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| Number 226 - English version dated 25.04.2024 - © Axel Gerstl |
Brit & Euro Classic Car Show in Auckland
New Guides by Davide
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Fiat 500 News from the Southern Hemisphere / Announcement: New Guides by Davide! Dear customers, dear friends of the Fiat 500, Fiat 126 and Fiat 600, The April edition of our newsletter is dedicated to the classic car scene in Oceania: We received reports from events in both New Zealand and Australia. At the beginning of March, the annual British-European Classic Car Show took place in Lloyd Elsmore Park in Auckland / New Zealand. As last year, our friends Todd and Alfonso participated as ambassadors of the Fiat 500 world (click here to read their report about the Fiat 500 World Wide Meeting 2021 in New Zealand). Here, Todd tells us how rain made the “Brit & Euro” event turn sour for the twelve little Fiat 500s from the Fiat 500 Club in Auckland. Further west in the southern hemisphere, the mid-March weather conditions were more favourable for the traditional Targa Classica Rally near Melbourne in the Australian state of Victoria. Read here how the Fiat Abarth 750 GT braved the multi-day tour, supported by our friend Bill Freame. In addition, Davide tells us how the idea for his new guides on the maintenance and care of the Fiat 500 ame about. We are going to cover these guides over the next months in our newsletter and on our website. Read here what awaits you when Davide takes you into his workshop. And of course, we are also proud to present the "Fiat of the month April" along with some interesting current offers and news concerning the Fiat 500, Fiat 126 and Fiat 600. We hope you enjoy reading this month's newsletter! The Axel Gerstl team |
| > New Guides by Davide: Maintenance and Care of the Fiat 500 (and Other Classic Cars) |
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The new series “Maintenance and Care of the Fiat 500” – introduction by Davide Cappadonna
Passion? Madness?
As classic car enthusiasts, we live on passion! It’s precisely this passion that almost drives us mad when trying to find an untraceable classic car accessory; the madness that pushes us to undertake very expensive restorations, which, in most cases, by far exceed the value of the vehicle; or the obsessive fastidiousness in maintenance that leads us to spend whole days in our garages, most of the time entering a parallel reality, a toy world for grown-up children.
Is this hard to understand?
For outsiders, it might be hard to understand, but it is thanks to these crazy enthusiasts that the whole world can still marvel at the many well-preserved models live and do not have to rely on yellowish photos that evoke vague recollections of the cars that accompanied our families’ lives. Maintenance of your historic vehicle is just as important as a good restoration. Maintenance means that we keep the car we worked on some time ago with sacrifice and passion in the best possible condition. Therefore, I my idea was to start a new series of articles to give all enthusiasts some advice on the care and maintenance of their legendary Fiat 500. While these tips are based on my own experience, they can be applied to most maintenance work on the “Cinquino” as it’s affectionately called among enthusiast, and also to other historic models.
Is this hard to understand?
For a start, I will write about how to care for the exterior and interior of the body and then move on to changing the engine oil and to many other interesting details. So look forward to virtual visits to my “500 Platinum” garage. P.S.: We will successively publish the articles from Davide’s new series on our website and report on them in this newsletter! P.P.S.: You want to learn more about Davide? Then click here! |
| > Review: The Brit & Euro Classic Car Show in Auckland / New Zealand on 03 March 2024 |
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Twelve Valiant Little Fiat 500s Brave the Rain – a Report by Todd Niall*** A 1961 500D caught in New Zealand’s catastrophic floods in 2023 has been saved and was among 12 500s at the Brit Euro annual car show in Auckland. Hundreds of cars, among them small collections of classic cars, were destroyed in floodwaters and mud, but after a painstaking rebuild, the 500D drove a 400km round trip to join the gathering of Auckland enthusiasts. The Brit Euro show is one of the country’s biggest with 1300 cars, but the 2024 event was cut short after rain arrived. The 12 500s ranged from some of the first in New Zealand, such as the 1961 survivor of Cyclone Gabrielle, through many of the 5,000 cars assembled in Auckland in the 1960s, through to a handful of Italian-built 500L’s. For a small country, New Zealand had a large population of 500s due to them being one of the makes assembled from packs sent from Torino, making them the cheapest car on the market.**** There are several active communities of 500 owners in the country, with the larger ones being the Auckland group, and one based in Christchurch, in the South Island. *** Todd Niall is an award-winning New Zealand radio presenter and Fiat 500 enthusiast. **** Todd’s book on the history of the “Bambina” in New Zealand is on sale here in our online shop in English and Italian. |
| > Review: The Targa Classica 2024 near Melbourne / Australia (18 to 21 March 2024) |
Start of the second day of the competition – a day packed with tests over a distance of 430 km
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The Targa Classica 2024 near Melbourne Targa Classica is one of the most important classic car events in Australia: a rally in the classic style of the 1950s and 1960s along some of the country’s most scenic routes. Bill Freame told us that the 2024 event took place in rural Victoria, west of Melbourne, the week before the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix. Bill was responsible for servicing two of the 140 cars taking part, a Fiat Abarth 750 GT, based on a Fiat 600, an a two-door Fiat 131. However, he offered help to anyone who needed it to stay in the race. Also taking part was a little red Abarth 500 from Sydney called “Carlo”, equipped with a 695 SS engine. On the last morning of the Targa Classica, “Carlo” wouldn’t start. Bill had to recover it and take it to Melbourne for repairs, where it will hopefully be made ready for the road again. For Bill himself, the rally was a success. The Abarth 750 GT he was servicing boasted a long racing history dating back to 1958. It was equipped with a 998 cc engine, and an Autobianchi crankshaft with a stroke of 74 mm. In the end, this car was part of the victorious 3-car-team, together with a 1927 Bugatti and a 1930 Oakland. |
| > Photo Album: Fiat of the Month April |
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Fiat of the Month April If you want to present your Fiat 500, Fiat 126 or Fiat 600 to our readers, please send a photo to service. There’s no special motto, no limitation. And if you’re lucky, your Fiat will become Fiat of the month! To all previous participants: Your photo is still active and can still become Fiat of the Month in the next months. Click here to find the previous “Fiats of the month”. |
| > New items in our online shop* |
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for example Heater tube
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for example Wiring harness assembly
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for example Wing mirror
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| > Offers* |
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for example Maintenance kit
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for example Valve cover
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for example Sport exhaust pipe
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| > Please note |
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Subject to change, errors excepted. |
| > Contact |
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Company Axel Gerstl
Telephone: +49 - 8141/53 48 6-0
E-Mail: service |
| > Configuration |
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If you want to receive our newsletter regularly, please click here. If you wish to send us a message, do NOT reply to this email, but send your message to service. |