DOTS: Somewhat Interesting Cars Of Sicily

"RPM esq." (rpm3) 11/28/2017 at 15:24 • Filed to: Dots, italy, sicily

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You’ve seen one of the hundreds of Piaggio Apes I’ve seen (mostly clogging up traffic and belching foul-smelling exhaust, to be honest) and my lovely blue Alfa Romeo rental. Now here are some random things I spotted while walking around today.

A Tata pickup. I also saw a Great Wall pickup truck with the ugliest bed cover/rear window combination imaginable. No picture because I was busy driving.

A Land Rover Freelander with a removable rear, which I suspect is the only way to enjoy a Freelander.

I swear I saw this thing reviewed on Top Gear but I can’t remember what it is. Anyone? ETA: Smart Coupe version of the Smart Roadster. Thanks, everyone!

Last but certainly not least, a Citroen CX with a lovely brown leather interior that looks like an old man’s living room.

Also: approximately a million Fiat Pandas and Puntos, many Smart cars, both Vauxhall and Opel Astra variants, numerous other terrible econoboxes, diesel commuter trims of 3-series and C-classes and small Audis, and several tractors blocking highways. Plus two beat-up Jeep Compasses and a really nice old Fiat 500.

Wacko > RPM esq. 11/28/2017 at 15:31

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smart roadster

Milky > RPM esq. 11/28/2017 at 15:40

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I love me a pickup where the body only comes down to the top of the rims, not the centerline.

crowmolly > RPM esq. 11/28/2017 at 15:44

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Yeah, I heard the parking gets pretty tight.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > RPM esq. 11/28/2017 at 15:52

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In Sicily just because? Also, that Tata pickup is awesome

Cé hé sin > RPM esq. 11/28/2017 at 15:53

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Never seen a CX with round headlights before. Some kind of aftermarket conversion?

In my experience the most commonly seen car in Italy is the Mk1 Fiat Panda, which suggests that they have a very dry climate...

The unknown is a Smart Roadster coupé (as opposed to the plain Roadster).

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > RPM esq. 11/28/2017 at 15:59

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Yay Pandas! :D

I do love the classic 500 though, so awesome you saw one! The little silver roadster is a Smart!

fintail > Cé hé sin 11/28/2017 at 16:18

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There was a private importer or two of CX in the US back in the day, not sure if these are the same units:

RPM esq. > Wacko 11/28/2017 at 16:21

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Thanks!

Cé hé sin > fintail 11/28/2017 at 16:22

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Weird. I’d guess they’re the same ones. The rest of the car looks to be “rest of the world” spec though.

CXs are beginning to go for quite fancy prices now.

RPM esq. > Cé hé sin 11/28/2017 at 16:23

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You’re right about the early Pandas, at least in the hills...a little less common on the coasts as far as I can tell, perhaps because the sea air turned them all to dust by now.

Cé hé sin > crowmolly 11/28/2017 at 16:23

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Oooh, a Mirafiori! Don’t see them often now.

RPM esq. > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 11/28/2017 at 16:24

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Because vacation! Eating all the food and drinking all the wine.

fintail > Cé hé sin 11/28/2017 at 16:24

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Italian market sidemarkers, so likely not a re-import (also looks like an older car with the chrome mirrors etc). I’ve seen US light conversions on W126 and R107 in Europe, too - anything just to be different.

Can’t be too many truly pristine survivors anymore, same thing is happening to W126 prices in Europe, for the best cars anyway.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > RPM esq. 11/28/2017 at 16:27

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Awesome...enjoy the food for me! My dad is from there but I haven’t been there since I was a kid.

CaptDale - is secretly British > RPM esq. 11/28/2017 at 16:38

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I want this!

Cé hé sin > fintail 11/28/2017 at 19:01

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Actually Italian market indicator repeaters! Side marker lights weren’t required in Italy, then or now. They’re allowed in the EU but rarely fitted.

fintail > Cé hé sin 11/28/2017 at 21:11

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Even weirder then, that’s a small lens for a repeater. Cool.

I can imagine side markers are a dumb Murkan thing, but they make it easy to date some cars anyway.

Cé hé sin > fintail 11/29/2017 at 04:37

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Those little round ones were almost universal on Italian cars at one time. Like this 128 and 127:

And even this Miura:

fintail > Cé hé sin 11/29/2017 at 09:19

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I remember it from the late run DS in “European Vacation” (many scenes filmed in Italy, never mind the plate):