps, original upholstery on its swivel seats, and of
course the fabulous tortoise shell interior accents, wooden NARDI
steering wheel, and striking Rapi design. Even the wiper blades on
this car are the ones installed in Torino in 1957! Included is a
copy of the shop manual, mechanical parts book, and body parts book
I got from C. Obert & Co., as well as the original jack and burlap
tool bag with some of its tools still inside. Fast? No, that's not
part of the presentation... It's the Italian styling and elegance
that this car so excellently represents that is important, not
speed!
