The Italian Job Part 11

Martino’s success is down to speaking Italian and having a good network of contacts and friends in Rome, Naples, Turin and Taranto that help source cars: “There are two extremes of condition in Italy. Deregistered cars – you pay tax on the plates – dumped where the chickens live. Or desirable cars cherished by long-term owners. A GTV was an expensive purchase and often it’s kept until its owner dies. Mileage is often low because the car was only used in the summer. Cars from the south have faded, flat paint but it’s amazing how well these revive with T-Cut.”

Martino has had plenty of adventures driving unknown cars back but generally if a car is worth having, it should have no problems on the 1000-mile trip: “In the winter I’ve had heaters that don’t work and border guards get suspicious when you arrive wrapped up in blankets. Wipers are poor and once, with a Giulietta, the dynamo failed so we had to keep swapping batteries with a Nuova Super which would recharge on its alternator. We try to do it in one hit but with small tanks you have to keep filling up.