Brought back
from Italy.
This is Luigi. He was born in 1972 at the Fiat works, lived a full Italian life on narrow streets and steep hills, and was eventually shipped across the Atlantic to begin a quieter retirement. In the years since arriving stateside, he has been carefully restored from the floor pans up — not concours-perfect, but honestly and lovingly reassembled with the goal of making him drivable, reliable, and a great deal of fun.
The engine and transmission have both been freshly rebuilt. The original 500cc unit was bored out to 600cc, and the gearbox was swapped for the synchronized unit from a Fiat 126, which means smooth shifting instead of the famous "grind in every gear" of the original. The generator has been replaced with an alternator, and a proper electronic ignition lives where the points used to be. He starts on the first turn and idles like a metronome.
Cosmetically, he wears new doors, hood, and engine cover, a complete fresh interior with sport-bolstered seat covers, all-new window and door seals, alloy wheels with new tires, and a stainless steel bumper set. The floor pans are coated in a rhino-liner type protectant. Underneath, he has been treated as well. The whole lighting system has been upgraded; the rear stop and parking lights are LED, and even the dome light in the rearview mirror works properly.
And yes — he has La Cucaracha air horns. Of course he does.
