cette grand-mère italienne

13:52 Dec 17, 2023 

Italian damsel/beauty/dame (to convey age)

07:16 Sep 8, 2023 

Thanks Mihaela!

15:41 Sep 7, 2023 

I agree with Thomas and Steve. I think you could use "vintage" and "beauty" since they are adjectives and terms which are generally associated with cars in English language unlike "the beautiful Italian" or "the Italian grandmother" which would sound strange!
You could also say something like "this beautiful Italian machine" to avoid the repetition of the "car".
Here are some synonyms for car you could use https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/car

15:01 Sep 6, 2023 

Thanks Steve, I do like "fine old lady".
Have used "vintage beauties" previously.
Certainly no need to ram home the "Italianess" of this!

14:58 Sep 6, 2023 

"you might want to stop saying "Italian" all the time if he keeps banging on about it"
- every other word!

14:46 Sep 6, 2023 

That's a good point (about repetition). For example, you might want to stop saying "Italian" all the time if he keeps banging on about it.

14:46 Sep 6, 2023 

I support Steve's suggestion to use 'beauty' (which allows a potential personification that we can detect in the original text).

From this starting point, could we use 'vintage' to convey the added characteristic of age? But you might want to check the exact definition of 'vintage' in this context.

14:43 Sep 6, 2023 

You say 'frequently refers to', which I assume means they keep repeating the same two phrases. You can't do this in your translation, so you'll have to find a different way of saying it each time.

This makes it difficult for us to provide suggestions, especially since you've included two phrases in one question, which is against the rules.

We also need the context.

And finally, since this is a Fiat, 'Italian' seems a statement of the obvious.

14:41 Sep 6, 2023 

this Italian beauty / fine old (Italian) lady?

Potential minefield, obviously, as it depends a little on his age and how you want to characterise him.