Meet The Owner – Jeremy Darvill and his 1971 Fiat 124 Special T

“When I was 17, I drove one and fell in love with it, they are so beautifully balanced and understated. Simple lines but a delight to drive it started a lifelong love affair with all things Italian. I have owned four Alfas and three Fiats all of which I have adored”. Today, Jeremy Darvill owns one of the rarest cars to hail from Turin – a 1971 124 Special T.

Fiat launched the 124 in 1966. The British price was £782 – not unreasonable for the Car of the Year 1967, with dynamic abilities that were lauded by the motoring press. The specification also included all-round disc brakes - a rarity for a family car of this period. Four years later, the Special T version featured the 1,438cc dual overhead camshaft engine from the 124 Coupe (albeit in a slightly less potent form), a 99 mph top speed and a matt black grille with four headlamps.

Two years later, the motoring writer Bill Boddy concluded:

It sells here for £1,249.37. While I was in possession of it I also drove the Ford Escort Mexico. Both cars are similar, in size, performance and price. They could well be labelled HIS and HERS, the Mexico more accelerative, rougher, but with tamer handling, an even nicer gear-change and perhaps more economical, the Fiat more fully equipped and refined.

Automotive articles have somewhat changed since 1972...

In fact, the Special T was perfect for the driver with Ferrari tastes but a Hillman Hunter income – and a need for a sizeable boot to carry those sample cases. When piloting the Fiat, they could imagine themselves as Tony Anholt in The Protectors, even if the reality was the A303 outside of Yeovil. The later models boasted a 1,597cc engine and uprated suspension and while Motor thought the design was now middle-aged, they also thought few saloons could offer such performance for the money.

Italian production of the 124 ceased in 1974, the 131 Mirafiori, although versions built around the world lived on; the final ‘traditional' Lada left the Togliatti factory in 2012. Jeremy acquired his Fiat last year – “she had one elderly Italian gentleman as a previous owner and then spent some time in a private collection in the UK I believe. I then became ill, so I have been trying to get the registration sorted out whilst housebound”. As for his plans, the Fiat will benefit from a small amount of recommissioning – “it suffered a bit of damage to the celluloid (I think) paint on the bonnet whilst in storage which I need to get sorted. Apart from that, she is superb. I did think of installing the 1600 twin cam but she is so original I thought I would hold off”.

And so, in tribute to this exclusive machine, here is a magnificent example of Fiat product placement in the form of the 1971 film La Casse/The Burglars. The leading actor Jean-Paul Belmondo really did take the wheel of the 124 in some scenes, and who would not crave a new SP after seeing one chased through Athens by an Opel Rekord A? Enjoy…

With Thanks To: Jeremy Darvill