Having had our Barchetta for 6 years now and regularly watching the Giro d'Ialia on tv I have come to the conclusion that there is only 1 Barchetta in Italy which was a yellow one parked in a yard that the peleton passed early last week!

Of course, it might be that Barchetta owners don't like cycling...



Where are they all, a gaggle of original Fiat 500, classic Alfa Romeo, more elderly Lancia than you can shake a stick at, but only 1 Barchetta in 6 years.

Just saying.

Join them in The Italian Barchetta racing club, plenty of meetings, track days and group buys, original parts. face book page..

I live in Italy and have 2002 Barchetta Naxos. It's true, you don't see them too often. Italians aren't crazy about soft tops. They worry about air hitting them (seriously!) and when it's really hot they don't like it either. Most convertibles you see will have the top up anyway.. Yellow is the least desirable colour here as taxis used to all be yellow.

I live 20 miles from where they were built and see maybe one every two months. There are plenty here though, but I'm not sure when they drive them ..

I've taken mine back 3 times since buying it in December 2012 and saw just a

few others.

On a 2 week trip I saw 4 or 5,3 of which were silver.

Off topic but I saw a red one in Sweden last year....

I was in the Aosta Valley at Easter and saw just one but it was silver so it doesn't really count! I was in Spain at Nerja last week and saw a red one, now that's a Barchetta! Steve


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bumble said:

I was in the Aosta Valley at Easter and saw just one but it was silver so it doesn't really count!

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I don't have my B any more (boo) but when I did, I took it down to Italy on a 2800 mile round trip on holiday. On that trip I saw 1 yellow one (southern Belgium, driving the other way), 1 blue one in Süd Tyrol (for sale on a garage forecourt) and 1 silver one (a Riviera!), with German plates parked up at Lake Garda. And we went to Moncalieri where they were built (in the Maggiora days), I'd have thought I'd have seen at least one there..

Curiously enough, although I live in a small town in Southern England, there were 3 B's where I live when I had mine! Mine (1995/M, red), a blue one (1998/R, the guy still has it) and an '05 Silver one (which looked unloved, a shame).

They are rare cars, love your B's!

Cheers,

Plug

Plug said:

They are rare cars, love your B's!

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:yeahthat:

I saw a yellow B in Palermo last year.
Here in Spain there are also not many Barchetta. In summer on a sunny day in many parts of Spain it is to hot to drive with open roof and without air conditioning.

Even if you drive very, very fast?

When the air feels like being infront of a big hair dryer, even driving very very fast does not help !

When I was in Italy in 2008, I saw one parked and 1 driving on the road both had hoods up although it was warm enough to have them down. I never thought about it being TOO hot but, of course, you're right.

I'm off on my European travels soon.

Will report back my findings.

Not Italy sadly.

I managed to find a rarity, a Barch with AC. On very hot days we can drop the top and have it on full blast. It works well.

I do have the only Barchetta in South Africa. LHD cars cannot be imported into SA, but mine came in through an Italian Diplomat. The exclusivity means lots of interest!

Just got back from nearly 5000 miles round Sweden and other places.

Saw 1 B,in Orebro,dark metallic green.

Off topic but at least 3 different people commented with "nice car" .

Re the trip,car was "almost" totally fault free.

The bonnet wouldn't open when I wanted to check the oil after 2000 miles,

although I know my car doesn't use any oil but it's good to check.

Conversely the boot kept popping up randomly but only by an inch not spilling

the contents all over the road.

And the exhaust manifold guard under the car nearly fell off but that I guess

may be because it wasn't refitted properly when my manifold was replaced

recently,being as only 1 stud and nut was holding it on,not the required 4.

Barchetta Bloke 440 said:

being as only 1 stud and nut was holding it on, not the required 4.

Click to expand...

Oops. I take it that wasn't a DIY job, then! He was probably late for his tea.

Your Swedish trip sounds awesome! What route did you take to get there? It's such a shame that the ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg no longer operates, as it was very convenient for those of us down south, and the drive across Denmark to Sweden via the Oresund bridge is great fun.

The last time I was in Stockholm, I spotted a very tidy B parked in the car park of the Royal Palace. Great taste, those Swedish Royals

But the best B that I saw on that trip was in Helsinki - a fantastic yellow one with a customised yellow & black interior. It really was the B's knees

I went from Calais which explains the epic mileage.

I went all the way up to the Arctic Circle in Finland in it too,which isn't as great as it sounds as there is very little to see when you get there.

A filling station,tacky souvenir shop,which I obviously spent some money in,a hotel and a "meet Santa at his home" attraction.

I also drove it all the way from Holjes,Sweden back to Calais in about 27 hours,roughly 1250 miles .

I'll do a thread on it on and link it to here but it'll be more about the events I attended than the car as it was so reliable as always.

Midnight Sun rally,Power Big Meet and the World Rallycross championship round at Holjes were the 3 things i went to.

Hi there good to see a recent post. Just on my own road trip from Calais to Andorra via Limoges. Now in Cassis for quatorze juillet before heading via Vittel, Ghent and then back via Calais. Car has been faultless so far. Lovely car for the south of France. Two people have come up and commented on the pretty car.

Sounds like a great road trip! Drive safely. Steve


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