Meet The Owner – Herb and his Fiat 1500

I am 22 years old and have wanted a classic car since my early childhood - you could say I have admired them all my life. I remember my dad having a Morris Oxford Series VI Farina for a while; it was the family car until we found out the floor was made of cornflake packets! It was a great car, and despite that, we went everywhere in it. However, in the main, I grew up with old Volvos, so I was on the lookout for a 140 or 240, but when I saw the Fiat, I was drawn in.

One of the most heartening aspects of writing about classic cars is meeting the new generation of enthusiasts. Herb has only recently purchased his 1962 1500 at auction and cannot wait to take delivery – not least because it will be his first car! The Fiat let us remind ourselves, is far removed from the average 20-something transport with its four-speed steering column gearchange and non-assisted front brakes. But classic Italian car enthusiasts are famed for their spirit of adventure.

The 1500, and its 1300 stablemate, debuted in April 1961 to bridge the gap between the 1100 and 1800/2300 families. Its looks resembled a scaled-down Chevrolet Corvair, while Fiat commissioned a lavish promotional film starring Vittorio Gassman and Ilaria Occhini – a British equivalent in 2024 would be an advertisement featuring Tom Hardy and Emily Blunt:

In Italy the 1500 was archetypal middle-class transport but import duties meant its image in the UK was somewhat different. The Riley One Point Five, Singer Vogue or Vauxhall VX 4/90 FB were perhaps the 1500’s closest British equivalents but in 1961 the Fiat cost £1,146 8d. Such a sum that could have bought you a six-cylinder Ford Zodiac Mk. II or a Vauxhall Cresta PA.

As a result, the 1500 had to appeal to a niche market. Here was a compact saloon for those dashing motorists who craved a foreign car to match their taste in dark glasses and the latest in Italian-cut clothing. Jack Barclay Ltd., the company’s main London distributor, claimed: “Only Your Driving Can Improve A Fiat” - so why not call MAYfair 7444 to book a test drive?

And the 1500 was indeed an attractive proposition, with its quad headlamps (quite a sales feature in 1961), reversing light, and foot-operated windscreen washers. In addition, there was synchromesh on all gears, the front seats reclined, the dipping rear-view mirror incorporated a courtesy light, and there was a lighter for your Player’s Weights cigarettes. The dashboard also featured a hand throttle – a familiar device on Fiats of the 1960s that Herb has yet to encounter.

Motor Sport found the 1500 “a fast Italian family car of exceptional merit”, while Autocar believed it would “attract British buyers and it must be regarded as a formidable competitor in export markets”. A top speed of over 92 mph was brisk by early 1960s standards, and – as the Autocar report implied – the 1500 made certain UK manufacturers very glad of the import duties.

The 125 replaced the 1500 in 1967, and the original owner of Herb’s Fiat was a British engineer then living in Uganda. He ordered it from F Boero & Co at a price of 17,300 Ugandan shillings and took the 1500 with him on his return to the UK in 1964. Herb plans to “drive it back from Norwich to my home in Leeds towards the end of July”, and we cannot wait to report on his first experiences of classic car ownership.

Plus, as The Daily Mirror put it: “The instrument panel would do justice to a Space-ship”.

With Thanks To: Herb and https://www.facebook.com/groups/1561209263895568