Classics by the Beach 2026 New Year's Italian-only Edition

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The culprit.

It all started with James' immaculate 1982 Bertone-spec X1/9.  Next there was a Fiat Polski 126 - we won't let a minor geographical technicality spoil our theme - a classic Fiat 500 and Rino's Series 1 Fiat X1/9 making its second consecutive appearance ... .  A quick look around the Long Beach car park then quickly revealed there were enough Fiats, Maseratis, Alfas, Lancias and Ferraris to devote today's coverage of Hobart's regular first-Sunday-of-the-month Classics by The Beach entirely to Italian marques, so that's what we're doing!

 

James hasn't had his fuel-injected X1/9 for long - it's not his first example of the model, though - having bought it in Melbourne in a fully restored state.  The paint and bright work are superb, the engine bay is surgically clean and the predominantly leather interior is great nick, too.  It's wearing a lovely set of Cromodora CD-16s that set it off perfectly.      




Being a Polski* Fiat, this 126 was built in Poland, where the model earned the nickname Maluch, which means toddler in the local language.  According to Wikipedia, a staggering 4.6  M I L L I O N  126s were built over a 28 year production run from 1972 to 2000, with around 3.3 million of those being the Polish version (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_126).




The 500 weas the precursor to the 126, being much the same in terms of its engine and basic chassis design.  This 500 has featured here before, in much greater detail, as does the Ghibli that follows (https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2015/09/classics-by-beach-06-sep-15.html)





Rino's beautiful Series 1 X1/9 made its initial appearance in UMPH as recently as last month.  So, if you haven't already seen it, here's a link to that post depicting the car in more depth: https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2025/12/classics-by-beach-december-2025.html.





Kev's beautifully rebuilt 1978 Alfa GTV has also been extensively showcased on UMPH, starting with the car in its early stages of restoration.  If you're interested, here's an example of posts covering the work done: https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-work-in-progress-21-italian.html.  Others are available; just search using the key work correspondente. 







This won't come as any surprise, I'm sure.  Here's a link to some further coverage of Mike’s glorious Lancia Fulvia Sport: https://uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-cars-of-festa-italia-hobart-2020.html. 



TBH, there are probably a few pics and a write-up of this one, too.





No links to the following Ferraris, I'm afraid.  However, there's plenty written about the X1/9 that bookends today's coverage but I'll let readers find them if they're interested (just search X1/9; they're easy to locate).    








Did you enjoy this post?  If so, why not browse the rest of the uppermiddlepetrolhead site?  There are loads and loads of classic, sports and performance vehicles featured, as well as stacks of car shows and motorsports events.  Even better, you can follow either the 'blog itself or do so via Upper Middle Petrol Head's Facebook page.  And please do like, comment and share!




U M P H

(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)


* Is it?  I'm a bit suss.  The badge says Polski but it's right hand drive.  




























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