Postcard from Malta....

[kev131]

Normally my annual holiday involves driving long distances on routes that are new to me. This year we decided that a more relaxing holiday would be a nice alternative so we have found ourselves in Sliema in Malta. Thirty plus degrees since we got here and no rain. It's no co-incidence that Malta is the home of many classic cars, many of which are Fiats...and this influenced the choice of location. An added bonus is that they are RHD and with all the "urban myths" about what is actually out here I decided it was necessary to see for myself.

Having been here a week I've given up snapping the every day classics that live on every corner. Cortinas, Hunters, Austin 1100s, mark 1 Escorts, etc are everywhere and in daily use. Mixed in are a sprinkling of Cayennes and v8 Mercs which on a 17 mile by 22 mile island with a blanket speed limit of 80km/h seems overkill! 

The roads aren't great either which makes this car mad country quite a paradox. Everybody I have met so far is just nuts about cars, especially the older ones. Everyone has a car collection quite often located in several underground garages and lock ups. I've been privileged to see quite a few collections but there must be untold stuff stored away. I've renamed Malta "Treasure Island"!

I've been very lucky to meet Mr Fiat in Malta. I'll introduce him properly once I have his permission to do so. He knows everybody in the Fiat world here and so far I've seen 9 131s....5 of which are Racings. They look at you quizzically if you say Sport!

The best so far is a one owner 27000 mile grey car which must be the best one I've ever seen outside of a showroom. A great story goes with it but I'll save that for now. Unfortunately there was no price tag. But it gets better. Apparently there are two even cleaner ones to see yet - both silver and one with 12000 miles and the Fiat plastic still on the doors and seats. I can't wait to see that one!!!

[kev131]

James (Mr Fiat) is also a skilled mechanic and I've seen and heard two of his Engine creations...one in a Racing and the other in a Ritmo Abarth. The only word to describe them is that they "snarled"!!! Reving cleanly, quickly and without a cough.

I also had a tour of his workshop and some of his lockups. Pics to follow but he showed me some treasures from a glass cabinet. A single piece camshaft made by Ferrari for the Fiat TC engine, lightened con rod, lightened single piece valves, pistons with valve pockets, Tarox 6 piston brake calipers, etc etc. He is currently converting a Diesel Brava to a 20V 5 cylinder engine with 4wd!!! He also is building a 131 Abarth replica (group 4 arches) and the bodywork is done in steel...even the quarter panels and wings - all one piece. He and his friend made the parts from models and measurements from the real thing and the results look very good. Again pics to follow. Moulds have been made if anyone wants copies.

James also has a treasured series 3 Supermirafiori 1600 TC. He used it to tour Europe on his honeymoon. The engine is currently out as it was recently resprayed but the motor has been Dyno tested to 185bhp. He is very keen to attend 3MA13 in Bavaria and even keener to organise 3MA15 in Sicily with a day trip to Malta for some hill climbing.

James also competes in motor sport, often at the Autodromo Pergusa in Sicily. It's a 4.9km circuit that borders a lake. He drives an Alfa Romeo 155 Q4 and had a shelf of trophies. Anyway, despite not having a driven a car for over a week now the holiday so far has been more car orientated than ever. I have no means to upload photos at the moment but will do so when I get home..

[kev131]

What othe Fiats have I seen.....?

Well the first thing to say is that with a single exception, every Fiat I've seen has non standard wheels and many an uprated exhaust. It just seems the done thing here.

One of the nicest non 131s seen was a 29000 mile very late Argenta 110. Factory sunroof, twin carbs, wolf race alloys and a rear spoiler! It started and ran cleanly but I couldn't drive it as it was at a the back of a dark lockup. One owner from new too.

I also got to see the actual Fiat 125 (series 1) from the Stephen Spielberg film, Munich. It was an original Maltese Fiat but had Israeli stickers for authenticity. The current owner has these still. A beautiful original car with plastic door covers still on. The owner also has another 125 and 128 Nova for sale - both RHD.

A series 3 Fiat 132 was spotted casually parked in Valetta on our second day. A pair of Regatas passed by in the opposite direction and series 1 UNos are everywhere.

Back to 131s, two more are for sale. Both are series 3 1400 overhead cam 4 door models. Both are 4 speed gearboxes too which is unusual as I had thought Fiat made 5 speed standard across the range in S3! Both also have vinyl seats so quite basic specs but lovely honest cars. One is a one owner car with 54000 miles, Nov 1982 and the other is 3 owners, 40000 miles and 1981. No prices but I can put you in touch with the garage who can also arrange transport by road to the UK quite easily. Again, pics to follow.

There is a roaring trade in second hand uk sourced cars here. The garage I was speaking to know of a delivery of c10 cars arriving every Monday, Thursday and Saturday. These trucks often return empty or close to.

[simon131]

That's a great account of a what sounds like a wonderful Fiat packed holiday. I bet your missus is having the time of her life!

I hope to go to Malta as my darling wife's father was born on the island and she want's to visit his birthplace. Looking forward to it even more now.

[Rob 131]

Malta is never a place I have considered for a holiday .

Now I'm sold on the 'Old Italian Car Package Holiday to Malta' 

I recently spent 2 weeks in Tuscany and the oldest Italian car of interest that I saw was an Alfa 155. I also saw the odd Mk 1 Fiat Uno. That was it.

[Heini131]

Wow Kevin,

sounds like you are having a great time in "Fiat-Heaven" 

Enjoy your holiday and take a lot of 131-pics 

[Yagmur]

Hi Kev,
It is nice to hear about Malta but photos please...

[jasonh131]

A large family i see most months at a fiat motor club meet , allways go on about the old fiats there 
 2 older sisters , husband,  son, daughter and cousin all driving fiats 

[bellamacchina]

Great story so far, of course all pictures and more stories are great and keep me here

[Sev131]

Wow fantastic Kev....you must be on a constant buzz! i think Malta is on everyones list now!

I was told a few years ago that old cars were everywhere there.

What's the overall condition of an everyday run of the mill motor?

Can't wait for these pictures.

[kev131]

Jacquie is being very tolerant Si!! She has a good book to read.

The general condition of the old cars in every day use seems quite high Bobby. Malta's equivalent of a road worthiness test came in about 10 years Ago (called the VRT) and it was responsible for a lot of cars being scrapped. They also have an ongoing scrappage scheme but despite this, old cars are everywhere. Avengers, Victors, Morris Minors, some Japeneese stuff, 504s, R 16s, etc etc. I'm told the reason why so many are still on the roads are cash strapped owners but only those who can source parts from friends, etc are able to keep them running. The VRT costs about ?26 with no retest fee within two weeks.

We've had a hire car for the last 2 days which has allowed us to explore further afield. Two scrap yards have been searched but to no avail where old Fiats are concerned. The owners have been quite tolerant of strangers wandering around unsupervised - everyone seems so open and trusting here - It's refreshing.

There is a well known car museum in the north of the island in Qwara. Gerry Kennedy (RIP) visited there a few years ago and reported back about quite a nice orange Racing that they had on display. A purchase enquiry from me several years earlier had been politely declined. I had been anticipating seeing the car but was surprised to learn that it had been sold about 3 years ago - for in the region of ?7\8000. I had coffee with the museum owner who admitted to now regretting the sale and had tried to buy it back without success. A surprising piece of information was that this orange car with black trim originally had green bumpers, etc. from the factory and that an earlier owner had painted them black. I've not seen any pictures and I've never heard of this colour combination before but I've had it separately confirmed that it existed .....by another local source since! I find info like this intriguing...

The museum itself is a joy even if it is quite small compared with others I've seen. A lot of thought and care has gone into the displays and the cars are of the highest standard. No shortage of Fiats either with 5 classic cinquecentos, an immaculate 124 Spider, 1200 cabrio, 850 berlina and what must be the best 125 in the world. It's a restored S model and is available to buy at ?15000...although some haggling would see that drop to ?14000.

As my Fiat enthusiasm was evident I was introduced to a dealer who had a 35000 mile series 1 Fiat 124 in a lock up..for sale at ?5500. I was whisked off to see it and of course it was in another underground treasure cave. The car still had it's factory plastic on the doors although the seat plastic had just been removed for the first time a few weeks earlier. Around the corner was my first Moretti. These are Italian coach built specials based on standard Fiat mechanics. I'm not sure what this was based on (probably a 124) but it had an overhead valve 1500 engine. A bit of a sheep in wolf's clothing! Beautiful nonetheless.

[kev131]

While out driving we spotted three more 131s. Two series 3 Supers and a series 2 CL. I wasn't quick enough to get pictures unfortunately.

We did however get a chance to look at a series 1 Argenta. It was parked by the sea shore all on it's own so we stopped to have a look and take a few snaps. It was well beaten up but in obvious daily use. Having been all round it a couple of times I was hailed from the beach by the owner who with a combination of sign language and broken English invited me to open it to have a closer look. He roused himself from his sunbathing to chat some more. He's had it 30 years although not from new. Unusually it had a vinyl interior (like the 131s seen earlier) so maybe this was standard spec in Malta? Even more surprisingly it had a 2000 Toyota diesel engine. At some stage petrol escalated so much in price here that this was a common modification.

Apologies for the lack of pictures with these little stories but that will be sorted when I get home.

[Heini131]

It`s so much fun to read these little stories  

[daverwd]

jesus this is better than watching the soaps on tv...
keep the stories coming

[c.a.c131]

I am just like a child waiting for Christmas to come I just can't wait to see all these photo's for all the 131's and other Fiat's, especially the one's with all the factory plastic on them !

Kev could you not wet our appetite with just one photo please ?