Bertone or bust!

Well unfortunately Bertone have gone bust.... But, Guys and Girls after planning this trip some time ago were not going to let a slight case of bankrupcy spoil our fun. Now originally I had planned to buy the lovely and underrated underdog Ferrari 308gt4 and do the trip in that. However recently lady price hike has seen gt4 prices sky rocket in the UK. So the only other retro 4 seat flying wedge available was the Pininfarina styled Mondial. Yes it's not as pretty as the 308 and 328 cars or as cool and compact as the 308gt4 but it's still a handsome car that's growing on me. l have over the years been lucky enough to own many of the Bertone Lamborghini cars but these cars were actually penned by Marcello Gandini who was working for Bertone at the time .
So what to do.....well we can hardly turn up at the Bertone museum in a bloody Pininfarina car.
So as luck would have it my girlfriend Emily also likes Bertone cars this year found an absolutely gorgeous one owner 1977 special series Fiat X19 in original 70s metallic green, that's been off the road garaged for 20years! Wow!
Well it was love at first sight for her and she has spent the past 6 months getting 'Otto' ready for his big trip back home to Turin and the old Fiat car factory.

So fast forward to now and here we are in Italy.
I'm sorry but there aren't any pics or video of our adventures yet, they will follow soon.
At the moment I'm writing this on my phone so posting pics is beyond me.
Anyway we have travelled in little Otto the X19 all the way from Oxford England across the water, past Paris to Grenoble then onto Cannes, Nice and Monaco. Last night we crossed the border into Italy and Sanremo and tonight we are staying in the most beautiful Portofino.

The reception to the little Fiat in both Monaco and everywhere in Italy has been absolutely staggering. Never have I been in a car that's attracted so many gestures of admiration and affection.
Here in Italy people both old and young are going nuts over this little car.
One old chap actually stopped us on the road pointed to the Fiat badge gave us some strange hand gestures and handed us his brand new umbrella! Quite why was beyond me as it wasn't even raining but clearly it was meant with affection.
We stopped at a mountain restaurant today and virtually emptied it....well go figure.
Anyway its been an absolute blast so far, and will keep you posted on the next leg..
Regards Bell.