Evening one and all. According to the information on the car up for sale on E-bay, the programme 'For The Love of Cars' on Sunday 10th May will be the restoration of a 500L. It would seem that the guy who bought it at the auction (Coy's), has found himself in financial stook and has had to put it up for sale alteady----if the standard of their previous programmes is anything to go by, it should be worth watching.

So it got pulled from E-bay early. How much????


it was £7800 reserve not met, cost £10030


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-500-...OXJ%2FwQF6nRsEEkpW4Cs%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

I was about to post the above news but too late (as usual)

Anyway, Channel 4 , 8 pm, tonight, May 10,programme 'For the love of cars' will feature a restoration on a Fiat 500. This prog. will be repeated on Channel 4seven on Mon. May 11th at 8pm plus various other times on Ch 4 and 4seven sometimes in the early am hours which might suit some better.

(With all due recognition to 'the hobbler', just giving some extra info re. prog. times and dates)

Al.

Was that turquoise blue or darker?
Looked nice but didn't like the sunroof colour. Being an L it surely should have had nudge bars?

Do you reckon he pulled it off of ebay with the bright idea to stick it back on AFTER the show aired?

Ps. Always great to see an original 500 on tv, but that's probably the least I've seen of the actual resto part out of the few resto shows that exist.

The wheeler dealers one was quite informative...and the Classic Car SOS did that stuff with the engine.

It's a great programme and they sure do a really nice resto, but I'm with you in the fact that they never show enough of the car or restoration. They should have driven around London in a 500

Ps. Look who's back!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-500-...1883450100?clk_rvr_id=828260092446&rmvSB=true

Personally not a fan of the white walls, but loved the colour

I suppose it's no surprise that's it's on eBay, as they did say that they were dealers.

cheers, Steve

thisisburdett said:

Ps. Look who's back!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-500-...1883450100?clk_rvr_id=828260092446&rmvSB=true

Click to expand...

Is that a genuine auction?

Franko500 said:

Was that turquoise blue or darker?
Looked nice but didn't like the sunroof colour. Being an L it surely should have had nudge bars?

Click to expand...

It wasn't turquoise blue. I suspect it was not an original Fiat colour but it did look ok. Agree on the sunroof it looked wrong, would have been better in black.

Very little of the 500 restoration which was disappointing but interestingly to purest like me and someone who I won't mention they kept it original.

But still nice to see our favourite car getting air time on TV.

It would be interesting to know if an F or a D would go for more money at auction, I suspect a RHD with round speedo and big steering wheel would go for a couple of thousand more but in a few weeks time we should see with Aaron's 500.

Is this the price of TV Celebrity....?
Looking at the ebay pics I'm absolutely amazed at this price- is it just me that thinks it was done to a deadline rather than a standard?
One would hope for more than 3 pictures for that sort of money but for me that was enough to question this 'professional' restoration.
Uneven panel gaps everywhere, shocking fit of the door and engine lid, missing side trims along the sills, no nudge bars or gutter trims, nasty repro lights, let alone that awful yellow top.
It is an absolute insult to represent this as an example of how any new 500 would have looked in a Fiat showroom- All I can assume is that once the buyer actually realised what they owned they decided to bail out while they could???

and then it was gone again!

Re: Fiat 500 on TV

New series of Car SOS starts tonight in the U.K. On Nat Geo at 8pm. It's not a 500 on tonight's episode but I know there is one in this series as they filmed at Ricambio in Wallington and I am sure Franco will make an appearance.

All being well I will be chatting to Fuzz and Tim on Sunday morning when they are scheduled to make an appearance at 'John Woods open day' at Mollington Grange (just outside Chester) I will be there in body, but sadly 'mit out' car as it is still being rebuilt. I will see what I can find out about their 500.
If any Forum members are able to attend, look for the bearded guy with an Abarth jacket---cioe io!

I know this isn't 500 related but did anyone watch the one last night on the Mercedes Pagoda?

I don't think Peter would even have taken on that basket case? It was like someone who has never welded before was having a practice before they tried it for real. I think they said there were a hundred dodgy repairs panels on the car.

TV cars..... I have first hand experience, as I was the (very, very) lucky winner of the car on Channel 5's Classic Car Rescue. I've done a lot to it (and had a lot done to it) in the three years or so since I've had it. The engine and suspension have undergone full 595ss Abarth spec upgrades for starters.

When I got it the body work was fundamentally excellent. There was quite a lot of trim..... missing..... shall we say, and a very helpful owners club member helped me with quite an extensive missing parts list.

The mods that they did to the top of the engine (head, the high lift cam etc) were also excellently done, but they didn't touch the bottom of the engine at all (the centrifugal oil filter still had 40+ years of crud in it!!!). It also hadn't been tuned, basically it seemed like they'd just put back together and started it.

It was no doubt restored in haste for the TV cameras, but hey, I'll certainly never complain. The raw materials of a magnificent, well restored car were there, it just needed a bit of a push along with some "ownership" TLC.

It was (and is) a great car. It's a very different one today versus the one they delivered, but I always tip my cap the Channel 5 just before I climb in to it. The cost of the text message to enter the competition was the best £2.50 I'll ever spend!

Sadly, I don't have satellite TV, (actually, to be honest, I am glad I don't), so at the moment can't watch the new series of "Car SOS". I did manage to speak to Fuzz Townsend the other Sunday, and yes there definitely IS a 500 in the new series. He briefly explained all the problems he had with the car and what they had to do in order to get it finished in time---and then swore me to secrecy!! I think that the Forum members will find the programme very interesting--and for them's like wot I am, it will be on 'terrestrial' TV in about September.
As for the 'Pagoda SL' that was on the first of the new series, these are very difficult cars to restore properly. They have a nasty habit of rusting out the main, front bulk-head, which is a bitch to repair. the people who are doing my 500 have restored 5 'Pagoda' Sls---and all the work has come by word-of-mouth. Greg, the 'body man' is superb--his 'shut-lines' are just about as good as factory (and I should know---did my apprenticeship on them)

Just a reminder Car SOS Nat Geo 8pm tonight is the 500 episode. I believe from what I have read its a bit of a Peter style eBay purchase!

A bit of unseen footage from last nights show on the Car SoS Facebook page. I get the impression that Fuzz hasn't taken a 500 engine apart before.

https://www.facebook.com/carsosofficial/?ref=ts&fref=ts

Vitesse said:

I get the impression that Fuzz hasn't taken a 500 engine apart before.

Click to expand...

Yes, he was a bit confused about "the heater". Still, he seemed quite charmed by the clever design.
I was surprised he was a bit heavy-handed; not unscrewing things progressively and not a drop of penetrating oil. I always make a point of keeping things like the pushrods in order. If he re-used the pistons and barrels I hope he didn't mix the barrels up.
Was the full programme a good portrayal of a restoration? Did the presenters like the finished car as much as they should have done?