A few months ago I decided it was time to get yet another project car. Being from Scotland I thought it was time I owned something British and being who I am I had to have something different. I've seen enough MGs, Spitfires, Morris Minors and the like to last a lifetime. I decided that I had to get a Hillman Imp. It's Scottish, it's rare, it's perfect! I started the daily eBay and Craigslist search. It was soon obvious that finding an Imp wasn't going to be an easy task.
Perhaps a Triumph Herald might be the right car? With visions of Emma Peel and "Swinging London" dancing in my head I again did the Craigslist search. I found a couple in Sacramento and one in Tehachapi but for some reason they didn't feel right. They just weren't... sexy enough.
Maybe I needed to forget about the British car thing. Did I need to become a FIAT owner again? I had owned a few FIATs before; a 1977 X1/9, a 1977 124 Spider and $40 850 Spider that I bought to part out on eBay. OK, a FIAT, let's see what I find. In order to make the search easier I used crazedlist. It searches ALL Craigslist sites and I found a posting for a 1970 FIAT 850 Sport Coupe in Pleasant Hill, California. I had never seen one in person before and a google image search was all it took to get me hooked. A few emails later and I had a appointment to check it out.
The owner, Stan, is a retiree that buys projects, gets them running then sells them on. He does it more as a hobby to keep busy than a way of making money. The FIAT however had him beat. After a year of weekends spent wrenching, it still refused to start. I love a challenge though and since the car was pretty straight, rust free and complete a deal was struck. I couldn't pass it up. Now... how do I get a car that doesn't run back to San Francisco... cheaply?
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