Home » Cold Start: It’s Like A Chameleon

Cold Start: It’s Like A Chameleon

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There’s something about the strangely matte beige of this 1957 Fiat 1100 that just blends in with its sun-baked, desert-y environment so well, that if you told me this was actually a secret Italian military project to develop environmentally-triggered camaleontessa color-changing paint, I’d have believed you.

I mean, why wouldn’t I trust you about this? You told me you were in charge of the Italian army’s mid-century stealth programs, which is why I agreed to give you my Social Security number in the first place. Also, I don’t get why you need my bank PIN code, but I guess you know what you’re doing, right?

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Kody Dagley
Kody Dagley
1 year ago

I’ve always loved the little 1100! The later ones can be still found for pretty reasonable prices and they’re pretty reliable and simple to work on! The later styling loses a bit of the cool 50s design though.

Fun fact, there was a factory option for ONE center-mounted foglight!
https://www.denittoclassics.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2019/10/classic_fiat_500foto-1–750×400.jpg

Or as seen in this pic from a period brochure (on the right)! 😀
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Fiat-1100-103.jpg

Justin Short
Justin Short
1 year ago

Why Dutch? I found the brochure in English and Italian, but no, Torchy goes dutch on us!
And what of the Turismo Veloce, with a blistering top speed of 84mph and extended wings with different taillights?

Clearly I’ve been down the rabbit hole again, Thanks Jason!

Chris with bad opinions
Chris with bad opinions
1 year ago

Karma chameleon?

Dead Elvis Inc.
Dead Elvis Inc.
1 year ago

Suicide doors!

(Or maybe extreme self-harm doors.)

PaysOutAllNight
PaysOutAllNight
1 year ago

I love the unequal length grille bars.

Brummbaer
Brummbaer
1 year ago

Looks ready for “Bring A Trailer”.

Irv Warden
Irv Warden
1 year ago

An acquaintance of mine built a hot rod out of a 1959 Fiat 1100 station wagon fitted out with a MOPAR 360 V8. It is a totally pointless automobile, but I love it.

Len
Len
1 year ago

That car color looks familiar – several times/year our local reclamation facility has people bring in their old house paints and such, and mixes the safe (non-lead, latex) ones together to make “institutional paint”.

OpposedPiston
OpposedPiston
1 year ago

Is it matte or just non-metallic paint? I like the returned trend of shiny, non-metallic paints. I do wish automakers would expand the palette though.

NAMiata
NAMiata
1 year ago
Reply to  OpposedPiston

Obviously we have learned nothing in 65 years

Dead Elvis Inc.
Dead Elvis Inc.
1 year ago
Reply to  OpposedPiston

+1 simply for correct use of “palette” (vs pallet or palate)

Justin Short
Justin Short
1 year ago

La “1100 familiare” is beautiful

Mike Smith
Mike Smith
1 year ago

Top speed of *more than* 71 miles per hour!?! Geez, maybe you should just leave earlier, buddy…

Dead Elvis Inc.
Dead Elvis Inc.
1 year ago
Reply to  Mike Smith

Seems more than fast enough in that Fiat.

Larry B
Larry B
1 year ago

I don’t know if the doors are clever or weird or both.

Acrimonious Mofo
Acrimonious Mofo
1 year ago
Reply to  Larry B

They certainly are interesting. One of the first things did after reading this was search for an image of the front and rear door open at the same time, and it looked as weird as I thought it would.

Nlpnt
Nlpnt
1 year ago

This is the original postwar Fiat 1100 (Type 103); according to Wikipedia by ’57 they had moved on to the first facelift but is unclear whether or not the base-base model continued through MY1957 with this car’s 1953-era detailing. For model year 1958 there was a major facelift just in time for the 1958-60 import car boom in America.

Fruit Snack
Fruit Snack
1 year ago

Those tires are literal pizza cutters. It makes me feel like the rest of the car is paper-thin.

Marty Densch
Marty Densch
1 year ago
Reply to  Fruit Snack

I caught that, too. I’ve seen bicycles with fatter tires than that.

Civic Boy
Civic Boy
1 year ago

I’m always baffled by people today complaining all cars looks the same, but back then, look at that, is it a Morris Minor? Is it a Peugeot 403? A Simca? No it’s a Fiat.

Lew Schiller
Lew Schiller
1 year ago
Reply to  Civic Boy

As a Morris Minor owner I thought Peugeot 403

Andy Individual
Andy Individual
1 year ago
Reply to  Civic Boy

I don’t complain that cars look the same. I complain that so many are so ugly these days.

Raj S
Raj S
1 year ago

I have rode in many of these in India! They were rebadged as the Premier Padmini per India’s local production laws during their very socialist years.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Padmini

James Mitchell
James Mitchell
1 year ago

Why is everyone averting their gaze away from the car?

William Mayes
William Mayes
1 year ago
Reply to  James Mitchell

They are actually looking for the car. It is so well camouflaged, they can’t see it.

Andy Individual
Andy Individual
1 year ago
Reply to  James Mitchell

Shame.

Lew Schiller
Lew Schiller
1 year ago

This one’s also a good example of the “Oddly Posed Models in Advertising” series.

JohnTaurus
JohnTaurus
1 year ago
Reply to  Lew Schiller

Yeah, woman in red is looking at his crotch, he’s saying “oh, please”.

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