Excuse the ignorance, but does anyone know whether it's possible to fit a catalytic converter to a 1990 pre-cat panda? I know it would reduce the performance but I'd put up with a bit of sluggishness if it would help the emissions. Bad idea or just an impossible one?
J

You could fit a catalytic converter to a 1990 pre-cat panda but it's a bad idea. The emissions would not improve, probably worsen, and the cat would soon be dead. You need fuel injection and electronic ingition to properly control the right mix to let the cat work, thats why Fiat (and everyone else) switched to fuel injection from carbs and dizzy's.

Thought as much! Cheers!

my '87 sisley has cat, carb & dizzy.
It was originally built for the Swiss & Swedish market, but sold in Austria.
There's lots of vacuum tubes & valves fitted to Carb, thermostatic valves & other stuff. I guess all that is a predecessor of the electrically operated ecobox. Also there's extra piping connected to the exhaust manifold & Air intake. Some kind of exhaust-gas-recirculation system or afterburner.
I am still looking for a manual that explaines all that extra stuff.
Because some parts were missing and damaged, I had to disable it all.
I guess the cat will be gone anyway, since the engine ran 140K km. without the modern motormanagement tricks to protect the cat against unburnt fuel.

(please excuse my bad english, I'm Dutch....)

Although - carbs and dizzys make for a better car imho. . . . definitely easier to work on!
1000s had a mpg 0f 61
What did later pandas , with cats and Fuel injection and electronic ignition have?


.. and .. RANT!!!! if they built cars (like they used to) that can be easily and cheapily repaired - then they wouldn't need to build so many new cars and that would far outweight the pollution caused by older carbsystems vs building a new car... but no, we have to have more technologically advanced cars that we can't fix easily plus the marketing skills of the motor manufacturers makes us only want a new car for 1 year before we buy another one - the latest model!!! RANT OVER!

Well on the brochure for the Colour, the official Fiat stats are:

43.5 mpg (urban cycle)
60.1 mpg (Constant 56mph)
42.2 (Constant 75mph)
87mph (top speed)
0-60 in 16 seconds.

And for completeness:

45bhp @ 5250rpm
54lbs/ft @ 3250rpm
Price (incl VAT) £5094.80 then add £410 for On The Road charges.

It was a bloody bargain then!!!

Sigh! I wish they still made them - I used to love seeing them in the showroom at the FIAT dealer I worked at. . .. . . . . . I couldn't afford one!

Well the Cinquecento and Punto had been released when the Colour came out so like most end-of-the-line specials it had quite an attractive price.