Project Bambino

Finally the car is in undercoat, dents fixed and after a thin coat of colour blocked down. HA dents fixed!!!! Twenty five shallow dents in one door!!! Whoever used this car as a backstop for tennis practice copped the next lot of abuse. About 75 of these shallow dents were fixed and you can amuse yourself by finding the ones I missed.

I have always seen the 500 as the Jack Russell of the car world with no concept it is a little, no tiny, car. Most seem to persuade their owners to paint them in primary colours, soup up the engines and make the noise of a much larger cousin. However as visitors looked at the in restoration project the common comment was "isintit sweeeet" and so the concept of Sweet Chocolate was born. ( cioccolato dolce ). A colour scheme of dark and white chocolate and it's name in silver. The comment has now changed to "cute". At this point you press the horn button and let the twin, long trumpet air horns bark. Still a bit of Jack Russell or perhaps Poodle.

Longest job:- getting all those little dents out followed by sanding down past the corrosion on the alloy bright work before polishing..

Outside the square :- Taking the sealed tie rod ends apart ( very badly worn ) and re cutting the seating etc to make them as good as new.

The headlamp reflectors and a small lot of chrome done by A Class metal finishers. Motor rebuild by Tony Potter. Upholstery and hood by Clare upholstery.

Our thanks to these people. In exchange for a reasonable amount of money a first class job was done.

Longest job:- getting all those little dents out followed by sanding down past the corrosion on the alloy bright work before polishing..

Specifications for the technically minded:-

Fiat 500N manufactured June/ Dec 1957.

Original colour, light green.

Two cylinder 479cc. 15 BHP @ 4000 rpm

Four speed constant mesh transmission attached to motor and incorporating the final drive. No synchromesh.

Top speed ??? Not fast. Graham Herde