He buys a Fiat "Ferrari" for €3,000, thinking he's getting a good deal, but the restoration will take longer and cost more than he expected!

He thought he'd made the "deal of the century" when he stumbled upon a Fiat Coupé at just over €3,000... In the end, it cost him much more time and money than he had expected. But between the expensive bills, the months of waiting and the noise of the 5-cylinder, his story sums up perfectly what it means to "save" an Italian turned youngtimer.

Fiat's Ferrari" found on eBay

It all began with an eBay auction. A British YouTuber, behind the High Peak Autos channel, spotted a red 1996 Fiat Coupé, naturally-aspirated engine, which he quickly dubbed "Fiat's Ferrari": Pininfarina design, leather interior, and above all that famous 5-cylinder engine with its very distinctive sound.

Purchase price: £2,500, or just under €3,000. At this price, the car looks good: bodywork repainted some ten years earlier, no major visible defects, recent MOT with a long list of remarks. His plan is simple, almost too good: check that the structure is sound, correct any mechanical faults, redo the rims, polish the paintwork, invest around €1,000 in work, then resell the car for €5,000 to €6,000. On paper, everything seems logical. But in theory...

Crossing the bridge: reality beneath the red dress

First smart move: before spending a penny on cosmetics, he heads to his mechanic to mount the Fiat on a bridge and see what's hidden underneath.

The verdict is in, nuanced but uncompromising.

• Wet power steering pump: traces of fluid, clean and monitor, replace if necessary.
• Split ball joint bellows: the entire suspension arm must be replaced.
• Corroded rocker panels: not completely rotted, but sufficiently attacked to require brushing, cutting of weak parts and reinforcement welding, before anti-rust treatment.
• Tank retaining bars: one very rusty, the other completely... missing, broken clean off. We need to make or find tank straps.
• Oil leak in crankcase: clean and monitor to pinpoint source.
• Unattached battery: do-it-yourself to be reviewed, support to be made.

The good news is that the car is not a hopeless case: the structure is still salvageable. The bad news is that the to-do list is starting to look like a real mess. And that's just the beginning.

Another point of concern to the owner: the timing belt. It has only covered 10,000 miles (16,000 km) since it was replaced... but that was nearly 10 years ago. Time intervals are just as important as mileage. Even though it still seems to be in good condition, he rightly decides to have it replaced, with a new water pump. But it's still a big labor bill. At this point, the idea of a "quick fix" is already beginning to crumble.

Twelve months later...

What was supposed to be an express project is actually going to take... a year. Not because the car couldn't be repaired, but because everyone involved was busy: the garage had other work to do, the workshop was full, and the bodywork specialist was swamped. As a result, the Fiat Coupé moves from queue to queue.

During these twelve months, the list of jobs grows longer:

• Major maintenance: oil changes, filters, coolant, etc.
• Timing belt + water pump.
• Welding on rocker panels and corroded areas.
• Replacement of suspension arm, tank straps and various consumables.
• New battery and correct mounting.
• Complete refurbishment of rims by a specialist (stripping, repair, paint/powder).
• Correcting paintwork: polishing, buffing, touching up dull old paintwork.
• Interior/exterior detailing: deep cleaning, presentation finishing.

In the end, the car is unrecognizable: the red paintwork shines again, the rims look like new, the leather interior is back to its period glory, and the smell of "old Italian" does the rest.

The result: one car saved... and €1,000 lost

Then it's time to do the sums, invoices in hand. Between the purchase price of around €3,000, the two trips to the garage (belt, welding, parts, labor), the battery, the rebuilding of the rims, the work of the body shop/polisher, and the final detailing, the total bill climbs to around €5,500.

Problem: looking at the market, the YouTubeur estimates that a Fiat Coupé in this condition, with this mileage, will sell for around €4,500. In other words, the operation makes a loss of around €1,000, not including the time spent managing the project. From a purely financial point of view, this was clearly not the "deal of the century".

So, good idea or bad deal?

It all depends on how you look at it. If you think like an investor, it's easy to see that tying up more than €5,500 for a year, only to lose money in the end, is a bad move.

But from the enthusiast's point of view, the picture changes. A red Fiat Coupé, now a rarity on the roads, has been saved. The mechanics are sound, the rust is under control, the valve train is new, the car is ready to leave for several years in the hands of a new enthusiast, and the owner will have enjoyed the pleasure of restoring it, driving it, and hearing that 5-cylinder engine sing again.