A long time wish......is now a terrifying reality!!

[Tom C]

Evening all

For some years now I have been looking for a big Fiat from the 80's or 90's but it had to have an Auto box.

Apart from a very ropy Croma in Isleworth last year, nothing has ever come up and I had accepted that I would never own a fantasticaly mediocre Italian car.

Then out of nowhere, a terrible Facebook ad appeared with one blurry picture of a Bravo/Brava/Marea. Knowing that many users cannot understand the term "Automatic Transmission", I didn't get my hopes up but after a quick check not only was it an Automatic, it was a Weekend!!!

So, after much back and forth, trying to find if anything had ever been serviced on this poor car, here she is......my Fiat Marea 1.6 100 ELX Weekend!

The car has been off the road for over a year, has no MOT and I have absolutely no service history.

So new belts, gearbox and engine service are a must but from the outside at least, it looks very tidy and there doesn't appear to be any noticeable rot* plus it has only done 27,000 miles.

What could possibly go wrong? 

Edited November 15, 2023 by Tom C
Spelling

[sdkrc]

That's an absolute babe, what a purchase! Any chance of some interior shots?

[Macscrooge]

Nice looking cars these. Mrs M had a Brava which survived all sorts of abuse before being inflicted on a young person. 

[loserone]

That is fit as.  

[Schaefft]

27k one of these must be pretty much the cleanest example in the UK by now, nice one!

[Lanciaman]

I had one of these back in the day, a 1.8 elx.  Bought at 8 years old, for £750.  Something like 60k miles on it.   Was a great car.  

[Stanky]

OOOOF! I had a Mk1 Punto with the 100ELX engine and it was a brilliant car, all the toys and went like stink. I've said this before but the spring under the accelerator is exactly the same as the one from a clicky ballpoint pen. My brother used to berate me that I drove it at 90mph on the motorways, I said that that was where it wanted to be, this continued until one day I made him drive it back from West London to the south coast and after that he did have to concede I was right and thats just how it wanted to be.

The place your foot sits, balanced by the spring pushing the pedal back up in 5th is about 90mph.

It did massively blow it head gasket and got sold, but these days I'd have slung some k-seal in and I bet it would have been fine. Oh the folly of youth.

Anyway, mega jealous!

[ProgRocker]

Big(ish) Fiats For The Win. 

I owned a 1990 Tempra  1.4 which was a basket case. Hope this Marea turns out to be easier to live with.

(Just remembered I almost bought a W reg Marea 1.6 saloon in 2002 )

[Spiny Norman]

My pal had a 1.6 Marea and it was a far better thing than I expected. Comfy, roomy, economical, if it had a Ford badge it would have sold by the million.

[Matty]

Good cars Mareas. As were everything Fiat made in this period!

[Captain Mainwaring]

That looks great, Fiats of this period are getting very scarce now it seems. Can't even remember the last time I saw one of these. Hopefully plenty life left in it with that low mileage if corrosion has been kept at bay. Great buy, hope you enjoy it!

[lisbon_road]

Autoshite isn't dead yet then.  Congratulations.

[Sham]

I had a 2001 diesel for a while which took all of the abuse and loved it.

Fabulous car that only went in the end because the Mrs passed her test and we needed an auto for her, while I had a company vehicle at the time.

I miss it's Italian enthusiasm. Great buy!

[Captain Mainwaring]

9 minutes ago, lisbon_road said:

Autoshite isn't dead yet then.  Congratulations.

When someone on the forum has fulfilled a long time wish by buying an old Fiat with no MOT or any discernable service history, you know its alive and well!

[Stinkwheel]

22 minutes ago, lisbon_road said:

Autoshite isn't dead yet then.  Congratulations.

Was there any suggestion it was? Have you seen a lot of the vehicles still used regularly on here on a budget?

[Chuck Buckles]

I had a 98 plate diesel in dark grey. Think I paid £350 and it’s sipped fuel and took lots of abuse. Amazing how many bags of plaster and tiles it would carry during the house renovations. 
well done finding and purchasing. 
 

[lisbon_road]

39 minutes ago, Stinkwheel said:

Was there any suggestion it was? Have you seen a lot of the vehicles still used regularly on here on a budget?

No suggestion at all.  You might be taking my comment a bit seriously.  Looks an interesting purchase, that's the main thing.

[inconsistant]

15 hours ago, Tom C said:

The car has been off the road for over a year, has no MOT and I have absolutely no service history.

Fantastic purchase! Thanks for the reminder Fiat used to make some great cars. 

[HillmanImp]

That it so bland I dozed off looking at the photos. Well done. 

[tul66]

We had a 1998 Marea Weekend 1.9TD for 8 years and 200k miles. Excellent car.

[Rust Collector]

I feel like that design has aged well, what a beautiful looking machine.

[N Dentressangle]

The last Fiat I owned was a 903cc 127. With a boot, rather than a hatch.

Always fancied a Mk1 Strada, but that'll never happen. Good to see another shonky Italian motor still going!

[GeordieInExile]

3 hours ago, Matty said:

Good cars Mareas. As were everything Fiat made in this period!

Cinquecento, Punto, Bravo/a, Marea, Coupé, Barchetta, Multipla. Beautiful. All of them pretty near the top of their respective classes, or at the top in the case of the Multipla.

[fatharris]

Photo of split tailgate action pls.

What a honey.

[JJ0063]

Well bought. 
 

Has it got the pop up tape player thing? Had a Brava with one years ago!

[Jerzy Woking]

We had one of the 5 cylinder Marea Weekends as a fleet car at work. Went like shit off a stick, and could be chucked around the bends without concern.

Luckily you have steel wheels on that one? Our Marea had alloys with a steel spare (not a space saver). Have to change the bolts when putting the steel on. Guess what our car was missing when I had a puncture...?

[hairnet]

3 hours ago, HillmanImp said:

That it so bland I dozed off looking at the photos. Well done. 

Nahhhh

So great it's not a punto

[hairnet]

1 hour ago, fatharris said:

Photo of split tailgate action pls.

What a honey.

Pervert

[Tom C]

On 15/11/2023 at 17:22, sdkrc said:

That's an absolute babe, what a purchase! Any chance of some interior shots?

This is the best the owner could manage

On 16/11/2023 at 11:35, fatharris said:

Photo of split tailgate action pls.

What a honey.

Again, best the owner could do. Car is being looked at now so better pics will definitely follow!

[Boycie]

What I started at my work way back in 99 we had Marea's Inc the 20 valver on fleet ......  The 20 valver was a bland rocketship