JOIN USAfter ruling the narrow Italian roads in the 1960s, this Italian beauty was imported to India and it took a place alongside the kingly ambassador. Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino or Fiat, has a history of prestige and tradition. Taking one back to the 80s era and preserving the timeless beauties is — ‘FIAT 1100 Club’ of Bengaluru, which was started in 2009.
This club was born out of shared passion. Started by four enthusiasts — Sujith Thomas, Arun, Karthik Makam and Karthik MB; it is helping get all the Fiats together.
“All of us inherited the Fiat cars from our parents at the same time. We faced problems with the availability of spare parts. Surfing the net, we four were introduced to each other on Orkut and we decided to meet to discuss about our problems related to the car. We knew that there were many others who faced similar problems and that is when we thought of making this big and formed a club,” says Sujith.
They met in the month of March 2009 and their first rally was on April 2009. There were seven members in the club then, including the four founder members.
But today, this club stands eminent in the City with about 200 members. They also have international members who do not fail to attend the club’s meet during their visit to India.
Not having much of technical club rules, all one has to do “is be a Fiat enthusiast to be a part of this club,” says Karthik. “This is the best platform for Fiat lovers,” adds Arun.
The club has taken part in various rallies around the City including the rally for a blind association and Bengaluru Traffic Police.
They meet once in three months, usually in Cubbon Park, and then they go for a long drive around the City as a fleet of nurtured Fiats.
“All the motoring clubs of Bengaluru and Karnataka were started here in Cubbon Park and we also coincidentally started here. When we get calls from NGOs or other group, we make sure to support them and send out a message with our drives for a cause,” explains Sujith.
From 1956 Fiat Millecento to 1997 Premier Padmini, the club has almost all the models manufactured by Fiat. They also have helped many like-minded people endure the passion for the old Fiats.
While club members Jagan and Anitha in unison say that the club has helped them meet like-minded enthusiasts; Satish Chandra says, “This is the best platform to get together and share ideas about the car. I have grown up with the car and it is true when they say ‘Fiat is for generations’.”
Another energetic member — Shailendra Gupta, who owns a 1960 Fiat Millecento says, “These are the cars that ruled the Indian roads in the 80s and 90s. In the earlier days, it was a long wait to get a new Fiat car from the showroom. The club helps preserve this car as it consists of a bunch of varied people having similar passion. It is a nice forum to meet like-minded people and exchange ideas.”
Promoting themselves only on social media, the motto of the club is ‘Long live Fiats’. “The club helps preserve the old charm,” says Kannada Shridhar.
Raghav adds saying, “I got a Fiat in 2009 and I wanted to modify this car then. But once I joined this club I realised the value of a Fiat. They are not to be modified but to be maintained in their original form.”
Arun and Minu Raphael say that their car — 1989 Fiat, has become a family member and they have named their car ‘faithful’.
Ramanathan, who owns a 1962 Fiat says, “This car was owned by one of the renowned Tamil singers. I am the third owner of the car and I have the original RC book of this car which shows the tax paid at that time to be just Rs 30. I love Fiat and it is excellent to be a part of this club.”
The founder member of the club Karthik Makam concludes saying, “We club members are like a family helping each other.”