f124ncobarchetta
New member
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2014
- Messages
- 34
- Points
- 18
Hi All
I am a 3 year proud owner of a lovely little 1995 RHD OrangeBarchetta restoration project of mine (yes you heard correct, I said right handdrive). I have read on this forum where many people have expressed theiropinion with varying pros and cons of a RHD version. Everyone is entitled totheir own opinion and I respect that.
Here’s mine.
I am over 50 now. In my lifeI have owned many cars, a good few of which have been Fiat, Lancia and AlfaRomeo (all built for the UK market and so RHD) and I have grown to know andlove them all quite well. I am one of those people who love to work on theirown cars wherever possible (and yes, even I have limits) and have seen my fairshare of mechanical challenges over the years. In my experience I have come to recognise that most of the cars I haveowned are built in such a way by the manufacturer to be capable of being LHD orRHD, and have all the necessary access panels and fittings to enable them to beconfigured as one or the other etc. You only need to go abroad and see yourmodel of car in another country to know this is true. Yes I recognise that someparts need to be exchanged in order to swap from one drivers side to the other,and depending on how far you want to go on the conversion, if you don’t changesome of the parts for their RHD counterparts then the visual aesthetics can be affectedand look quite strange(mine is no exception), but structurally, the vehiclemanufacturers have generally designed the major parts into the bodywork design asoptions. Weather they choose to utilise this flexible option or exclusivelydecide to only make one particular option is their decision. This is when theafter- market conversion specialists come into play. Although some people,including me, may be comfortable driving a LHD car in the UK (perfectly legalof course) it is still a little risky due to the driving position and I seethat some people have expressed their concern at this major safety point. The other thing toconsider is the wiring. Quite often a major part of the swap would involve somekind of re- wiring or remapping/replacement of a loom to accompany theconversion. Not an easy job, but not impossible on these older cars and must bedone to a high standard for safety reasons. My mechanical knowledge is prettysound and from the experience of rebuilding my Barchetta engine I am quiteconfident that the mechanical conversion done to my Barchetta (doneprofessionally in Germany with all the paperwork of a previous owner) is nomore dangerous than the regular RHD Fiat (or other Italian cars of this age) wecan buy in the UK and has not affected the main structure of the car. I havehad plenty of fun in this car over the last 3 years and expect plenty more. Thisis only my personal view based on my personal experience and is not intended tosway you one way or the other. Your experience will be different. Owning an older car should not be entered intolightly, requires a great deal of patience (waiting for parts to arrive),passion and a level of respect, Oh! and a good mechanic, a very large wallet, understandingpartner (if you are married) a spare car (when this one goes wrong) and anexcellent members club. I hope this have given you things to think about.
I am a 3 year proud owner of a lovely little 1995 RHD OrangeBarchetta restoration project of mine (yes you heard correct, I said right handdrive). I have read on this forum where many people have expressed theiropinion with varying pros and cons of a RHD version. Everyone is entitled totheir own opinion and I respect that.
Here’s mine.
I am over 50 now. In my lifeI have owned many cars, a good few of which have been Fiat, Lancia and AlfaRomeo (all built for the UK market and so RHD) and I have grown to know andlove them all quite well. I am one of those people who love to work on theirown cars wherever possible (and yes, even I have limits) and have seen my fairshare of mechanical challenges over the years. In my experience I have come to recognise that most of the cars I haveowned are built in such a way by the manufacturer to be capable of being LHD orRHD, and have all the necessary access panels and fittings to enable them to beconfigured as one or the other etc. You only need to go abroad and see yourmodel of car in another country to know this is true. Yes I recognise that someparts need to be exchanged in order to swap from one drivers side to the other,and depending on how far you want to go on the conversion, if you don’t changesome of the parts for their RHD counterparts then the visual aesthetics can be affectedand look quite strange(mine is no exception), but structurally, the vehiclemanufacturers have generally designed the major parts into the bodywork design asoptions. Weather they choose to utilise this flexible option or exclusivelydecide to only make one particular option is their decision. This is when theafter- market conversion specialists come into play. Although some people,including me, may be comfortable driving a LHD car in the UK (perfectly legalof course) it is still a little risky due to the driving position and I seethat some people have expressed their concern at this major safety point. The other thing toconsider is the wiring. Quite often a major part of the swap would involve somekind of re- wiring or remapping/replacement of a loom to accompany theconversion. Not an easy job, but not impossible on these older cars and must bedone to a high standard for safety reasons. My mechanical knowledge is prettysound and from the experience of rebuilding my Barchetta engine I am quiteconfident that the mechanical conversion done to my Barchetta (doneprofessionally in Germany with all the paperwork of a previous owner) is nomore dangerous than the regular RHD Fiat (or other Italian cars of this age) wecan buy in the UK and has not affected the main structure of the car. I havehad plenty of fun in this car over the last 3 years and expect plenty more. Thisis only my personal view based on my personal experience and is not intended tosway you one way or the other. Your experience will be different. Owning an older car should not be entered intolightly, requires a great deal of patience (waiting for parts to arrive),passion and a level of respect, Oh! and a good mechanic, a very large wallet, understandingpartner (if you are married) a spare car (when this one goes wrong) and anexcellent members club. I hope this have given you things to think about.
