V8 In An Italian Suit: 1967 Iso Fidia
What would happen if you took the dive-train out of the Corvette from earlier and shoved it into an Italian sedan? It would probably look something like this Iso Fidia. This one has sat for the last 20 years so it needs work, but is claimed to run great after having the fuel system cleaned out. The car is located in Daytona Beach, Florida and is listed for sale here on eBay with a $5k starting bid. Thanks goes to Jim S. for the submission.
Iso offered sleek Italian styling combined with easy to maintain American power. After owning an Alfa Romeo, I like that idea very much. Parts should be cheaper and it will be a lot easier to find someone willing to work on it. The Corvette engine also offers decent performance (300hp) and the four-speed manual will make this sedan feel sportier. The days of manual sedans are numbered, so you had better enjoy ones like these while you can.
Don’t think that the common power-plant will keep all costs down though. These Ghia bodied cruisers were very expensive when new, so few were ever sold. Only 192 left the factory in its 7 years of production, so finding Fidia specific parts may be a challenge. The exterior of this car does not look bad, but the seller mentions rust in the floor boards. Any replacement sheet-metal will most likely have to be made from scratch as we doubt repop panels are readily available.
When Iso built the Fidia they wanted to compete with the other big grand tourers of the day. Mediocre build-quality could not justify the high asking price though so Maserati’s Quattroporte remained the king. Slow sales and the oil crisis finally finished poor Iso off in 1974. Too bad because we wouldn’t mind having more of these V8 powered Italians around.
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Comments
yet another listing with a porsche in the background!
I like rare and unusual exotic Italian cars from the ’60s as much as the next guy, but I think the best parts of this one are probably the interior and engine bay. Daytona is right on the coast, it’s fairly humid a lot of the time, and you can drive on the beach (spent many childhood summers there), which might explain the scary hood and rockers and the recent repaint on this Fidia. I would want to be careful of this because the body might need work, and with only 192 made, good body panels aren’t going to be easy to find.
A big plus for this car is the drivetrain, which any competent mechanic could work on. A personal minus for me is the body design, which is heavy looking through the midsection and back. These exotics always work better when they are 2-seaters. Stretching an exotic design into a good looking 4-seater is difficult to pull off….not impossible, but with all due respect, I don’t think that was done with the Fidia.
Not my thing.
Tet another useless 4-door that someone wants to act like has some value….
Nice looking interior and I love the instrument panel, but the 4-door styling is clunky, a cut-and-paste job not improved by an Earl Scheib paintjob.
Lots of new red paint on both the cars he has listed on E-bay.
I know what that means, when there is mention of rust in the floor pans and terms like project car mentioned.
Hold on to your wallets, this will be a ‘bumpy ride’.
Kill it with fire! Egads that’s ugly!
Wow, looking at that dash, Iso Fidia drivers certainly were well informed! I wonder if one of the gauges is a readout of your bank balance, to further impress your passengers.
Sold for $19,000.