Getting to know Massi

Seeing as the poor chap was covered in dust, I thought the best thing was to try and clean him up a bit so I could have a closer look.

Love the speedo design!

The dashboard looks in pretty good condition, the speedo unit is generally OK but the steering wheel is cracked and needs replacing.

650cc Engine

After a bit of a clean, the engine looks in fairly good condition. Some superficial shedding of paint here and there but otherwise OK. Massi has an upgraded 650cc unit and synchromesh gearbox from the Fiat 126 which increases power from the standard 16 bhp to a whopping 23 bhp. I hope it's got traction control.......

Carefully thought-out modification!

I spotted the 'slight' modification where one of the previous owners had made the exhaust fit due to the slightly wider 650cc engine. This will need tidying up!

I was starting to find a few other areas of the car that were not standard. In no particular order:

• What looked like Fiat 126 seats (awful!) with inertra reel seatbelts
• A rather ugly looking 1980s radio with antenna
• Addition of reversing light and cobbled together switch next to to the gear-lever to detect when reverse was selected
• Electric windscreen wash, with switch under dash and extra reservoir in front compartment near brake fluid reservoir
• Front and rear nudge bars from the Lusso model
• And the rear seat removed and replaced with a shoddy shelf with speakers fitted.

Radio

Reverse gear detection switch

Additional windscreen wash reservoir with electric pump

Fiat 126 seats with inertia belts

Our aim is to restore the car back to it's original condition (apart from the engine) so these things will have to go!

I wonder what other things I'll find over the coming weeks!