1 comments about Fiat 500, 600 1955 TO 1992: Saloons/Sedans, Multipla, Giardiniera & 126 (Essential Buyer's Guide).

1. Very very detailed information about these rare small automobiles. Tells you the history with rare photo's from the manufacture. All the specs are there along with detailed photo's of the changes thru-out the years.

1 comments about Fiat 500 Owners Workshop Manual.

1. I just bought the Haynes Fiat 500 manual as the Autobooks manual that I purchased first had very poor photographs. While the repair info was fine, the photos used in the book looked like they must have been photocopies of black and white photos and the images were not at all crisp and clear.

1 comments about Obert's Fiat Guide.

1. Obert's Fiat Guide is a collection of years of articles by renowned Fiat auto racer, world-touring writer and all-around expert Genevieve Obert with additional introduction and epilogue by the highly experienced Fiat guru Chris Obert. This entertaining enthusiasts' guide is stuffed with tech articles and history pertaining to the variety of often ingeniously designed, frequently maligned Fiat brand of Italian automobiles. Much of the information in this book is model-specific and hard to find elsewhere. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who owns or is planning to buy and restore one of these affordable classic Italian dreamcars.

No comments about Fiat 131 Abarth (Rally Giants).

2 comments about Fiat X1/9: 1300, 1500 and Abarth Including Performance and Styling Conversions (Collectors Guide).

1. If looks can be deceiving, this book certainly characterizes that concept. Beneath its humble glossy cover (reminds me of a high school textbook) is everything you've EVER wanted to know about one of the best little targa-tops every created. This book includes a complete history of the X1/9, good (though limited) information on maintenance and repair, and lists of clubs and parts suppliers. It is thoroughly well-written and as far as I'm concerned, sets the standard for all the Fiat books out there. If you own, plan to own or even like to look at the Fiat/Bertone X1/9, you owe it to yourself to get this book!



2. Very nice book! If you own or planning to own, you may not miss it!!

No comments about Fiat X1-9, 1974-1980 (Haynes Manuals).

4 comments about Fiat 124 Sport 1968 thru 1978: Coupe & Spider: 1400: 1600: 1800 (Haynes Repair Manual).

1. it's a great manual guide to re-build your own fiat 128 coupe ...



2. This is my first auto's book i've ever read..so i suggest who owns or love this car should have one.. for their refferences...
   Bravo..



3. This is the second best Fiat repair manual that I have come across. So far, I have read four of them and would rate them in this order:

   1. Fiat Official Factory Repair manual for Spider 124.
   2. Haynes
   3. Autopress Ltd
   4. Clymer

   I consider the official factory repair manual as the bible for these cars. It offers detailed diagrams, and step by step instruction for practically every nut and bolt on the car. Some companies offer a reprint of this. The negative is the high-cost. Typically, a reprint of this manual (if available) [is very expensive]

   Haynes is the manual that I used to take my Fiat apart. It was certainly a good manual with explicit instructions, and good digrams. I did notice on a few occaisions, that some of the information was incorrect. Also, Haynes does not offer a Pinninfarina version for those looking specifically for 1983-1985 specific repairs.

   Your local library will likely have a copy of the Haynes manual should you care to review the book in person prior to purchase.

   Good luck!




4. The book gives ample information to renovate my Fiat. I am very happy with the info given. Just a pity that the book is made of recycle paper and that it has a soft cover.

5 comments about Fiat Money Inflation in France.

1. A clear presentation of a governments desparate move using cheap inflated paper money to pay off old debts and its effects on france around 1790. This is not a dynamic novel, but mind bombs go off as the author hits the chain of events that occurred when money is inflated, and is backed only by only a promise to pay the debt it represents. The French find themselves mired in a cycle of ever increasing difficulty to pay that debt off. Although it is not a novel and at times a bit dry, you will definitely be talking to your friends and family about what this author has to say and comparing it to what you see happening now.



2. Fiat Money Inflation in France is as much about irrational human behavior as it is about financial crises and runaway inflation. White describes a dissillusioned public who, under the influence of increasingly self-serving public officials and orators, accepted more and more assignant printings even though the perils of such printings had been documented throughout history and were then blatantly obvious right before there eyes.

   White presented this analysis of the runaway inflation in France to dissuade the US Government of printing its own paper money. He was successful.

   A book worth reading.




3. The book is about the financial trouble that fiat (e.g.,paper) money created in France during the revolutionary years. It also states clearly that the people didn't learn enough from a lesson they had 70 years early.

   If you read this historical account you will very often wonder: 'Hey sounds familiar to me...'. Too bad - or?




4. At least, that has been my experience. A number of conservative Americans hand this book out like popcorn, I'm not quite sure why. Surely the inflation in Weimar Germany was every bit as bad, and also more recent. In fact, there is a good book waiting to be written on "Devastating Inflations Around the World." But -- somehow -- this little book on Fiat Money in France is clasped to the chests of many conservatives.
   
   Since the book is, in effect, an argument for the gold standard, I must say that I would find it much more interesting if it forthrightly argued the merits and demerits of the gold standard, rather than simply telling the tale of monetary collapse in revolutionary France. I suspect that the gold standard is not a very good idea, since -- to the best of my knowledge -- no country in the world supports it. The general argument is simple: gold is simply a commodity, like cotton, oil, or oats. Why should we tie the nation's currency to something like one single commodity? If huge gold reserves are discovered in Lower Slobovia, should THAT have any impact at all on the U.S. dollar, or the British pound, or any currency at all?
   
   The obvious answer is NO. And the prevailing situation worldwide is that all countries issue "FIAT MONEY." The currency is not tied to any particular commodity, but to a market basket of all the goods and services produced by that country. If you have ten thousand U.S. dollars, you can buy quite a chunk of American goods and services -- including gold, if you're in the mood for some dead "store of value."
   
   That's the key issue: all these "fiat" currencies are instantly convertible into gold, or silver, or rubies, or kilowatts. They just are not TIED to the value of any particular commodity.
   
   The system works fine. You just have to watch out for idiots like Jimmy Carter, who come to high office with no knowledge whatsoever, and proceed to increase the money supply until inflation reaches 13% and interest rates hit 20%.



5. This little book tells the epic tale of France's experiment with "irredeemable" currency (paper money which could not be redeemed for specie; gold or silver, i.e. "cash") from 1789-1796, and its devastating impact, particularly on the working class and those sent to the guillotine for violating various and sundry laws.
   
   It should be required reading for every American, particularly congressmen and senators, for, although it was written almost one hundred years ago, the lessons it teaches are as applicable today as they have been all throughout man's history. It is obviously far too late for most nations to return to the gold standard, but this book also reveals the dangers inherent in a constantly and unlimited expansion of a nation's money supply. "Knowledge of the past," as Winston Churchill observed, "is the only foundation we have from which to peer into and measure the future." If so, the nations of the world ignore these lessons at their own peril, and so do their citizens.
   
   So, if you'd like to know what might be down the road apiece, hopefully a very far piece, this is a good place to start. And, even if you don't make the connection, it certainly is an interesting story.

1 comments about Fiat 124 Coupe / Spider & 2000 Spider: 1971-1984 Shop Manual (Workshop Manual Fiat).

1. Definitely a shade tree mechanic issue. No electric schematics and very little model specific information.

5 comments about The Flight of the Barbarous Relic.

1. George Ford Smith does an excellent job of distilling the essence of an Austrian School analysis of status quo economics into 277 pages of page-turning suspense. If you're like me, and you read a lot of fiction and history, but can't make it through even the most accessible book on economics (even though you know it's an important subject) without your eyes glazing over, then this book is for you.
   
   Smith provides a trenchant survey of the history of money and banking in America, and then gets to the heart of what ails us at the outset of the Third Milennium. As the plot unfolds in his nifty little thriller, his characters manage to find opportunities to expound on how it all went wrong with the Business of America, when we got off track, who was responsible, and how we can get back to the garden, as it were. Do I need to mention that the prescription is as good as gold?
   
   As if that weren't enough, Smith excoriates our two-party farce, and why they are wedded to this sad state of affairs called the Federal Reserve System. And the ends the powers-that-be will go to in order to retain their power. A chilling subplot envisions how the Internet could end up being emasculated and bowdlerized to the point where it would be as original and informative as the CBS Evening News.
   
   And you would be well-advised to look into the books on the short reading list at the end of Barbarous Relic. If those tomes are a little too daunting, look up some of the more accessible essays by the same authors (Rothbard, Mises, etc). To read these giants is to immediately recognise that you are in the company of common sense. And these are the ideas George Ford Smith is trafficking in Flight of the Barbarous Relic.
   
   But none of this is meant to dissuade anyone who is looking for a cracking good tale to occupy a few happy hours. Barbarous Relic is filled with a plethora of interesting characters, good and bad, and once I started it, I couldn't put it down.



2. Forget what party you may be supporting. Forget a lot of things you have been told about how our economy works. Read this book and you will begin to understand things that we have been kept in the dark and lied to for decades by both parties.
   
   First of all this is a pretty good story. Secondly, in delivering the story, the author is trying to shake us awake as to what is happening to us and the result is far from pleasant.
   
   In fact, the protagonists in the story have a sense of futility as to awakening enough of us to what has been done to our economy that seems difficult to oversome.
   
   I was asked to review this novel by the author. I did and I am not sure I was not happier living in ignorance. However, it is better to understand one's life and situation and if you agree with that premise, then please, pick up this book and be prepared to be very, very worried about our econoomy and our future.
   
   The "barbarous relic" referred to in the title is the gold standard which at one time in our history tied the value of our currency to that precious metal. If that sounds arcane or old fashioned, I challenge you to read this book and ever feel sanguine again about your economic status in this country, especially if you feel really, really comfortable.



3. The Flight of the Barbarous Relic is a completely unexpected book. George Smith makes a fascinating and suspenseful story out of a question some of us have asked ourselves: "Who stole the value of the money in our wallets?" Inflation is a faceless evil, but the author has managed to put faces and motives on the folks behind the phenomenon.
   
   I have been puzzled by the news on the financial networks. One newscast recently said that the price of food had risen in the last month by the highest amount in years, and then went on to say that since there was no increase in the cost of living, some change in interest rates was expected. No change in the cost of living? I used to think you needed to buy food to live, but it turns out that food and energy, two of our biggest living expenses aren't included in the cost because they change too much. You can understand why this whole area can be very confusing.
   
   As the pastor of a small church, I have seen the effects that our economic situation is having on "ordinary" people. One lady who works in a bank dreads going in to work in the morning, because the first thing she has to do is call an increasing number of her customers who have written checks--for rent, for utilities, for food, etc.--and ask them if they can provide funds for the checks so the bank won't bounce them. I have seen families cut back on everything they can think of to make payments on mortgage they should never have been offered in the first place. I have seen food pantry workers trying to fill needs for food for folks who have spent their food budget at the gas pumps in order to be able to get to work.
   
   Those who are hurting most are the very ones who are trying to do the right thing--to work for their living, to support their families, to pay their debts, and to live a decent life. Most are too basically honest to believe that they have been robbed on such a scale. Most have trusted and supported the leaders who manage the economic environment in which they live. Business as usual has been going on for a long time.
   
   This book, with its different perspective, shows this part of our economic system from the inside. It's a book of mystery, intrigue, and glimpses behind the scenes, which of course makes it fun. But it does also raise some relevant ideas and interesting questions to take away and consider. It is worth a look.



4. I don't usually read novels very often, because I think that I should be learning something when I read. _The Flight of the Barbarous Relic_, however, is the best of both worlds; it is an entertaining way to learn the truth of how the Federal Reserve operates without having to read a dry text! I really enjoyed this book; I recommend it to everyone. It's a great way to educate people on the Fed. You can recommend it to your book club or hand it to everyone who is wondering why our gas prices are so high.



5. This book puts, in novel form, virtually everything every American needs to know about the Federal Reserve, fiat-money central banking, and monetary history, and it does so following an unadulterated Austrian line, without any conspiracy mongering or Antisemitism -- two curses that plague the Honest Money movement. Author George Ford Smith is unique among popular Fed critics in his understanding that the Fed is not bad because it's a "private bank" that generates "windfall profits" for its "shareholders" -- the Fed is bad, truly evil, because it is a government institution designed to provide a blank check for the unbridled growth of the federal government at the expense of liberty.
   
   Oh yes, there has been a conspiracy -- but it's not a "theory," it's historical fact. George F. Smith reveals this indisputable truth throughout the course of this 274-page, impossible-to-put-down thriller, and also clearly demonstrates how the Federal Reserve redistributes wealth from the poor to the rich, all within the context of a gripping plot.
   
   The story focuses on a gold-loving, free-market economist who seemingly "sells out" and joins the mainstream, eventually rising to the position of Fed chairman. But his "sell out" was false -- he only put on Keynesian/Monetarist (as if there's a difference) garb in order to infiltrate the Fed so that he could expose and destroy it! I'm not giving anything away here since this happens very early in the book. The heart of the book is how the government reacts to having its deception exposed.
   
   George Ford Smith's knowledge of monetary history, the nature of government, and the unfortunate ignorance and apathy of the American populace is truly peerless. This book should be heralded by the Mises Institute, LewRockwell.com, and the Ron Paul R3VOLution as the first of hopefully many great works of fiction exposing the truth about the Federal Reserve and the government it sponsors by secretly stealing from the productive class. Five stars are not enough for this heroic effort!