It’s not a lot bigger than a Costco shopping cart, but it’s going to be able to haul the goods home a bit further if not exactly very quickly. Yes, I was very surprised to see this Fiat 1100 pickup here; in fact it’s probably right up there in my five most unexpected finds. Maybe even at the top. But then it’s a small world these days, and who wouldn’t want to give this madly cute little truck a home? It makes such a fine contrast to all the big pickups around.
That’s not to say I didn’t instantly identify it; Fiat 1100s were very common in Austria in the 1950s, although it’s the sedans I remember. We had a family friend who had one and I vividly remember standing up on the rear seat with the sunroof open, trailing our handkerchiefs in the wind on an Alpine road. And then I accidentally let go of it, and we had to turn around and get it. A deeply etched memory, brought back to life thanks to this 1100 Camioncino Industriale dropside pickup.
The 1100 (“Millicento”) played a very key part in Fiat’s postwar program. It was positioned between the larger and rather pricy 1400 and the little 600, and as such was one of the most affordable and attractive cars in the “standard” category which also included the Volkswagen, its main competitor in Germany, Austria and other northern European countries. Unlike the VW and rea engine Fiat 600 and 500, it was a conventional unibody front engine RWD four door sedan and wagon, and of course the pickup truck, which had to have a frame under its body. The sedan and wagon arrived in 1953, available in a base version with 36 hp (left) and the sedan was also available in TV (Turismo Veloce) trim with 48 hp and fog light in the center of the grille (right).
Although the car was new, the engine actually had already been used in the prewar 1100 E, the 508 C Balilla 1100, which arrived back in 1937. It was a classic Fiat pushrod ohv four.
I’m not going to do a full history of the numerous restyles and performance improvements of the 1100 during its long life, but its final version was as the 1100D, built through 1969. The Fiat 124 effectively replaced it, even though there were several years’ overlap as the 1100D was a bit cheaper. These 1100s along with other Fiat models were also license built in Germany by NSU as the NSU-Neckar 1100.
I knew it wouldn’t take me long to find a few 1100s in some old photos I posted from Innsbruck in the 1950s and 1960s. Here’s an 1100 wagon (“Familiare”) in the old city center.
And there’s a sedan in front of that big Opel, which is behind a cute little BMW 700 Coupe. There’s no doubt in my mind that it was the #2 selling car behind the VW in its price class in Austria at the time. Rather oddly, neither Opel or Ford Cologne had a proper VW competitor until the early sixties, giving the Fiat 1100 a wide opening for a very different car to the VW.
As to the 1100 pickup, there’s not a lot of detailed information readily available. Here’s a shot of its predecessor, based naturally on the 508 Balilla 1100.
So we’re mostly just going to savor this madly cute little pickup and take a look into the cab as well as under the bed to check out its underpinnings. Given the front wheel fender flares and wider track, it’s pretty safe to assume this rode on a dedicated chassis and that it was really just the cab and front end sheet metal that were shared with the 1100 sedan and wagon, as well as the drive train.
Yes, it does remind me of the early Datsun pickups, like this 1000. They too shared their front half body with the Bluebird sedan.
In 1956 the base 1100 versions got a new grille including the fog light previously seen only on the TV, although it doesn’t appear that the actual light is really installed on this pickup.
No, it’s not; just a yellow 1100 badge. Also in 1956 the base version engine got a boost to 40 hp (CUNA) at 4,400 rpm although it’s possible that the pickup retained the older 36 hp version.
These genuine bucket seat are also not the same as the sedan, which had a bench seat to (sort of) allow three-across seating for those who were really thin. The transmission is a four speed with non-synchro first gear, shifted via a column mounted lever. The final drive ratio was lowered (higher numerical) to compensate for the trucks 1200lb load rating. Top speed was quoted at 56 mph.
This 1100 Camioncino has the drop-down flatbed style of bed in the back, which was more suitable for larger and heavier loads that could be more easily loaded and unloaded.
There was also this version, which is closer to our definition of a pickup or ute.
The high flatbed leaves a large gap in which curious and nosy folks like me can stick their heads in to see just how these were built under there. The lower frame rails are quite visible, as well as the framework for the bed with its wood plank floor.
Looking a bit further to the rear, the frame, thick leaf springs and rear axle are on full display. Good luck trying to get this kind of shot on an F100. There’s a parking/emergency brake mounted on the front end of the differential. By the way, that 1200 lb load rating is the same as my ’66 F100, so this is a genuine work truck which undoubtedly stood up to plenty of overloading in its time.
This series of 1100 pickups were only built for some three years as in 1957 Fiat replaced them with the 1100T, a purpose-built compact truck and van to more effectively compete with the VW Transporter and pickup. It was built until 1971.
Here it is in full profile. Do I love this trucklet? You bet! But it’s in a bit too pristine condition for the way I use and abuse my truck.
As to the provenance of this particular truck, it was easy to find it on the web, as it’s the first and most prominent one that comes up with a Google search. It was for sale at bellomoto for $24,975, but I don’t know how old that listing is.
But obviously someone in Eugene ended up with it. And is using it for their Costco run. It shouldn’t have any problem hauling the shopping, even if it was one of those giant flatbed carts stacked high with three years’ worth of goods.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: Fiat 600 – The 500’s Older, Bigger And More Influential Brother by PN
The Curbside Classics Of Innsbruck, 1950s – 1960s by PN
Curbside Classic: 1970 Fiat 500 L – The Immortal Yoghurt Pot by T87
Design History Capsule: Pininfarina’s 1955 Fiat “Nomad” – Everybody Cribs by PN
Curbside Classic: Steyr-Puch 500 – A Small But Grand Finale To Austria’s Automobile Industry by PN
Wow, this is cute as a button! I am quite sure I have never seen one of these before. But it looks like someone of your height would not be the most comfortable trying to drive it.
Fantastic little truck. If it were any smaller, it could be sold in Costco. I’d pick up a case of them.
Something like this would be blast to work on and restore, and it’s of a size that I could make a plausible argument for having around during the restoration process. The challenge of course would be finding one in need of restoration (sorry…I’m not spending $25K on an ancient Fiat) that has a decent body. I’m guessing that this one never saw rust before it was imported to CA, and then no rust there.
Neat little dropsider, Ive never seen either that or the ute even sedans have all but disappeared now, These Fiat 1100s were built in India for quite a while but did they build the 1/2 ton flatdeck version, I’d be scared of ruining the paint on that thing somebody has done a nice job of restoring it, Paul’s old Ford is more my style of pickup.
It’s gorgeous
I must admit I’ve never seen an 1100 pickup truck in my life, just a few sedans.
The Peugeot 403 pickup truck hasn’t been seen in the US either, at least I think so.
Speaking of the 403 pick-up, there was a version in Argentina known as Peugeot T4B who was made after the end of the production of the 403, from 1967 to 1973 from what I read on this Spanish site.
https://archivodeautos.blogspot.com/2015/10/t4b-la-camioneta-de-peugeot.html
What a great find! It is very cute but also reasonably capable. The condition means its hauling days are over but what a treat to see.
Great little truck! I did not know there was a pickup version of the 1100. In Canada even the sedans are rare, but I visited India several times in the 70s and the version produced by Premier was the most common car in the south. There were some in north India, but there the Ambassador ruled ( locally produced Morris Oxford). The Standard (Triumph Herald) was a distant 3rd in both north and south.
All three of these tiny pickups are beautiful as is the royal blue sedan .
I ever like the 1950’s styled Datsun pickup, two were abandoned on my block in the late 1980’s sadly I let them get hauled away for scrap .
-Nate
That’s neat little truck for gardening supplies or other modest loads. I’m a little surprised by the bucket seats, a bench in the pickup is more usual so you can squeeze in a third, like the situation with a Peugeot 504 where the sedan has buckets and a floor shift and the pickup a bench and column shift.
Since Fiat made two truck bodies, I’m curious which was more popular since pickups have a lower load floor, but flatbed have more are and are easier to load from the side.