Fiats of the last 20 ish years

[strangehighways]

I was just thinking, as I was driving to work, of all those classic/shite Fiats that I'm sure some of you love. Let me start with a few of my personal favs.

 

A Fiat Fiorino Mk 1. I remember loving these because when I was in infant school, the guy who did the school disco used to have one and it looked so awful and dodgy, yet fascinating.

 

 

Fiat Tempra. Who wouldn't want a nice TD one of these as a daily? I'm sure it would be fantastic (anyone with personal experience of these please post here!)

 

 

Fiat Croma. Simply for the reason that I cannot remember when I last saw one of these. Are they any good?

 

 

What are your thoughts?

[mnde]

I'm with you on the Tempra TD Estate. I think they're very smart especially with those (alloy?) wheels.Mark.

[The Liberator]

I had a Tempra TD Station Wagon for a couple of years, I thought it was the cat's pyjamas - loads of space, comfortable, decently quick (if smoky) for an old diesel, and dead reliable.It also had lots of top shite features, like the digital dash (with boost gauge), the drop down rear bumper, headlamp washers that emerged from the bumper by water pressure and a sort of reverse NACA duct in the roof to channel airflow through the spoiler on the tailgate and keep the glass clean.Unfortunately, Mrs Liberator took against it, on account of its rattly smoky ways, so the aged P ended up with it, sadly writing it off in fairly short order.

[Rocket88]

Haven't had one for ages, but I've always had a soft spot for Fiats [so did they, usually in the floorpan....] anyway, had a couple of 131's, a 124 sports coupe, and an 850 coupe [briefly] would love a 130 coupe, or a 131 Sport..........or a 124 convertible or or or.............

[VWPowered]

i love these

 

[mnde]

^^ Those 128s are ace. They just scream "rag me!"

 

As posted previously my favourite Fiat is the 850 Coupe

 

 

 

Sadly rather rare in these parts it seems...

 

Mark.

[alfetta]

coupes do crop up on ebay now and then, have to say I've never seen one 'in the flesh' since about 1987....

[VWPowered]

how could i forget, i own this atm too..

 

 

forgot i had it as she's out in it

[Vin]

I used to run a Tipo Turbo diesel as a daily. It was a proper flying machine. It was 1.9 TDSX so had the digi dash too (they had a habit of zeroing themselves when you got to 120k miles (200k kms), happened on the petrol DGT I had too) I gave it to my sister on the basis she sold her Fiesta and I pocketed what she got for it

She ran it for 12 months then drove into the back of a Ulysses at a roundabout in Newcastle under Lyme. We got it back to Brigg under it's own steam and under darkness.

 

She then got herself a 1.9 TD Tempra wagon, so I was able to strip the Tipo of all useful mechanical bits (turbo, fuel pump, etc.) She moved up to Berwick on Tweed. As her job covered the area between Hull and Edinburgh the Tempra did a lot of miles.

 

She moved to Sheffield as she got a transfer to Bakewell, then in February bought a newer 306 wagon so the Tempra was redundant. It had 2 months MOT on it, 1 month tax and 200k on the clock. It was worth sweet FA but she didn't want to scrap it, so on her behalf I gave it away to a Tempra enthusiast from Kidderminster.

 

 

 

Nice tale Sis told me, was that when she was sat in the car, at Bakewell Co-op she noticed a couple giving her funny looks. When she got out they approached her and told her it was their old car (Sister had bought it from the Derby area). They said they used to regularly tow a caravan with it down to the west country and had good memories of it so they were chuffed to see it still going

[Milford Cubicle]

I think Mareas are pretty nice, I'd like one with a 2.4 5 pot diesel.

 

[VWPowered]

see alot of them here for sale with head gasket failures shame as they do look a nice car although i prefer the 3dr Brava

[Guest]

Tempras are great-looking cars, I would have one.I like Mareas too, the 20V ones sound like a right piece of kit.

[UglyAmerican]

A few years ago I discovered a Fiat Ritmo (aka Strada) on fleabay here, and having never seen such shite before fell in love. I passed on buying it as it was 2500 miles away in Utah, and haven't seen another one since.

 

Love the circular door handles!

 

 

For Italian shite within the past 20 years though, I reckon Lancia is hard to beat. Kappa, Gamma, Lybra, Dedra, Thema... they're all winners in shitedom.

[Milford Cubicle]

Gamma was last sold a lot longer than 20 years ago.

 

With you on Kappas, I often gaze longingly at them on eBay.it even though (or because) they look a bit funny - the lights front and rear look a bit small for the size of car.

 

 

 

How about the Thesis? It looks mad.

[pompei]

A mate of mine (and yours Neil ) had a Tipo and a Bravo and his late dad had a Croma turbo, all of which were GR9 cars.I HEART 60s and 70s Fiats and if my ship comes in, I'll have a warehouse full of them.

[Justin Case]

I suppose that a Punto in a sharp suit counts, plenty of them in Belgium, only a short ferry ride away

 

[MrRegieRitmo]

The Ypsilon?

[Split_Pin]

I love any Fiat from the last 20 years, but if its one, I'd definitely go for the Argenta, simply for its obscurity I spotted an old Marea laid up on a farm in Arran this year and I thought that I now actually quite like the look of them.

[woolleyiain]

Have a go at this one. Ends soon too. Cheap!

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1992-FIAT-TEMPRA- ... 3a5548c37f

[Justin Case]

The Ypsilon?

Yes, spot-on. That model is the bi-colore, fairly high on my wish-list. (doesn't even the most mundane phrase sound better in Italian )

[UglyAmerican]

This was my Punto in a dress.

How was that? I always admired these from afar, and IIRC for a time they were super cheap even brand new in the UK at around 13k RRP.

 

Aside from the inconvenience of driving a left-hooker, what'd you think?

[Mash]

I'd happily have a Tempra wagon, I think they are a very handsome car, in fact I nearly bought one about 7 or 8 years ago but can't remember why I didn't in the end. Doh!Tipos are getting a bit thin on the ground in this area, still see the odd late Uno buzzing around. My dad currently runs a Stilo 1.4 which is pretty average in just about every respect! He's not totally in love with it but I think it drives OK and it's not put together too badly either. Nice 6-speed box too.

[MrRegieRitmo]

My dad currently runs a Stilo 1.4 which is pretty average in just about every respect! He's not totally in love with it but I think it drives OK and it's not put together too badly either. Nice 6-speed box too.

I still love the idea of the 2.4 Abarth in either Broom yellow or Sprint blue, 3 door of course, full length sky roof, leather interior...oh stop! I'm torturing myself!

[ChinaTom]

I fancy a nice old Ulysse actually. Hired one once to shift some old drawing desks around and found them to be quite comfy. Absolutely NOTHING functionned properly in the car - pressing the heated rear window button intermittently opened the rear rear windows (those little hinged ones) too. I assumed it was part of the demisting process, but now think it was Italian wirery. Also, flashing the headlights used to flash the interior lights too. Excellent fun, and with the 1.9TD, quite nippy too. Bet there aren't too many around now.

[fiatdaft]

regie don't do it,nice looking but not quick or cheap to run and the sillyspead box is a pain and manuals are very very rare.

[Polystratus]

I fancy a nice old Ulysse actually. Hired one once to shift some old drawing desks around and found them to be quite comfy. Absolutely NOTHING functionned properly in the car - pressing the heated rear window button intermittently opened the rear rear windows (those little hinged ones) too. I assumed it was part of the demisting process, but now think it was Italian wirery. Also, flashing the headlights used to flash the interior lights too. Excellent fun, and with the 1.9TD, quite nippy too. Bet there aren't too many around now.

Last time had a lift in a Ulysse that was in 1999, also popular as a taxi so I would guess many were ran into the ground.

[Gompo]

I'm saw I saw a Tempra today in Gainsborough.

 

Did a quick google and found the following. The one I saw was an 'M' too but cant be sure it was an estate:

 

http://www.dhales.com/viewauction.aspx? ... 9047729E0D

[Burnside]

Have really wanted to own a tempra but can never seam to find one when im looking for a car. My brother has driven a 1.9td sx estate tempra when he use to work at a Fiat dealer and said it was a really good car. It was there pool car i kept asking my brother if they ever wanted to sell it to let me know. Of course they sold it on without letting me know. But we did manage to buy a 94M reg Fiat panda clx off them for my sister with 19k for £250 for her 1st car. Was probbley the best bargain we ever had. Though saying that my own bargain was 89G reg Fiat tipo 1.4 DGT ex london car so multipull dents and flat met silver paint of bay for £77! Use to fly down the road and is quicker than my cavalier 1.8 ive got now,must have another one day. But my first Fiat was 89G reg Mk1 Fiat uno 45s 3dr for £95 in black. Itialian staff car. Spent loads on it but loved it. Guess im pretty addicited to uno's as ive had a 89G reg uno mk1 45 5dr in black again a few years back an now ive got another one that is joint owend with my brother a 87E reg uno mk1 60s 5r in met green as i miss my other 2 a lot. Guess i should thank my parents for having brought that 1988 E139 JAY Fiat strada 70cl in bianco white back in 1992 as that car was responsable for my love of Fiats. Was really upset when that was traded in. P.s if you ever have an unwanted fiat in your area, please don't offer it me.

[Betaphile]

i love these

 

I will have to find the old pics of mine and post them when I get a moment. About a year ago I ran a 3p as a daily for around 8 months. Had its problems, but most were related to the fact that I recommissioned it after it had stood around for 10 years in a barn. I really started to lose patience after it broke down six times in as many journeys early on in my tenure (each time a different problem), but by some mystical Italian spirit, it got the message that the next breakdown meant it was off to the scrappie, and behaved perfectly from then until I managed to get rid of it.

 

Good points: engine was the toughest mother you've seen. A compression test revealed it had sod-all compression in #3 cylinder, but it just kept going despite me showing it absolutely no mercy on a daily basis. Same applies in other instances of the Lampredi SOHC I've seen, including one which kept going with little loss in performance, despite five bent valves and two pistons so loose you could rattle them around in the bores with your fingers.

 

Gearbox was also just brilliant - a simple four-speeder with a really delightful gearchange, uncorrupted by rubber in the system - just a lovely direct shift. Nice seats, good driving position, sharp steering and handling too - no power assistance of course so very direct and precise, but still light.

 

Styling made me smile every time I looked at it. Practical with the hatchback (although a high lip), and amazingly spacious for such a small car - very cleverly laid out inside to maximise space efficiency. Fiat always were good at that.

 

It was a great car - I'd gladly have another. Eventually I flogged it as it needed a lot more spending on it to make it a really nice car and I needed to, er, 'rationalise' my automotive expenditures. But the decision to part with it was made easier by the fact that in the final week I had it before the registration expired, it properly managed to frighten the living daylights out of me when the middle pedal went to the floor as I was cranking along at around 60km/h (downhill). My heart still beats faster when I recall that moment - that was NOT fun at all. It's moments like that which focus attention on the fact that the crash protection in these things isn't worth the paper it's not mentioned on as part of the design brief.

[VWPowered]

safety, well they put seatbelt's in it didnt they