On Saturday at a collectors fair I bought a lovely little Vitesse model, "Special Edition no VLL 118" of what appears to be a Fiat 500, the 1960's type, not a 'Topolino', and can't place it.
I've googled for all the usual suspects without success and I was wondering if anybody here can help
I don't have a digital camera so will have to describe it:
Model - Fiat 500. But it has Giannini badges front and rear and signwriting/chrome trim on the back left hand corner saying 'Giannini' with '850 NP' below. So maybe a larger engine like a Mini-Cooper
Colour - basically white, right hand side of bonnet is red and white chequers, left hand side is green
Race number - 170
Registration number - 842088 TO - a Torino registration
Sponsors - 'NOVOLAN' in yellow letters front and rear with a circular logo/badge I can't make out alongside. It appears to have a white shape (possibly a map of Monza) on a red background in the centre, black and white chequers at the top, black rectangles each side and the word Monza in white on a black background below.
I have seen a reference to Monza 1968 on one internet site
Any Ideas?
post this on the forum at fiat500club (do a search! on google)
Good idea! :) So obvious that I never thought of it! :banghead:
I'm getting no joy from the Fiat 500 club site - it won't let me register and they ignore my e-mails.
This site (http://www.fiat500.ch/pics/modell_liste/P000075f.jpg) shows what the model looks like.
Does anybody know what the 1968 Monza race may have been?
David McKinney 28 Dec 2005, 07:32 Does anybody know what the 1968 Monza race may have been?
They would have raced in the European Touring Car Championship - I assume (without checking) the 1968 series included a round there.
But there must surely have been a national Italian series as well...
yes, usually on sunday morning, before the start of the ETC "4 Ore", there were some "short" races for the Italian championship, usually for the lower classes...
rescue dude 28 Dec 2005, 10:53 :cool: The picture is of a Fiat 500 Giannini Monza 1968 RN170.
silente 28 Dec 2005, 12:16 Yes! i know that kind of cars...
I am too young to be really precise but Giannini was, with Abarth, one of the most important engineering which was able to change a normal Fiat 500 to a really race car. I remeber one time i have seen also a fiat 500 with the boxer engine of a porche 1600!!!
Anyway, normally this cars took place in the touring races of that years. The engines were normally 595 or 695 cc. Sometimes the cars were completly rebuilt, wiht changing also to track and chassis..
In Italy there are some special races where you can still find very tuned fiat 500 like that which race in normal tracks, like Monza!
Kevin Whittle 28 Dec 2005, 13:34 Giannini also built a 1 litre F2 motor for the 1964-66 F2 series.
Anyone have a photo or more info please ??
KDW
The 1968 ETCC was split into 3 classes. According to Higham the winners were:
>1600cc Dieter Quester (BMW), Manufacturer: BMW
<1600cc John Rhodes (Mini Cooper S), Manufacturer: BMC
<1000cc John Handley (Mini Cooper), Manufacturer: BMC
So did the Fiat Giannini beat the 'invincible' Minis at Monza or something?
Anybody know a website covering the ETCC? (My googling hasn't turned one up - all I've found is various pictures of the Vitesse model without any explanation beyond the bare details given by rescue dude)
I have now found Frank de Jong's site (http://homepage.mac.com/frank_de_jong/index.html). This confirms that the 1968 Monza 4 Hours, the ETCC qualifying round, had no Fiat Gianninis entered. So it must have been an Italian national race
rescue dude 29 Dec 2005, 11:32 :cool: That's all i could find D-Type.
There were a few speciallist site's but they are in Italian or Japanese!!!!!!!!
They did seem to have the information though.
hodsonaj 30 Dec 2005, 14:25 Hello
There is a real one on Racecar Direct at the moment..........should you have space in the garage, or indeed on the shelf!
Tony Hodson
Dave Brand 30 Dec 2005, 15:08 A Yahoo search came up with a very good French-language site:
http://giannini.free.fr/
- I could be persuaded to translate some of it if required!
Dave,
Thanks for the translation offer. There's no need as there are English and Italian versions of the same site. Lots of useful background, but no detailed results
rescue dude,
The Italian sites seem to be mainly selling individual cars with no detailed race results.
As for the Japanese sites - your guess is as good as mine! :rotate: I suspect that the Giannini Fiats appeal to the same niche market as mini coopers - Foreign and sporty, but physically small enough that you can legally own one ithout having off-street parking.
Many thanks for trying :)
Dave Brand 1 Jan 2006, 21:22 Dave,
Thanks for the translation offer. There's no need as there are English and Italian versions of the same site. Lots of useful background, but no detailed results
What's the URL for the English version? I've only found it in French & Italian!
To transform a Fiat 500 into a racer there are still plenty of parts available in Italy.
Just jump to the following site to get an impression:
http://www.fiat500sport.com/def.asp?l=ENG&sku=662789194F
What's the URL for the English version? I've only found it in French & Italian!Follow the URL you quoted, then click on the Union Jack at the bottom of the home page. ;)
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