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April 4, 2008
By now you’ve probably heard the news – comedian Jerry Seinfeld narrowly escaped being seriously hurt in East Hampton, Long Island, on Saturday when he crashed his 1967 Fiat BTM after the brakes failed.
Everyone reported the news, and The New York Times printed the Associated Press story.
One problem: There is no such car as a 1967 Fiat BTM.
Indeed, the Internet is alive with bloggers asking about the car and sounding off about its non-existence. One went so far as to print all the cars that Fiat produced in 1967. They are: the Fiat 1100 R, the Fiat 125, the Fiat 125 Special Berlina, the Fiat 1500 Cabriolet, the Fiat Dino Coupe 2.0 and the Fiat Dino Spider 2.0.
A number of things spring to mind about this story. One is the happy fact that Seinfeld was not injured despite the car rolling over. Another is the reminder that old cars are old and need special attention when being taken out on the road.
Then there is the issue of a story being reported and printed with a crucial piece of information being wrong. That reflects a tendency in this profession to take other people’s reporting and editing at face value and go with their facts without perhaps asking obvious questions.
In this case, the source for the information was the town police chief and one can well imagine him getting garbled information about an old collector car from a shocked Seinfeld.
But that is not necessarily a bad thing. For it reflects the trust we have in each other in this profession. Most of us went through a hazing early in our careers when we got a fact wrong. I certainly did while working for Reuters News Agency in New York 25 years ago. I got a number wrong when British Petroleum reported its quarterly earnings and my ears are still ringing.
Finally, for me the silver lining is that the Internet immediately picked up on the mistake, with a bunch of people chiming in with their doubts and questions. So rather than castigating my profession, I prefer to be reassured that in this modern age of instant access to information, mistakes are quickly spotted and called.
The only question that remains is: What was Seinfeld driving?
- Peter C.T. Elsworth
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth 
at 10:39 AM to commentary
| Permalink
After a lifetime of being around imported cars, working in the field and owning an imported auto repair and sales business for over 27 years in Warwick R.I., I am very familiar with most Fiat's. I noticed the T.V. story a couple of days ago involving Jerry Sienfeld with a Fiat that he had just purchased. The pictures shown in the spot were of a 1967 Fiat Dino 2.0 Coupe. This model was not sold in the U.S. at that time but were imported by private individuals or importers. The reason this car became desirable was the fact that it was equipped with a 2.0 V-6 Ferrari engine that was also used in the Ferrari Dino a mid engine sports car. Today these cars still hold a high value in good condition.
Lenny Petrone
International Motor Group
lenny@imgcars.com
Posted by: Lenny Petrone on April 6, 2008 9:57 AM
Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published.
