Mario the Multipla 2021

Received this message yesterday which was lovely but then realised we hadn’t blogged for just on a year and felt really guilty! Life just got too busy with too many responsibilities and blogging unfortunately came too far down the list. But with the world getting back to a sort of ‘normal’, maybe it was a nudge to get back to regular postings.

The last thing Mario did before lockdown was Goodwood Revival 2019, in his usual role as taxi, we had had a great weekend, working hard but meeting up with old friends at our favourite weekend of the year. On the Monday after the event, I took Mario back and there unfortunately he stayed until the end of May this year. (I will get round to posting some pics from Revival).

Amazingly James went to check him over and he started straight away after 20+ months! He gave him a good check over and then we took him on a test drive. It was so good to be back on the road on a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon. It was quite a test too as James navigated us to the top of Bignor Hill, high up on the South Downs. A beautiful spot with lovely views to the sea but a very narrow bumpy semi rough road made it more like a Hill Climb than a Sunday drive. But a successful test and Mario was back in action.

The following weekend I took Mario back to his spiritual home – Goodwood. The first Breakfast Club in two years, a special day for Members only and finally allowed within the last level of Covid restrictions. We had a lovely early morning drive to the circuit and took up our place on the track. It seemed both strange and familiar to be back and slightly weird to be with all those people. A very enjoyable morning was had catching up with friends I hadn’t seen throughout the pandemic and remembering just what a stir Mario causes!

So, here we are in July 2021, things re opening up, Mario has an invite to the Goodwood Members open day in August and is already signed up for taxi duty at the Revival. We’ve been collecting interesting bits and bobs to post and so hopefully will start to get those on here asap.

For the 2019 Revival Mario had a bit of a make-over. after 20 years without a headlining, we finally got round to creating a rather special and unique one. Using my ‘Mario’ design from my Revival coat lining, I had some some rather spectacular Velvet printed at ‘Spoonflower’ and after many hours of measuring and fitting we had it quilted onto wadding and bound to create a panel which we bonded onto the inside of the roof. Amazingly it stayed in place for the 20 months he was shut away and still looked spectacular.

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A look back at the Goodwood Revival 2018

Writing the blog unfortunately keeps getting put down the ever growing ‘to do’ list of tasks but finally here is a predominantly photo report on Mario’s favourite weekend of the year – being part of the Goodwood Transport Corps at the Revival. I can’t believe it was four months ago but a cold January day is the perfect time to look back on the wonderful early Autumn sunshine we experienced last September. After the torrential rain of the 2017 Revival, we had perfect conditions.

Mario was packed up with all the kit and we set off for Goodwood. As we turned into the estate, Mario stopped and wouldn’t start again! I couldn’t believe he’d disgraced himself. Luckily Regie and James weren’t far behind and a quick bit of fettling got him back up and running smoothly – phew. We went straight to see the cricket match and flypast before our briefing and sorting our accommodation before supper. Friday dawned with glorious sunshine. No new outfit this year but a few new accessories including these fab 60’s earrings. We were working all afternoon shifts so we were able to have a good look round in the morning. Highlights were cars from the movies, including The Great Escape, Bullet and Le Mans and we saw Howard from Take That who was racing his Porsche! Goodwood were celebrating British Transport and had a real steam train at the entrance with the fabulous GAG (Goodwood Actors Guild) providing the entertaining passengers and crew.Once we were on duty there was no stopping, taking guests back and forwards to the Hotel, Kennels and House. It was a long afternoon as there was the first race of the meeting which ran into the twilight and so we didn’t finish until really late.
The following morning we discovered that in all the panic of the previous evening getting people back after the end of the race, unfortunately one of Mario’s back seats had broken. The seat couldn’t have been properly locked in and so had twisted, pulling out the captive nut. The only thing to do until it could be repaired properly, was to remove the seat, not so much of a problem as we could still take 4 passengers if one sat in the front.
It was good to have the ‘taxi team’ back together. Most people have been doing it for years, so it’s always a reunion of old friends. We transport many familiar faces too, with ‘customers’ coming back year after year. It’s nice to hear people say that we’ve made their weekend.
2018 was a special year as it was the 20th anniversary of the Revival and the GRRC. There were special events held for members over the weekend. The first was a special grid walk at the start of the Rob Walker Parade. A friend and one of James’ customers had his Facel Vega (previously owned by Rob) on the Grid.  Sunday was another beautiful day. We watched the kids get ready for the Settrington Cup, this is always fun and the kids are very determined and competitive.
Not working mornings meant we had a chance to have a good look round the paddocks. There was a tinge of sadness as we had heard the news that Barry ‘Whizzo’ Williams had passed away, he was a big supporter of Goodwood and motorsport in general, at one of the early Revivals James had taken part in a display event on track with Barry.We always have a lot of fun with the Taxi fleet. Up at the house at the fuel and maintenance yard, they had dressed it as ‘Gatwick’ Airport, this is part of a fun competition between the various departments on the estate for a team photo. On Sunday there was a special anniversary parade with winners from over the years of the event. As founder members we were allowed on the grid before the parade, this was very special and the Duke made a speech thanking Members for their support over the years.

All in all, it was one of the best Revivals for a number of years, we did have to work very hard but it is much better in good weather and the shift system allowed us to have time to enjoy the event. We can’t wait to be back in 2019 – Mario already has his contract!

Celebrations past and present…

This weekend we will be at Goodwood as part of the Revival period taxi fleet. This year is the 20th anniversary of the Revival and there will be lots of celebrations happening and on Sunday Mario’s ‘brother’ Regie the Renault 4cv is going to be turning 60 so there is lots to look forward to.

While going through some old files the other day I came across a written report of Regie’s 40th birthday. We organised a special treasure hunt and a picnic at Goodwood with the permission of the estate. So to follow is that report and some pictures of the day. Mario  hadn’t even been thought of then but he’ll be there to enjoy the day this time. We’ll post about this years celebrations and the Revival after the weekend.

Regie’s special day out (Sept 1998)
September 9th 1998 was a very important day. Regie our Bugatti blue 4CV convertible, was going to be forty. It was decided that the occasion couldn’t go unmarked and so Regie would have to have a party.

The date was set for Sunday 13th September, giving us a weeks grace from our return from the South of France, to organise and sort out any health worries with Regie – considering his form on our Previous holiday this was quite possible! Invites were duly sent to all his 4-wheeled friends, with instruction letters for their ‘parents and guardians’. A good response was received but an unfortunate clash with the Paris to Marrakech Rally meant that several of his more athletic friends were otherwise engaged.

The 13th dawned, dry but very cold, this seemed rather good in respect of the previous weeks weather but rather a shock for recent holiday makers. Regie’s ‘Grandparents’ were dispatched with the ‘Grumpy Truck’ (our Citroen H-Van) to the picnic site at Goodwood (as previously agreed with the Earl of March), to set up as the catering unit – they could have made quite a profit selling teas to ramblers before we arrived!

Meanwhile the party-goers, assembled in the car-park of the King’s Arms at Fernhurst, awaiting the arrival of the birthday boy… he turned up to cheers, dressed in a birthday banner and Bugatti blue balloons.

As VIP, Regie was first off, on the treasure hunt, with his ‘mum’ Jane at the wheel and her mate Karen as navigator. Although no route secrets had been divulged, It took place in our local area, which was probably a good thing, as driver and navigator had a lot of gossip to catch up on! The route devised by James, took about a hour, over very scenic country roads, winding through Northchappel, Kirdford, Wisborough Green, Petworth and Duncton, picking up numerical clues on the way. This included counting figures on pub signs, code numbers from fire hydrants and chimneys and the most controversial being the number of post boxes along one lane. Was it five or six? James has been back to check, however, I won’t reopen the argument by saying who was right! but they do say that the judges answer is final.

Luckily the rain held off and Regie managed to complete the run ‘topless’, although hats, gloves and flying jackets were essential for the crew – rather sad in early September. The ‘Grumpy Truck’ was in position under the trees, decked out in red white and blue bunting and more matching balloons. A feast had been prepared, displayedt on black and white chequer cloths and plates. A huge birthday cake (specially made by friend Carol McGovern) was centre stage, complete with a sugar crafted model of Regie on top.

Regie parked up in the middle with the other vehicles forming a semi circle around him as they arrived. The order of arrival however seemed rather different to the start, either due to the swopping around of the drivers and navigators or perhaps one or two unscheduled refreshment stops! – it was Sunday lunchtime after all.

The Champers was cracked open – chosen during a rather excessive tasting session earlier in the year at Le Mans – and the French peasant style buffet tucked into – French bread, cheese and pates, courtesy of our holiday, fortified with lots of chicken and sausages. This was followed up with ‘Grannies’ home-made apple pie.

The champagne and conversation flowed while completing a small quiz, there was some cheating – you all know who you are! The answers were all connected to Regie, France or 1958, if only everybody had realised. Guests also enjoyed reading the board with all Regie’s letters, cards and e-mails from friends both present and absent, it’s amazing how articulate some of these cars are, Regie received messages from all corners of the UK, Germany and even a birthday note from Austrailia, this was from Hugh who we met at the Renault Centenary Weekend and who appears to be the ‘Regie Fan Club down under’!

The afternoon wound up with a prize giving. The Treasure Hunt prize was awarded for the closest combination figure from the questions answered and a guess to the mileage recorded by James in the sweep vehicle. This was won by the Simca with Chris and Ailsa at the wheel. Two prizes were given for ‘furthest travelled’ – the Escort Mexico (Dave Jones) which had come from Oxfordshire and a rather sneaky award to ‘Burlington Bertie’, the boat-tailed Austin 7 Special and his guardians Dave and Mel – they all turned in a van after competing in the Brighton Speed Trials! The Mann’s Lagonda got the ‘most pubs visited on route’ prize, but they were busy very trying to think up an alternative reason to tell the family back home!

And finally the prize for the car Regie ‘most fancied’ had to be awarded to ‘Michelle’, James Polden’s 4CV and a very pretty sight they made posing together with James’ ‘baby’ pedal car.

Everybody began to make their way home, the cold finally beginning to bite, but we think that Regie and his friends had a jolly good time – roll on his 5Oth!

REGIE’S GUESTS INCLUDED:-

• ‘Michelle’, 4CV – James Polden

• Healey Tickford – Clive Willoughby complete with gramophone, musical instruments, rubber chicken and rat

• ‘Josephine’, Lagonda M45 Tourer – The Mann’s

• Alvis Firefly – George Melville

• Escort Mexico – Dave Jones

• ‘The Queen Mary’, Willys Jeepster – Harriet Langridge

• ‘Froggy’, Frogeye Sprite – Terry Langridge

• ‘Elsie’, Escort – Tracy & Andy Rogers

• ‘Eda’, Simca – Chris & Ailsa

• Austin Healey 3000 – Hugh & Eillen Shearer

• Mustang – Adam Simmonds

• Landrover – Sprout and Julie Wade

• Stretched Mini – Geoff & June Theobald (Regie’s Trimmer)

• MG – Ian and Jo Wilson

• ‘Burlington Bertie’, Austin 7 Special – Dave Furnell & Mel

• Jaguar Mkll – Steve & Stuart Albon

• Jaguar – Vic & Denise Sayer

Weird and wonderful No 6 – Gebruder Verga Coupe

Another in our occasional series of interesting things that have popped up on the internet…  This time this spectacular little space age Coupe produced by a small Carrozzeria or bodyshop in Switzerland in the late 50’s but with a rather interesting story which I have tried to piece together from articles online.

The Gebruder Verga Coupe was a special body on a Volkswagen chassis with a rear-mounted air-cooled engine. There doesn’t seem to be much information or history available but it would appear that at least two cars were built, one more unusual with a bubble-top canopy and a fixed head version with Gull wing doors which may be a copy.

The Carrozzeria Verga was founded in 1830 by Benjamin Verga as a maker of wagons and carriages crafted from wood and iron. The business stayed in the family and in the next century, later generations became skilled coach builders. In 1956 Enrico Verga produced a prototype car  which appeared at a Concours D’Elegance competition in Campione d’Italia near Lugano. It is thought that this was the beautiful and futuristic glass bubble version and it is this car which features on the website of the family business today – there is no information as to what became of the car, maybe it is hidden away in the workshop!

It featured in a German magazine in the 50’s, who commented, that it had a rather strange opening roof, which lifted up in one piece including the circular door disc and was rather clumsy. In several of the original photos below, the roof seems to have been replaced with a curved windscreen, maybe the roof was removable or perhaps this was a modification or even a different version, although it has the same registration.

It is not known if the second ‘version’ was designed and built by Verga but it has a remarkably similar body shape and styling although it is a fixed head with Gull wing doors. It does have a more intriguing story and is still in existence.

Over the years this car had some rather extensive modifications for not entirely legal reasons. It was used to smuggle auto bits, especially truck ball bearings at a time when customs duties were high. Secret compartments had been installed and the four corners of the body had jacks, which raised it up to reveal the contraband goods. The frame had been reinforced to take the extra weight.

In 1959 the car was seized by the French Police at Arnéguy on the Spainish border. It was confiscated by the state and stored in a warehouse at the La Rochelle Customs School until it was rediscovered quite recently. Eventually it was auctioned by the French Authorities, it was purchased and  has been returned to Switzerland, where I believe it is being restored. Even the journey back wasn’t uneventful as the bonnet blew off on the motorway. Amazingly after an online appeal and the offer of a reward, the bonnet was discovered in a field not far from it’s final destination and returned to the new owner!

Carrozzeria Verga is still in business today and is run by Simone Verga the Great Grandson of Benjamin.

Hopefully more information will come to light and the car or cars will be seen again soon.

Classic SUNday at Goodwood Breakfast Club

The sun shone brightly for the 2018 Classic Car Sunday at Goodwood Breakfast Club, the only one we’ve been eligible for this year. Armed with Mario’s pass we set off quite early (for us) and had a lovely drive down. The circuit was packed and we were parked out on the run off area at Madgwick.

There was a good collection of cars in attendance and a good variety. In my opinion it is the best theme and the most tightly controlled, so there isn’t a load of modern stuff you can see in the average supermarket carpark or a bunch of kids fawning over ‘supercars’.

Mario as usual was a star and was immediately surrounded by people, I’m amazed that after nearly twenty years of taking him to Goodwood events that there are still people that have never seen an original Multipla.

We did far too much socialising but did manage to take a few pictures of some of the cars which caught our eye – thinking about this blog they are mainly Fiats and other Italian Classics. Our two favourites of the day were a Fiat Abarth 750 Zagato, the fabulous ‘Double Bubble’ and an early Skoda Octavia, launched in 1959 this was the 8th model since Skoda’s post war nationalisation. While not fast it was well equipped for the time. This one had been brought to the Uk and undergone a restoration, it was rather lovely, only spoilt by the modern number plates.

So with a great display of classics, an impromptu air display and beautiful weather this had been one of the best Breakfast Clubs for a while. It was great to be out in Mario and we took the opportunity for a little run down to the seaside after.

Fiat Spiaggina – a 60th anniversary special

The Fiat 500 was 60 yesterday (launched on the 4th July 1958) and alongside the celebrations of Fiat 500 owners worldwide there were two new Fiat 500’s to mark the occasion.

Fiat themselves have an anniversary model. A Fiat 500C Spiaggina 58′ edition of the convertible modern 500, in baby blue and ivory with a few tweaks, stripy beach style interior and some retro wheels, cute but not that unusual although it is being limited to ‘1958’ cars, it goes on sale in September.

However it is the prototype 500 Spiaggina or Beach Buggy which is getting all the attention. A modern take on the cut down ‘topless’ Jolly Beach Cars so loved by the celebrities of the day in the late 50’s and early 60’s.

 

Based on a modern 500C, it is coach built by specialists Garage Italia, which is owned by Lapo Elkann the Grandson of Gianni Agnelli. it is fully topless with just one roof bar and with some body strengthening by Pininfarina.

The two seater is a perfect fun summer car. With a waterproofed interior, bench seat and the yacht like corked panelled boat/loading bay, even incorporating a shower!

You can actually order this car with any engine from the current 500 range be built to order but no doubt for a specialist price and whether all the quirky features will remain is another matter.

Of course the question we must ask is… any chance of a modern version of the extended 600 Multipla Spiaggina?

HCCS 2018 – hard work but a great success

I haven’t had time to post anything on here for some time… it’s all down to the classic car show we organise in our home town of Haslemere. For several months I have been involved in planning, booking entrants, sorting stalls, mapping the tour, getting advertising and sponsors, producing the programme and other advertising material so there has been little spare time for anything else. Even poor Mario has been abandoned but he didn’t sulk about it and came out on the day to help transport lots of essential stuff to the site and of course to be on display and meet his fans.

The build up started a couple of days before with collating all the material and putting together packs for the tour entrants. The day before we spent several hours, measuring and marking out the Green, we are very short of space so needed to position everything carefully on the day. Mario was loaded up with a little help from our cat Birkin and with a very special passenger but more on that later.

If you had seen the weather forecast for Sunday 27 May you would have thought that any event would have to be cancelled… I was practically in tears thinking all the hard work we had put in would go to waste but the people of Haslemere must all have been good, as despite the terrible predicted storms, the sun shone down on Lion Green and our 10th Classic Car show took place under glorious blue skies without a drop of rain.

The day started for 90 of our entrants with breakfast before they set off on a tour of around 60 miles, heading South of the town to Midhurst and then through Selham, Graffham and Fittleworth for a stop at the Stag Inn, Balls Cross where new landlords Jane & Mark Squire made them very welcome with coffee and biscuits before they continued via Wisborough Green, Alford and Shillinglee back to Lion Green. The route is devised by  James who puts his rallying experience to good use.

Back in Haslemere, we had been busy setting up over 50 quality stalls selling craft work, local produce, art and a great selection of food and drink, cream teas and entertainment from George’s Coastline Jazz Band. The tour cars arrived back and were joined by the show cars to fill the green, parked brilliantly by the local 1268 (Haslemere) Squadron ATC. We did lose some of the 230 pre-booked cars, as lots of them travel a long distance to attend and the weather elsewhere wasn’t as kind, so we weren’t as full as planned but the Green still had around 200 beautiful pre-1978 classics.

The cars made a wonderful display covering nearly 100 years of motoring, with entrants of all eras, styles and sizes from the smallest microcar to huge American cruisers. Many had been in families for years while others were new acquisitions but all were their owner’s pride and joy. Simon Dodd took this great Drone picture showing the Green filling up.

Crews are encouraged to dress in period to match their vehicles and Adrian Hardwick of Keats Estate and Letting Agents, the shows supporters, judged the entrants and choose the worthy winners. After some discussion the ‘style’ award  went to Dr David Nancekievill from Haslemere with his immaculate prize winning Daimler V8 250, beautifully attired wife Janet and some amazing period accessories.

Runners up were Alec Fry from Midhurst in an Austin A30 and Ivor Tanner from Ifold in a Riley 1.5.

We also have a ‘People’s Choice’ competition where show visitors vote for the car they would most like to take home. The overwhelming winner was Dave Melton from Haslemere in his newly restored Daimler Dart SP250 MK1, the Dart has gone from a total wreck to show standard in under a year and Dave has had the show as a target throughout the restoration. Runners up were Stewart Copps from Portsmouth in an MG PA which has undergone a family restoration over 50 years and Gary Bartlett from Winchester in his Immaculate Ford Capri MK1 1600GT.

Finally another reason why I have been so busy was our contribution to the Haslemere Hares – a community arts project which raises lots of money for local charity. The car show had sponsored a hare (in 2017 we had a Haslemere Hog) and this year I pained him. The theme was ‘the wind in your HARE’ a celebration of open top classic motoring. James started by modifying the ears so they looked like they were going back in the wind, then I hand painted his jacket, a decoupage local map bottom and ears, then original HCCS designed fabric scarf and a cloth cap. I was very pleased with the result. He will now be on display in Haslemere for the summer and then sold/auctioned.

So after all the panics and hours of work it was all over in a jiffy. Everybody seemed to have a good time and it is nice to give something back to our town and community. We never did get the threatened storms but you could see them on the horizon when we got home.

So that’s HCCS over for another year, once I’ve finished sorting all the photo’s updating the website and so on I will get back to updating the blog more regularly, we’ve still got adventures to tell about Members Meeting and the snow plus lots of exciting stuff coming up…

Thanks to Steve Flynn, Liz McDonald, Adam Simmonds, James Lynch for additional photos. All images are ©HCCS and can only be used with permission.

Sunshine for Drive-it-Day

Drive-it-Day is organised by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs to encourage owners in the UK to use their historic vehicles and celebrate the UK’s transport heritage. Local groups run their individual events under the federations banner. The day is held as close as possible to the anniversary of the Royal Automobile Club One Thousand Mile Trial which started on 23 April 1900, when 65 vehicles left Hyde Park Corner in London for an epic trip around Great Britain.

James goes to a car club MPH2 and had been asked by the club Chairman Tony, to come up with an event for the group on Drive-it-day. So on Sunday 22 April which was a lovely sunny day, we met up with the group at the Lythe Hill Hotel. After a coffee on the terrace, James sent the cars off at two minute intervals, each team was given a copy map on which a route was marked with arrows and a sheet with photos of landmarks such as signs, post boxes etc. Navigators had to guide the driver round the route through some lovely country lanes and villages, while keeping a keen eye out for the landmarks which they had to take their own photo of. The route was around 40 miles, mainly in the South Downs National Park and in the MPH2 (Midhurst, Petworth, Haslemere) area.

Once we’d set everybody on their way, we slipped off to collect Mario so he didn’t miss out on Drive-it-Day. We obviously couldn’t take part as we knew the route but had a lovely sunny ‘bobble’ along the country lanes at meet up with everyone at the halfway point.

We had a lovely lunchstop at one of our regular pubs The Stag at Balls Cross, Jane and Mark the new landlords did us proud with a reserved car park, delicious buffet lunch and glorious sunshine so we could all sit outside while James checked off the mornings photographic efforts.It was soon time for the 14 teams to leave for part two. The cars a mixture of classic and modern included several Jaguar E-types and a Mark 2, a Triumph Stag, Rolls Royce, MG, and a Sunbeam Talbot. By now everybody had got the hang of it and set off with enthusiasm.

Mario had a gentle meander back to The Lythe Hill, stopping off for a woodland photo shoot on route and to look at some cute lambs.

 Once all the cars had finished, everyone gathered for a drink on the hotel terrace and the final round up of results. All seemed to have had an enjoyable day, some with better observation than others! All of the photo’s had been spotted by at least one of the competitors so it would seem that the difficulty level was about right. One team, new members Peter and Jan won, dropping just 5 points over the whole day.

So all in all a lovely Spring outing, on route we spotted loads of other classics on the road,  some taking part in other organised events. Our classics are there to be driven and Drive-it-Day just encourages this and lets people see just how many historic vehicles are out there still and what an important part they still play in the economy.

Mario certainly enjoyed being out in the sunshine – a total contrast to his last trip out in March at the Goodwood Members Meeting. We will post about this very soon but it’s taken a while to sort the all the photos…

Weird and Wonderful No 5 – L’Oeuf

Nothing is ever new in this world and the current boom in electric cars is no exception – meet L’Oeuf, an electric concept car from 1942…A three wheel, two seater electric minicar made from aluminium and plexiglass which was designed by Paul Arzens. A french artist, engineer and an industrial designer of trains and cars, Paul constructed L’Oeuf for his own use. Made in 1942 when Paris was in the grips of the Nazi invasion, petrol and materials were in short supply, Paul’s solution to his personal transport was the lightweight L’Oeuf which needed few materials to produce and had a amazing range of 60 miles and a top speed of 37mph with two passengers.

With it’s huge Plexiglas roof and doors the car had fantastic visibility. The rest of the body was hand formed aluminium in an egg shape tapering at the rear to cover the third wheel and the electric motor. The chassis was made of Duralinox tubing, a stainless steel, aluminium and magnesium alloy which is resistant to corrosion and it was attached to suspension on the rear wheel for good handling. The interior was very minimal, just a bench seat and steering wheel, this meant it weighed in at just 90kg, once the batteries were added it was still only 350kg.

Due to the war and the difficulty of getting materials only the one prototype vehicle was ever made, it received a lot of attention but was never developed any further. Arzens was obviously fond of his L’Oeuf as he kept it in his private collection until his death in 1990. It is now in The Cité de L’Automobile – The French National Motor Museum in Mulhouse,with some of his earlier car designs. 
Many of the features in this early experiment – light, small, good visibility and a sense of fun – have found their way into the urban city cars of today.

Multipla’s to the rescue…

The fact, that Fiat 600D Multipla’s were used as Taxis (in Rome and Croydon), is quite well documented and they were modified to use as a funeral hearse. But it would appear that they also played a part in other public services.

Late last year, Kevin and Helen, a couple of members of the ‘Independent Goodwood Photographers Association’ FaceBook Group sent us a message with photos of a Fiat Multipla and 600 ‘Police’ cars which they had just seen in Rome, in the entrance to a police station on Piazza del Popolo. They were both used by the Carabinieri Corps (Italy’s 4th Military service) in 1957 and used for 10 years with the territorial unit for crowd control.

 

This of course caught our interest and a google revealed a hidden police museum in Rome – Museo delle Auto della Polizia di Stato, A bit of googling revealed these images of a Multipla and a 500 in the museum. They seem to be marked ‘Polizia’ but assume it was still the Carabinieri due to the military green paint work. If anyone knows differently please let us know!

Couldn’t find any period images of Police vehicles other than this rather unusual one of an rmed office out of the roof, wonder if this was from a movie rather than real life. The others are what appear to be Police 500/600 but of course could just be reproductions. It seems really hard to turn up information in Italian unless you are fluent enough to be able to search in Italian!

I did find this model of a Multipla so maybe they were used by the Polizia Municiple as well. It is thought that Multipla’s may have been used as they were able to get down the small streets easily.

I had to include this, modern day policing in a New Fiat 500.

I then of course started looking at the other ‘Emergency Services’. I had a bit more luck with Ambulances with several old pictures cropping up of the Multipla or the 600t van being used by the Italian ‘Green Cross’ a public assistance organisation. Several brochures popped up from a company called Corrozzeria Coriasco (Who also produced the boat car) who produced special Autoambulanza versions between 1956 and 1962, again I believe because they could get down narrow Italian streets and through traffic quickly.

The main difference with the 600t version seems to be the doors, with the Multipla having access via the rear with a standard side door and the 600t having double opening side doors. Although both had space for a stretcher and two people in the back.

There is a beautiful restored example of the Multipla at the headquarters of the Red Cross of Bergamo, which was actually in service in the city in the 1960s.

Finally the Fire Service where I basically drew a blank, other than a couple of models which may be fictional. This post has really tested our research capabilities and we would love to know if anyone has any more information about the Multipla being used for ‘Service’/emergency vehicles. As well as the language barrier it would seem that particularly in the past, Italy didn’t have national organisations for the emergency services but many different private and voluntary organisations with different names.