Below is an interesting account of what life is like locked down in Warsaw by club member Brian Poole along with some tips on getting those hard to find Barchetta parts!
Lock Down In Warsaw
What started as a routine 10 day trip has resulted in being caught in a lock-down in Warsaw, Poland since 12th March with my Barchetta 1,200 miles away in North Staffordshire and no possibility of joining it till mid May at the earliest!
I’ve lived and worked in Poland since 1977 and regularly visit 3-4 times a year so it is not a complete disaster, my wife Hanna and I are safe and comfortable. We have not experienced any food shortages nor have we had to queue anywhere, though we do spend 23 hours a day in the flat. I do miss our garden and garage/workshop. The very stringent and early lock-down measures here have kept the virus statistics down. At present, 3rd April, there are less than 14,000 with the virus and only about 700 deaths compared to the UK’s 28,000 deaths.
I keep myself entertained by going through Barchetta cars and spare parts for sale on-line in northern Europe, especially here in Poland. Although there are still some bargains to seek out I am unlikely to better my initial find of several years ago. On that occasion I bought every light from a Barchetta for £80!
I attach links to just some of the sites I follow. I find Google Chrome is a great help in translating whole pages. The exchange rate for the Polish Zloty is 5 to £1 so anything advertised 100 zloty is £20 to make life easier. One of the options when buying in Poland is that you pay the courier the item cost and delivery and the sender then collects their money from the courier company. This takes some of the risk out of buying online.
https://www.olx.pl/oferty/q-fiat-barchetta/
The first site I log on to for me, mainly used by private sellers and breakers
Allegro is the equivalent of the ebay sales, new and used.
https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-autoteile-reifen/barchetta/k0c223
German ebay prices in Euro, set to used parts. Some delivery options are not included in the adverts.
https://www.marktplaats.nl/q/fiat+barchetta+onderdelen/
Dutch site prices in Euro, offering new and used. Delivery options again.
https://www.ebay.de/sch/Innenausstattung/23022/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=fiat+barchetta&_sop=10
Another German ebay site does give a good idea of used parts.
Plenty of bargains but delivery costs do ramp up prices.
About four years ago I visited the Polish fibreglass manufacture of Barchetta front and rear bumpers on behalf of the Italian Barchetta club, they were considering a club bulk buy and went ahead with it. Although I could negotiate a great individual price, delivery costs for a single bumper made the cost impractical for me. I could trust Ryanair with golf clubs or even a windsurfer but a bumper in a large box is a step too far!
Brian Poole
Warsaw May 2020
Hi there, Brian! I’m sorry for your polish lockdown, it must be very difficult to be such long time away from home and loved ones. Keep up the good spirits! Thank you for the links you posted, I had a look at them and guess what? I found a spare part (the control unit panel for heating and ventilation) I’ve been searching for quite a while to no avail. Wrote to them, in English since my Polish is equal to my Sanskrit: zero, on the off chance I may get a reply. Thank you again and good luck!
Need any help contact me. Still in Warsaw