Martin Garrad
Club President – president@fiatbarchetta.uk
July 2024 – Welcome to the UK Barchetta Owners’ Club website. We now have a membership of 242 and, with eleven new members so far this year, still no sign of failing interest. Thankfully we manage our affairs with a handful of volunteers and a core of enthusiastic members. Dave Skelding has relieved Mike Barnes of our Treasurer’s responsibilities. Dave inherits a healthy balance and promises to keep up the excellent work that Mike has established. Neil Mead looks after our website and manages to keep it fresh and up to date. He also introduces us to new technology and has a very innovative approach for which I am grateful.
I joined The Club in 2010 and have never regretted it. My wife, Jenny, and I have enjoyed meetings each year since then and have added a few continental jaunts too. In June last year we joined two other UK cars and went to Norway for an unforgettable tour with clubs from across Europe. We have created some really good friendships through our little cars. We enjoyed this year’s big event based at Peasmarsh in East Sussex. The event was brilliantly organised by David & Helen Brenchley and we really enjoyed the company of sixteen cars as we trundled from one interesting venue to another. You can read details of the meeting on these web pages. Thanks to Helen & David for making all the arrangements for this trip. I have further reason to thank David as I hand over the responsibilities of Membership Secretary to him this very day!
Club membership remains free but we do encourage people to sign up to our “200 Club” which provides substantial cash prizes and funds to keep us going! Please consider joining. (Application forms on this website). The prize fund this year reached £1281. For now, enjoy our website and I hope the information is both interesting and informative.
Very best wishes
Martin Garrad
David Brenchley
Membership Secretary – membership@fiatbarchetta.uk
I have volunteered to take over from Martin as Membership Secretary (after years of hard work he’s getting a well deserved rest) and build on the solid base he’s created. My wife, Helen, and I have owned our series two B from new when it was a daily driver but it is now a seriously pampered toy. The car was taken home to Italy in 2014 and may go again in 2025.
So who am I? I worked as a Marine Engineer Officer in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary for 42 years before going on to be the Maintenance Manager for the Kent and East Sussex Railway. I have now retired and spend my time tinkering with our car collection and doing a bit of fly fishing. I have been a club member for many years and find the relaxed atmosphere of the meets a very welcome change from some of the bigger clubs (could I say we don’t possess anoraks…). I highly recommend the annual, 3 day get togethers which move from area to area each year. We’ve enjoyed touring the Peak District, Cotswolds, Suffolk, Northumberland, Dorset and Kent/E Sussex with a fleet of beautiful Barchettas and a bunch of very sociable & fun members.
If you have any questions about membership please get in touch and if you are still a non-member reading this, then please join – it’s one of the few things in life that is actually free!!
Dave Skelding
Treasurer
I first saw a Barchetta close up at an NEC Motor Show in the late 90s. It was an orange one and I was very taken by its Italian style and charm. However, it was not until much later, in 2015, that I finally scratched the itch and bought one, an early broom yellow example which had spent recent years outside the Spanish villa of the former owner of Oakmere Garages, who had acquired it as a trade-in. Hence it was solid and low mileage, but needed a little mechanical tlc.
My wife Sue and I joined the club then and have enjoyed all of our gatherings around the country since. A few years ago one member described these events as ‘a short drive between meals’ and he wasn’t far wrong! This is the great strength of the club – a bunch of sociable, like-minded folk who don’t take themselves or their cars too seriously, but are supportive and enjoy good company. I have some other cars but Barchetta ownership is the most fun, not remotely snobbish and not too petrol-headed.
Our car has totted up some 27,000kms since its purchase, including a couple of jaunts to the continent. It has always been reliable and starts first time, even when left in the garage for weeks at a time. It drives well and would benefit from a new hood as the original is a bit tatty, but it doesn’t leak! I think Barchettas must offer the best smiles per pound ratio of any car! One trip I aspire to is a grand tour to Sweden without using ferries, so via the Channel Tunnel, up to Denmark and over the Little Belt and Great Belt bridges and finally the Oresund Crossing, (made famous by the Scandi tv series ‘The Bridge’), to Malmo. One day!
When former secretary Sandy Ranson wanted to stand down and Martin was seeking a replacement, he explained to me that he did all the hard work and there would be little for me to do…. I shall find out! We have made some good friends through the club, so please come and join us!
Neil Mead
Website Manager – info@fiatbarchetta.uk
Hi, and thanks for visiting our club website. Back in 1995 my first car was a Fiat Cinquecento Sporting which was followed by a Punto Sporting. However, it was the Barchetta and also the Fiat Coupe that really stood out at the time, they seemed so different to other cars and ever since I have been a fan. Fast forward to 2007 when I got a new job that came with a company car which made me think ‘I wonder how much a Barchetta is now?’ and that of course led to me buying the car I still own today.
There have been times when the car has been off the road but me and my dad did complete a European road trip in the car in 2015 and since joining the UK Owners Club in 2017 it has provided me the opportunity to meet some great people, joining in with some excellent drives during the meetings so I would encourage anybody with a Barchetta to join and make the most of their car, after all it is free!
Social media has of course changed the way we communicate and can be a great tool however at the club we still believe there is a place for a website to communicate news, useful information and archive data for all owners to share so please check back and if you have something to contribute, please get in touch.