[Tool Pants]

Since we are talking about Fiats....

I had two X 1/9s. 1975 and then 1981. 21 years of ownership. If I remember correctly Fiat was based out of New Jersey.

In 1999 I thought it was time to move on. Fiat/Berone had been out of the US market for a decade or so. But I could not let go. I did not care about the fix me again jokes.

What gave a slight push was a visit to Costco. The tires that fit were pirelli P3s or something like that. You could no longer buy that tire. Around 1998-1999 I went to Costco and there was a P something tire that was a bit wider but it would work.

I filled out the order form in the Costco tire shop for 5 tires (full size spare) and wrote down a 1981 Fiat. There were a bunch of young people working around the place. Counter guy told me to come back in an hour. You could not see the shop from the counter. They put a cone on my car in the parking lot with #24 on it.

I came back in an hour and the counter guy said they were still working on my car so I sat down next to the counter and looked at his motorcycle books, as he had just bought a Harley. As I was reading the books a young guy came in from the shop and said they could not find the "flat" on car #24 that they were supposed to replace. I said #24 was my car and did not have a flat and followed him into the shop.

They had taken my Fiat apart looking for a flat spare. None of my 5 tires were flat. They were looking for a flat on a Fiat. They did not know where the spare tire was. One of the guys said he even looked in the glove box for the spare.

I later bought a Boxster and then months later I donated the 1981 to a charity for a tax write-off at XXX dollars. I felt quilty so a few days later I went back to the donation place to see if I could buy back my Fiat for X dollars, but it was gone.