Rare and adorable! Autobianchi Bianchina - Tiny van tested
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- Could this right-hand drive Autobianchi Bianchina van be a unique survivor? It's certainly packed full of charm. Think of it as a slightly posher Fiat 500 Nuova and you won't go far wrong. Straight-twin engine, non-synchro gearbox and very, very few frills. Still loved it...
Delightful HubNut goodies can be purchased at hubnut.org or at our Hoodie store: hubnut-store.c... - this second store is where you can find "Because French" merch and much more.
Or, support HubNut at / hubnut or via Channel memberships: / @hubnut
Want to help Hubnut for free? Don't forget to like the video if you like it, and share with your friends if you really like it! Thank you all. - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
As an Italian, the sound of that 2-cylinder engine is the sound of childhood.
Very much a part of my childhood too. Love it.
As a Polish I could say mine too
True!
Why can’t we make cars as adorable as this anymore?
Side impact crash resistance comparable to that of a laundry basket, perhaps?
@@kennethjackson7574 hahaha!
Thank you for giving me a smile on what's been a "down" day.💕
A family friend was a Fiat Dealer. His garden was (neatly) scattered with bits of Fiat 5 and 600. He helped keep our badly behaved 850 on the road.
Yeah, we all get depressed and then watch little vids like this and it makes us laugh. Cheers Hubnut and all the followers, love you x
Echo these sentiments
@@the.internet Amen
@@the.internet Stay strong mate x
I saw an 850 ragtop in San Rafael, California, within the past year or two. In an auto repair shop, of course. If nothing else, the return of Fiats that generally resemble these old ones, and the Disney/Pixar movie ‘Cars’ has made the 850s more likely to cause folks to wonder “What’s that?”
What a cute little thing. Brings back sweet memories of my mum's 500s. We travelled with 4 people in it sometimes, my dad being 6ft2 and my sister and me sitting in the back seat as teenagers. You should've given the fam a lift to try it out 😂👍🏻
This bring back a lot off memories....my father drove between ' 66 an mid ' 68, the " berlina F " version. The sound of that little engine, i never forget. One of my first driving experiences was...in that lite blue rumble car. 10 years old and i felt mighty proud. Man...times fly😣
Little anecdote:
The heather handle , was under the rear seat and my 4 year younger brother did had the ( naughty), habit, to turn it always on....my parents complain always, it get so hot in the car, till they find out why🤣🤣🤣
It seems..the Berlina did have a more " luxurious ", dashboard
The A112 ABARTH ....hallelujah, we did have fin with...70Hp😎
Ive been lucky enough to see Autobianchi cars but the van is, as the lady said at the beginning, adorable.
A right hand drive panel van Bianchina in 2022, and its driving and not in a museum... Amazing!!
Definitely an interesting little car. Surprising performance from such a small engine. My lawn mower is 18 HP! It is interesting that Briggs and Stratton, who made my lawn mower engine, made a hybrid car in the 1980's using one of their 18 HP twin engines. They claimed that 18 HP is all you needed once you get a car up to cruising speed. Having an electric motor definitely helped performance but, if I recall correctly, you could just use the little gas engine. Anyway, fun to see some of these unique little cars.
Hugely pretty car/van and colour scheme. Glad you mentioned the Primula as the original fwd car with end on box, yes as part of Fiat it was a ground breaking design, one they employed on the 128 ( before the 127 as you mentioned) which was voted Euro Car of the Year. To think now most if not all modern car manufacturers follow this design both in terms of saving manufacturing costs , as aided by Macpherson struts they can install the engine / gearbox/ front suspension/ brakes all in one manoeuvre, but also gives potentially more usable space in the volume of the car. Love the video , thought she sounded as well looked very sweet
You know, these quirky old cars are such fun. I'd really love to go for an adventure in something like that. It's like a complete time warp back to a time when people were genuinely content with less and a lot more thankful generally.
It's pretty awesome how your channel and it's followers appreciate the good in what is regarded as the mundane. You take the time to see the good in the discarded and neglected.
Good job again Ian.
Awww, that sound...!!! So many memories!!!!
I love this! My great grandad had a 1969 berlina, in beige with red interior! They stopped using it in 1980 circa but never sold it nor trashed it, so it remained in the house. In 2005 or so, my grandad decided it was time to restore it, so we did it! It was so funny looking, so cute! We sold it ten years ago or so to a collectionist who, I guess, still drives it!
Absolutely brilliant video Ian 👍what a car Absolutely gorgeous little car a testament to how cars should still be built last for ever brilliant
What a beautiful vehicle. Thanks for a very enjoyable report.
These cars have some magic,that the new cars will never have.
0:04 As someone who rode in a Fiat 600 before, I wholeheartedly agree. I always had a soft spot for little cars.
I see this little baby in the Pembrokeshire Classic Car Show. A very rare beast.
This is just so wonderful! What a find! Bravissimo!
This brings back memories of our’66 500! Pretty much the same interior and exactly the same noise. We drove it back from Florence and it was at its happiest over the Alps. Stay off the motorways and they are lovely.
Best thing about this video is passing through Saundersfoot, into New Hedges, and (almost) into Tenby.
Love it. The starter and choke are just like my old 126. I never knew of these and this is why I enjoy Hubnut so much.
My brother had one, and so did one of his mates back in about 1971.
This is small and Italian therefore fizzy - in small Italian cars its the opera involved in the journey - drive at full chat - never endanger your license and laugh like a maniac as you make moderate progress at what feels like on the edge driving lol
That thing you didn't know what it is, is an inspection lamp. Fiat and Lada had them in every vehicle, mine has CCCP on the lid, which unscrews to reveal a rolled up wire that you could either have clamps or a cigar lighter adapter to power 21w bulb.
What a great location for your entry to the video. I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn't one of the locations for the early Pink Panther movies with this car.
That interior reminds me of early Volkswagen. Even the starter and choke look like what would be heater controls on 60s vw.
The choke and starter made me smile. Exactly the same setup and levers as my Fiat 126. My first car many, many years ago.
The white thing in the boot was a torch that plugs into the cigar lighter, I got one free when I bought my house.
Its a happy little place, I`m sure, spreading joy wherever it goes! Good to see a surviving RHD one, no one believes me when I tell them they were sold here! Hearing it makes me want another air cooled 126..
Re the 126: you and me both! But I drove a 700cc water-cooled 126 a while back, and enjoyed it a lot. But at 6'1", I don't jump in- I insert myself carefully!😊
@@georgec2126 I`ve had several 126`s in the past, & although I`m not in the 6`+ range, several of my friends are, & many times there were 4 & even 5 of us crammed into my 126`s, including one friend who`s 6`11"! Scary to think of now, especially on motorways, but we did it regularly without a second thought back in the 90`s!
We took our Punto Cabrio to Auto Italia at Brooklands a couple of years ago, which was full of exotic supercars, but the star of the show was an Aautobianchi Bianchina Cabrio. It drew the crowds whereas the Maserati next to it was just another Maserati like all the others.
Amazing 👏 as an Italian I have a huge respect for the Brits who owned an Italian car or motorbike...
Another cool car meeting is the Horsham Piazza Italia!🤗🇮🇹
Ciao!
That horn matches the car's cute looks so well. Love it.
Excellent review Ian! What an adorable slice of post-war motoring, with in-period elegant styling and that so Italian 2 cylinder soundtrack. And all so very HubNut.
What a sweet car. A Fiat 500 in different clothes. I had 3 Fiat 500's over the years. You soon become used to the crash box and become master of the double de-clutch. I even drove one without a clutch, to get home after the cable broke. Changing gear was no problem, it was stopping and starting that presented problems. 😃
Reminds me of the 1961 Cinquecento I owned for 7 years when I lived in England
You make driving a crashbox look so easy! Thanks for this little history lesson on a vehicle I had no clue existed until today.
#powerlessismore what a cute little car, so very Italian and it sounds amazing when you push on, this is one of these cars that would put a smile on my face every time I got behind the wheel!
Excellent Review as always.
I made sure one of those was saved from a derelict dairy last year here in dk. It was going to be put in the skip here in dk I said it was worth money and they sold it instead... I was originally a panel van but somebody cut out windows
Bakeries in Italy often had these types of vehicles. Piaggio Apes and the Lambretta versions of those, also
Oh that is really cute. Buongiorno bella! The engine sound takes me back to my teenage years when a lovely lady who lived across the road from us had a red Fiat 500. And your double declutching reminds me of getting practice in as a learner driver in my Mum's (Issigonis) Mini which had no synchromesh on 1st, and rapidly worsening on 2nd, 3rd & 4th. Downchange throttle blips were such fun!
There were a few single declutched changes in there, it didn’t seem to mind much
You could get away with upchanges if you were slow, especially third and fourth.
Yes, the sound of the engine, the toot of the horn. I am back in Italy on holiday. Some of the city streets are narrow. This there environment.
Utterly beautiful car and a fab video!
One of my Triumphs had weak synchro so I used to DD to save the gearbox. It becomes second nature and is great fun when you get it right quickly and regularly changing down. I recommend anyone with an old car to do it just to get your driving skills up. And of course you cant go wrong cos you have the synchros! All you have to do is match engine speed with final drive so everyone can do it with practice.
With this awesome little car you steal the show of every Ferrari (also italian and mostly rear engine). Thanks for this road test. Marvellous! 🇮🇹❤🇮🇹
What a cute little bambino. Might have to visit Step Aside if on holiday in the Tenby Saundersfoot area to go and view this little beauty and some of the other classics that they may be restoring.
I'd suggest a little caution. It's a working bodyshop, not a museum.
@@HubNut Ok no problem.
Having owned a Fiat 126, many years ago now, it is interesting how little power you actually need to make progress. That positive camber looks like it might make the car a bit of a handful if things went pear-shaped! Thanks for a fascinating review. 👍
Such a rare stunning little van, i want one
Another former Lancia Y10 owner here - I had a red 1985 1.0 FIRE. Would love to see you drive one, not many left now. Alcantara dashboard!
What an utter joy! 👍👍👍👍
Autobianchi did also produce the 112 a 1970's design that was produced till the 90's...
Anyhow almost didn't watch video but enjoyed it thoroughly
Imagine climbing out of a 5.0litre v8 falcon Ute then climbing into the autobianchi.
Bit of a difference
I think the Autobianchi was Italy’s answer to the VW Type 3 both with the engine hidden by a hatch in the back
Great video Ian. Very interesting history. My mum had oneas her first car. My father made seats to go in the back but I noticed that one has rear seats that match the front.
Hi Ian, the “unknown” white thing with the tool kit was a 12 volt inspection lamp , the cap unscrews to reveal the bulb and cables.
Gorgeous little thing. It's the same year as my Lambretta 🙂
I'm a simple Italian: I see HubNut driving an old Italian classic, I hit the like button
I always imagined Italian cars to be more sporting, a lot, lot more.
That thing just looks plain lethal to me, & a comprehensive tool kit is very telling.
Brilliant little car
This reminds me of my dad's Fiat 600. Nippy little car.
Beautiful. I love small vans 👍 Saw one of the saloons that still grace our roads at Mathewson's whilst on a day out, didn't ask when the auction was too tempting 😂 If I'm remembering correctly the Fiat 126 had the 2 handles for the choke & starting the between the seats right up till the end of its run.
Less is more alright more character what a great rare little car
This reminds me of the Fiat 850. Hers a bit more luxurious, but they seems like the same thing. Very sweet machines. See if you can get a hand on the 850 one day.
Oh my god what a delicious little thing! I love Italian cars, used to see tonnes of Autobianchi over there when we were on holiday
Excellent Ian, what a great little van, and such a pity the brand didn’t continue after the Y10. Would be good to see a video of that as well.
Drove a Y10 ie a good few years ago (sadly pre-video) and it was an absolute riot!
I’m a big fan of the Y10 - a fantastic little car……..
@@HubNut surely somebody can lend you a Y10, although in fairness there can’t be many around to be fair!
@@Lot76CARS I thought that and on "how many left?" (pinch of salt to be taken), there are 5 as of 2022 on the road. Also the bronze G reg one on Wikipedia is still on the road and passed its MOT recently with something like 63k on the clock.
@@graemew7001 wow, I saw and filmed a red one at the Brooklands Italian Car Day but didn’t realise they were now in single digits (maybe a few in those mythical barns that people keep finding).
Love it, saw the estate version featured on Bangers and Cash recently. 1962 as old as me but in far, far better condition. Though looking at it struggle up that hill I think we share similar performance.
Minimalistic car driving, that's all you need. In comparison, my Reliant Kitten Estate is very luxurious.
This takes me back to the days when I had a FIAT 126.
Cute little car, and the later A112 is pretty neat as well (Seaside Garage and his Abarth A112 is pretty much like the italian equivalent of a Mini Cooper), but twin-cylinder sounds and that crash gerbox, definitely quite the noise to listen to there... :D
Spotted the Saundersfoot street scene at the start. Brought my summer holiday spent there back into my mind. Warm summer days seem so long ago. More Miss Hubnut seaside reviews please....
What a cute little van. I'm wondering if you could swap a 126 engine/gearbox and brakes - it would make it a little bit dynamically better all round and more importantly, you would gain syncromesh on the top three gears. My mum used to have one of those and I'm pretty sure it had syncro because I don't remember her grinding gears - I doubt she had ever heard the expression double declutch let alone know how to do it. Mind you, I would skip the brake upgrade if it meant I had to get rid of those charming little wheels.
Gorgeous, I love it!
Brilliant! Thanks Ian for finding these great little rarities. I doubt if it counts for anything, but I once owned a Bianchi Falco moped. Very noisy, smokey 2-stroke engine with pedals, in case you wanted to save petrol / ran out of it, so it could be ridden like a (somewhat heavy) push bike.
This is what I love about your channel Ian. One video you're behind the wheel of a great hooligan of a V8 Aussie ute, the next you're controlling the massive 18bhp of an Autobianchi estate. And your grin is just as big each time! Thanks for the grins it gives me. I now can't drive any more owing to glaucoma, and so you give me a great deal of vicarious pleasure. Thanks 👍
Superb video thank you
Gotta love an Autobianchi! I’m happy to say that I own a Bianchi bicycle (in the traditional Celeste colour) - and it’s a beautiful thing!
Delightful!
The babiest van!
Great little thing. Driving it looks like a full time job. Try texting or on the phone behind the wheel of that. Keep up the great work
Wonderful stuff as always, FYI the rear suspension is actually semi trailing arms, somewhat less lethal than pure swing axles (which bizarrely were used on the Steyr Puch versions....) I want one !!!!!!!
Ah, I should have known this as the Invacar uses the same rear suspension. I think the Steyr Puch actually used the same suspension, though I see that referred to online as a swing axle when it isn't really.
Charming little vehicle from a bygone age. Great video as usual.
so absolutely a gorgeus little car, this is italian charm at its best. Syncromesh is such a good invention, looking forward to your video on crash gearboxes.
My ex would be have confused with all those instruments.
Big gap between 1st and 2nd, almost as if 1st was a crawler gear, one could pull away in second on the flat or a downhill slope.
Love it. Being RHD were they officially sold in the UK? There was an A112 in a rural scrapyard for many years. I doubt there's any in the UK but a comparison of a Primula with an Austin 1100/1300 would be interesting.
They were officially sold here, but very briefly. I don't believe any other Autobianchis were sold here apart from the rebadged Y10.
I've seen this car at a few shows and it's gorgeous 🙂
As soon as I spotted those central levers I knew at once they're purpose. Immediately transported me back to a time of innocence when the sound of my sisters boyfriends Buick charging away was my cue to nip out side with the spare ignition key that apparently did not exist that I'd carefully secreted tucked behind my mums pressure cooker on the kitchen high shelf then onwards outside outbound to my sisters bright yellow Fiat 126 firing it into life with one yank of that little lever plus a little choke should it be frosty, then away, away where to? Who cares? Freedom at 15!! What a feeling! If only it could've been bottled. And then inevitably one day my furious mum caught me whilst arriving back home along with my sister who'd arrived home earlier than expected distraught not over me being an irresponsible underage driver but over the fact I'd used up most of the tank of fuel. Sorry for the digress. Great video HN
Cool car I think we need to see the Renault 14 however for rare.
My father bought a Fiat 500 van when I was born.
He decided they needed a bigger car as their first car was a Heinkel bubble car so the FIAT had more than double the engine size (and cylinders)
I can well believe Contis would have owned some - members of the family are still around in Lampeter and Caermarthen and they may know something. I believe Jo Conti is still living in Lampeter, in his eighties.
Bianchi also made motorcycles - they were one of the Italian "big five", with Gilera, Moto Guzzi, Garelli and Benelli. They stopped the motorcycles around the time they started the cars, seeing that the writing was on the wall with the advent of cheap cars.
they were used by the Italian gas board and phone compnay; also I imagine the target market was a more upmarket version of that which went for the Piaggio Ape and the small Guzzi and Gilera Motocarri - maybe small businesses in small italian towns. It'd be ideal to get around those medieval streets!
Wow what a rare & adorable little van. What a great video on another classic vehicle. I always enjoy the history behind the company who make the vehicles as well as the test drives as well.
Lancia Y10 is actually pronounced 'Lancia upsilon ten' :) - the 'Y' is not in fact the roman alphabet Y, but the Greek letter upsilon. Lancia as you know went through a phase of naming all their vehicles after Greek letters hence: Delta, Gamma, Beta, etc...
@Retired Bore Hah - quite right! However, Lancia's own English language promotional advertising referred to it as the "upsilon ten" :) unless you actually visited a dealer where everybody referred to it as a 'wy ten'. I have had four of these marvellous cars: a 1987 Y10 FIRE 1.0L, a 1988 Y10 Touring 1.1L, a 1988 Y10 1.1 LX i.e. and a 1990 Y10 1.3 GTie.
And it's Lantshya, not lansia
Adorable! Autobianchi Bianchina; that sums it up. I would stop and admire this but not a Ferrari
They were very popular here back in the day. There was also a bigger van version, with a taller roof, and a rolling shutter at the back. They were used by the state electrical company and the Italian postal service. They were also very popular with plumbers, decorators and any sort of artisan and/or handyman or repairer. If driven well they could easily exceed 25Kms on a liter of petrol!
This is Linz, Austria speaking: we would like to mention that we absolutely loved our 44 hp Autobianchi 112, the european master of corrosion 😎
Only the Italians could make something so base look so sexy, a painted dash and a bench seat and it’s beautiful, just like they do with pasta tomato sauce a lil meat some wine and bread and they create the greatest meal you’ve ever eaten 😜
Little belter!.
As this one is RHD - were these officially sold in the UK? 🤔 (sorry if I missed it)
I really like the A112 hatchback and the Innocenti equivalent.
Yes, they were officially sold here.
That's wonderful. I owned three 500s when I was young, and you can really throw them around once you get used to the rather dead steering. The engine is so light that the swing axles don't tuck under like they do in something like a Renault 10 or a Skoda.
The only other UK original RHD Bianchina I know of is CRC 459J (one of the last) which on Ebay in Anglesey in 2014. It was last taxed in 2020.
Cute little van, although if it were mine there would be sound deadening panels all over!
What a cute,happy little vehicle, love it 😀
A number of car companies started out making bicycles. Rover and Humber are two I can think of and I think there are a few more. Puch and Peugeot also make bikes but I don't know whether they started out doing so before making cars.
Peugeot certainly did. Existed a fair while before the motor car.
Peugeot started with salt and pepper grinders and you can still get them today if you have a few hundred pounds spare.
In general, everything started in a bicycle workshop. If you can make a bike you can make a car or a plane. The Wright brothers are the classic example but they patented everything and this held back the U.S. aeroplane business for a very long time, hence European plane makers were the innovators until war came along.
Reliant is a name you need to add to your list. They called it Reliant because they bought everything from Raleigh and it was easy to change the branding and tooling to 'Reliant'.
BSA - British Small Arms - also play in the British bikes to anything else story.
If you can't afford to restore a classic car, restore a classic Peugeot bicycle from the 1980's. They pioneered an internal brazing technique that resulted in beautiful frames. Every one is a classic and just needs period correct NOS European parts from Weinmann, Rigida, Sachs Huret et al.