Sad 4th of July for an Italian Friend

[76124]

A trip to the store went very badly today. This is actually my dad's car I had at my place to replace the clutch prior to selling.

Smelled something funny, looked over my right shoulder and saw the smoke. After exiting the car to rear I saw flame around muffler and the undercoating was dripping off on fire. No real Idea why this happened.

Sad ending for this fun car. Not a prime example, evident by the many body repairs but a solid fun driver. Wish I had not put the rims and leather seats on there from a rotted 84! Just sad!

[RRoller123]

Just awful, very sorry.

[TX82FIAT]

Glad no one was hurt. So sorry to see that level of damage. Let us know if you get a forensic reason for the fire.

[wetminkey]

Glad no one was hurt,...but that just brings tears to my eyes. How sad. I'm so very sorry,...

[F16Waldo]

I keep a small fire extinguisher in the glove box just for this kind of emergency. Helpful if you catch a fire early anyways.
Sorry for your loss.

[DieselSpider]

Two things come to mind which would be hole on top of the muffler or right rear brake dragging.

Or perhaps it was dragging over the loss of Lee Iaccoca another Italian Friend of the automotive world.

[76124]

Newer rear muffle, but the over axle pipe and was original, so maybe a collapse there. I didn't notice a change in the sound though. Brake lockup maybe. It didn't drive any differently and I've had brake fires before, never resulted in a catastrohic fire.

Not sure we will ever know.

Anyone in need of a good 2.0 FI motor with fresh head check out Mary's towing in S Everett WA. Motor was not burned at all. Tranny has bad 2nd gear synchro but the replacement is sitting on my garage floor along with new clutch and fly wheel if anyone local needs a clutch kit.

Makes me sick thinking about it.

[fiat218]