Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

[aeronca65t]

Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

https://www.huliq.com/55855/jerry-seinfeld-escapes-accident-1967-fiat-btm

It says that Seinfeld rolled his "1967 FIAT BMT". I don't think there's any such car.

Seinfeld actually owns a 1957 OSCA MT4, so that's probably what he really rolled.

 

[Steve_S]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

No idea, but all the news reports are listing the same car. I'm surprised that no one has corrected the error, or shown a photo of the type of Fiat he is reported to have wrecked.

 

[Eric]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

On the Miata.net forums, someone reported that it was a 67 Fiat 850 Coupe, but I have no idea how reliable that information is. Hard to imagine getting one going fast enough to roll! (Former 850 Coupe owner)

 

[philman]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

yeah, I could never overspeed the suspension in my 850 spyder. The throttle could just as easily been an on/off switch.

 

[Eric]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

A post this morning on Miata.net by "Mikuhn" is the most plausible explanation I've yet heard:

"BTM" is the abbreviation for "Body Type Model" used by DMVs and police departments across the country for the purpose of uniform reporting of accidents and stolen vehicles. There is a code that accompanies the BTM designation, like "CP" (Coupe), "SD" (Sedan), "RD" (Roadster) etc. An ignorant reporter probably saw "YR: 67 MAKE: FIAT BTM: CP" on a police report and thought that it was a model designation. Now it's all over the Internet. There is no such car as a Fiat BTM.

Makes sense to me.

 

[Tullamore]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

He was driving a Fiat Dino Coupe like this one:

 

[Steve]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

Now, THAT is a really pretty little coupe!

 

[DrEntropy]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

Not any LONGER, it ain't. :madder:

 

[bugimike]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

Too bad the Dino coupe was a sweet car with a Ferarri engine too!! Weren't all THAT many of 'em over here to begin with, now there's one less!!

 

[mikeyr]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

WOW was it really a FIAT Dino Coupe that he rolled in ? I need to go check this out, I don't understand how that could happen since in the news they said the brakes went out and he also tried the hand brake, that would mean that 3 systems failed.

I just can't imagine those brakes failing all at once.

The regular brakes are on individual systems left-front-right-rear and then right-front-left-rear plus the handbrake has its own pads and caliper on the rear.

Hate for it to have been a FIAT Dino but maybe I can grab that Ferrari motor as a spare for mine since it obviously was running. Mine is a spider but same motor.

Time to go surf the net and find out what he crashed.

 

[mikeyr]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

OK, that did not take long... I can believe this one as the brakes are a single system on the FIAT 500 (had 3 of them at one time in my younger days)

https://blogs.automobilemag.com/6239243/e...rash/index.html

 

[Sherlock]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

What a crying shame, if the car is written off... Fiat Dino's are a fairly rare thing to see...

At least everyone is apparently okay.

 

[beaulieu]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

it was a Fiat 500 , I am sure he was more worried about something hitting him then the damage his 1000 pound Fiat was going to do....

Glad he is alright and I hope it does not stop him from being a car guy...........

 

[Steve]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

Well, let's face it..... This is not Jay Leno that we are discussing here, so I would imagine that lack of correct maintenance was more of an issue..... Air in the system, what the heck, drive it anyway, I look good in it....then suddenly "Oooops!" No time to pump the brakes, handbrake probably seized through lack of use or poorly adjusted, blame the machinery.

You may gather that I am not a fan. But I am probably correct.

 

[swift6]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

Jay breaks his cars all the time. Doesn't wreck them usually, just breaks them. Could have easily been a mechanical failure as opposed to poor maintenance. Same thing could possibly happen on any of our single system LBC's.

 

[bugimike]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

Well, a Fiat 500 IS an expendable car after all!!! Glad it wasn't a Dino!! I'm sure what-ever he hit caused more damage to the Fiat than it sustained!! Somehow, Topogigio comes to mind!

 

[beaulieu]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

well since I am going to look at a 500 for sale later this week I will say they are not an expendable car ,

They are pretty rare in this country ,

but whatever , I am glad Jerry is OK, mad that the news makes it into such a big deal and cannot even get the story correct ,

I think it shows more how incorrect the nightly news often is , Hype and celebs are now the "news" and checking facts has gone out the window....

 

[bugimike]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

I only meant "expendable" in that they sold an awful lot of the 500 world wide, so I would think there is little shortage of parts availability! The Dino on the other hand was a much lower production-run and one would have a much harder time finding replacement parts!!!

 

[DrEntropy]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

The 500 must have been the first "world car" IMO. Not a lot of 'em imported to the US, they wouldn't have been big sellers in the era of "Longer, Lower, Wider!" here.

The Dino though... well, I've had the privelege of working on a few of 'em. Sold one out of a dealership in PA back-when. They're interesting cars. Bit big IMO, neat engine and under-rated in the era they were made. The convertible is a great "cruiser", too. There should be a dark blue one rollin' around over there on th' "Space Coast", Mike. A pal who owns it got a job with Rockwell a few years back and moved there with it.
If ya ever happen t' see it, holler: "Hiya JOE!!"

It'd freak 'im.

 

[PAUL161]

Re: Seinfeld's "FIAT" accident?

I understand it was a Fiat 500.