By Jim Brennan
We receive a lot of image submissions here at Hooniverse HQ, but this one caught us off guard. This was submitted by Josh in New York (Thanks, Man). This is what he has to say:
I got off work in midtown and was walking to the subway and saw a sweet Ferrari California — I was taking some pictures when THIS zipped by!
So here is a challenge to all of you New York City based readers; What’s the background of this vintage Fiat?
Jeff Glucker
I don't know, but an identical one used to park in the lot on 9th near 34th.
It was the first 500 I'd seen, but it was 30 feet up on the racks and I couldn't see the badges. It wasn't until I saw the movie Cars that I realized what it was.
There's a yellow 500 in nice condition that I see around Miami once in a while. Amazing how tiny it looks in traffic.
I've seen a few around Toronto (fairly big Italian population), although I'm not sure they've ever been in motion. Anyhow, I support the notion of a Fiat saving New York, although I don't know what it needs to be saved from. Godzilla, I guess.
It looks like it's connected to a restaurant (San Rocco) at 39 West 24th Street. Here's the Web site (includes a menu in PDF format):
http://www.sanroccony.com/index.html
Note that the Cinquecento wears vintage Italian plates.
When I was a GI stationed in Italy in the early Eighties, I saw plenty of these Cinquecentos. Once, six of us squeezed ourselves into one and the guy driving it gave us a lift back to post. These had a reputation as being completely bulletproof.
The grey suit really completes the ensemble. Hopefully whenever something goes wrong in traffic this dude hops out and begins frantically arguing and gesturing with a cigarette dangling from his lips.
Seeing my picture pop up in my news feed is a great start to an otherwise terrible Monday, thanks fellas!
It's little stuff like this that actually makes NYC seem kind of worthwhile (now if only I could afford to have a real job AND live someplace with a garage.)
Side note: visited the Tesla showroom in NYC this weekend. Boy was that underwhelming.
I am trying to find one of these for a reasonable price as a home for the engine from my RC51, which is currently all wadded up.
With the engine cover popped open!
A good friend who had just sold her Mini Cooper (she had gotten one of the first "new ones) after only owning it for a few months, the first thing she said when she saw my new little old Honda was, "Your days of driving around with a beer between your legs are Over!"
Nice post! GA is also my biggest earning. However, it is not only a a great deal.