Continuing on with our journey through the Other Makes category of eBay, and this time I thought I would dispense with all the high-caliber makes like BMW, Iso, Holden, Maserati, Rover or even Graham, and present this Fiat 600 Multipla Van Thingy Project. This version of the Fiat 600 was produced from 1956 until 1969, which is a remarkably long production life. They are rather rare in North America, so would you plunk your hard earned cash for this project? According to the listing:

This is an extremely rare Fiat Multipla. This van version of the Fiat 600 saloon has become a very desirable vehicle in the world of microcars with nice examples always over $20,000 and sometimes over $40,000. This is a much more affordable project car that has a lot going for it. It does run and although far from being ready for the highway it can be driven under its own power (see video below). The Engine has been upgraded to a later Fiat 850 (actually 903cc) unit with the camshaft replaced so the engine rotates the same direction as the original 600 engine. The previous owner told me the engine was rebuilt but I’m not sure exactly how far they went with it. At least new Rings and gaskets. It does start fairly easy and runs pretty well. The Exhaust header has a leaking weld near the head (you can see this in the video) which makes it sound a bit rough although it does run on all cylinders. There is no coolant in it and it will need some hoses replaced and sorted before it can be added. I did not run it for very long at one time while making the video. The clutch works great and the gearbox shifts nice through all gears (non-synchro first). The body has it’s fair share of dents but nothing too terrible. Unfortunately it looks like at one point someone was going to flare the rear wheel arches but only got as far as bending the metal out. It definitely has some rust but for an Italian car of this era it’s far better than most. There are some holes in the floor mainly on the drivers side and some rust in other spots like the bottom of the back door on the drivers side. The basic structure is very solid and the rust is minimal making this a great candidate for restoration. The paint is obviously pretty rough and will need respraying. The glass is all in good condition. The Interior is mostly complete. there is no headliner. Some of the door cards are off and in rough condition but still here. The front bench seat has lots of splits, the rear bench isn’t as bad but not great either. The dashboard is good and the speedometer works! There is no key and currently the ignition is switched on by a toggle switch. The rest of the electrics aren’t connected at the moment but when I briefly jumpered some of the wiring where the ignition switch should be it seemed like most of it worked (dash warning lights etc.) The brakes do not work at all and will probably need most of the hydraulics replaced. The tires are very old and only suitable for moving it around, they do all hold air although one goes flat within 24 hours. It does not come with a Title, Bill of sale only.

There is less than nine hours remaining on this auction, and the current bid is $5,100, which seems a bit outrageous to me, but what do I know? With Fiat returning to the States, maybe collectible Fiats will regain in popularity, if not outpace their current values. See the listing here, and tell me if this Fiat is one you would want to tackle on your own. Oh, and take a look at the video below… [youtube width=”640″ height=”480″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSLMtj–aTg[/youtube]