I have owned W133VOO since June 2007. It was the first car for me not to be a 'Daily Driver' and I (that is my wife and I) have gone on to own choice chariots including an E-type Jaguar, an Aston Martin DBS (the classic one) and a Ferrari F355. But as this was the first 'Special One' it remains dear to me.

I found it through eBay, but paid the seller direct (as I didn't want to commit until I had seen it for myself). This was a decision I was to regret as I flew up to Glasgow from Southampton, and on driving it back down, when I started it in the morning after stopping overnight midway, a cloud of oil vapour from the exhaust literally enveloped the three storey hotel. It cleared after 15 minutes, but only because oil was now dissolved in the vapour as the engine was hot. It turned out the engine was in need of a full rebuild, which was carried out by Fiat Coupé specialist 'Motormech' of Birmingham, complete with a new crankshaft from Italy (which took 6 months to arrive!).

One of the crank shells removed;



At least now I knew that with regular servicing the engine was good for another 76,000 miles. Caveat emptor!

Driving back through Wales;



I haven't used the car for touring much, just one trip to my wife's native Belgium, and no track use, just gentle use on the Isle of Wight where I have clocked up 24,000 miles in 11 years.

Love on the Isle of Wight;



In 2017 I took it to one of those 'Hand Car Wash' places. A week later the lacquer had crazed on the roof, the boot and other patches like they'd washed it with a Brillo pad.



I don't think it could have been a coincidence, but what can you do? You can't prove it was their fault, but I know it was. So what to do? Who would want to buy the car like that? I could have broken it for parts and got more than it was worth as a whole, but that would have been a sin - I just couldn't do it. So I took it to one the main body-shops on the island who allowed me to do all the prep myself to keep the cost down (most body-shops won't).



They did a very good job, to the standard of a new car, but not to show standard, so I spent a year flatting and polishing the paint and restoring the under-bonnet area (or at least a year passed by, much of it waiting for someone else to do it, but he let me down).







Now that the top-side and engine bay were perfect, plus the tired fabric interior had been replaced with leather seats;



the underside looked a bit crusty in comparison.



I ordered a re-conditioned rear cross-beam and swing arms from Joe Knight. But the way of car restoration is; you can't put nice new parts next to crusty rusty old parts. So everything has been removed from the underside, all rust patches cured, new paint, new springs, all bolts zinc plated or replaced with stainless and so on, to the point where it is as good as, and in some respects better than, new.

Just one batch of zinc plating, many of these parts were then powder coated or painted;



I finished off the underside yesterday (1am)





and today it went to JW Autoshine here in the IoW to be ceramic coated. Today he was correcting my work



and tomorrow it will receive the ceramic coat. I'll get some nice pics of it finished, but you'll have a chance to see it for yourself if you are going to the NEC for the November show as I will be displaying on the club stand. I look forward to meeting you all there.

I picked up the car from the detailers following the ceramic coating and it is looking gooooooood!



So as it was so beautifully sunny I took it up the downs for a few pics;







I shall be devastated if the roads are slushy and salt coated on the 8th November when I drive it up to the NEC! Let us pray for sunshine!

Andrew

I had a great time at the NEC show displaying the car and meeting the other members and never-ending stream of people who either had one / own one / want one / wanted to know what it is. I'm on the far right (not politically)



I had a patch of paintwork on the near-side over the rear wheel arch which was not right. I went back to the detailer and he admitted it was his fault and has now put it right thankfully.

I have recently built a shelter for my Coupé. Here is the frame which I made out of Tube Clamp;



And I have covered it with reinforced tarpaulin;



and easy exit from the car;



Andrew

On Sunday last (23rd June 2019) I displayed my car at the annual show of my local car club; the Vectis Historic Vehicle Club here in the Isle of Wight. I was a bit dubious about the judging as last year I had been by my car (the Ferrari) the whole time and I hadn't noticed anyone looking remotely 'judgelike' come along. So this year, seeing as I spent many days preparing the car, and as the Fiat is so much more deserving given how much work has gone into it, I kept a sharp lookout. The Judge was the 'High Sheriff' of the Island (whatever one of those is??), who is not a member of the club, but did turn up in a very nice Alfa Romeo Montreal. He did come along the line and I was able to give him a brief history of the car. He was obviously impressed as I came second place in the 'Non-British' class (second to the big Crysler you can also see in this photo);



I knew the car was worthy of a prize from the work that has gone into it, but thought that a 20 year old car would be too young to be considered.

Like the bloke who got his car stuck on the level crossing, I was 'chuffed to bits'

Two things I saw made me laugh; a bloke wearing a T-shirt that said: "Imagine a world without cars - Now slap yourself and don't do it again!", and a Citroen 2CV that had written on the back; "No wine, cheese or baguettes kept in this vehicle overnight"