Big on small cars

As a young boy, old motors were never on the horizon of Pierre Spiteri, who always had a roving eye on the mainly modern and powerful four-wheel models belonging to that era.

This proximity led him to develop a keen interest in things technical and mechanical, which he mainly self-taught.

“I remember doing most of the necessary maintenance and service required by the Datsun which my father Victor used to drive as his daily car,” he says.

“Although I studied electronics at school, yet what was beneath the bonnet of a car and how it worked always fascinated me.” 

Spiteri came into old motors quite by coincidence.

“In 2001, my father-in-law Joseph Vassallo, for some reason became obsessed with acquiring a Fiat 500 with suicide doors. Always being a man in a hurry and not resting until a mission is accomplished, he finally found what he was looking for in Mqabba, and bought it. However, the 1962 black vehicle was in a shell shock state: many of the important components, like the engine and seats, had been changed, and a well-planned project was definitely needed to bring it back to roadworthiness.”

The two worked in tandem on a nut and bolt restoration which saw the Fiat eventually...