Inspiration needed! Any nice UT pics out there?

Right - following on from my other thread, it looks like Im in the running for this MK1 light blue UT.

Its a totally standard car and theres nothing wrong in that! I like my cars OE and frankly I dont go in for styling mods. But having said that in all honesty the MK1 UT looks very dated and not very (if at all) sporty!

If I wanted to smarten it up a bit I was thinking of removing all the OE decals (or is this sacralidge?) trying to obtain some red/clear rear lights maybe impossible I know, but possible? (or very lightly tint the originals?) and maybe some nice OE style alloys. Possibly.

The car is already lowered - which does a lot for the looks of any car.

I dont like anything but OE spec bodykits so anything like thats out. But has anyone any other ideas? Splitter maybe?

What UT pictures can you inspire me with?

For me the old skool route with the Mk1 always worked well.

Starting with the back:

Smooth rear tailgate conversion, Mk2 rear bumper, and move the number plate onto that. (The exhaust will fit perfectly in the aperture).

If you can still find them, there were rear light covers, which had black at the top, and red at the bottom. Those looked superb, (particularly on a red or black car - not sure whether this would be so good on blue...?)

Finally, and it really does make a difference this, go for a Punto MK1 rear wiper. Don't go for Mk2 as it won't sit straight. For the Mk1, if you fit it correctly, at rest the wiper sits straight along the flat edge of the rear window - perfect!

For the side profile, for me the perfect combination are 6 spoke 15" wheels, in standard alloy silver, with 195/45 rubber.

For the front, you can fit the Mk2 UT front bumper, it gives a slightly deeper look, and brings it a little more up to date.

That would be it for me.

Great stuff! Thats my kind of styling too. Subtle and nice. Not OTT.

I agree with the smoothed rear end look...I might leave the boot handle on though?

Ill have to do some more research into the bumpers and see what the differences are though. (and availability!) but that sounds a good move.

I usually remove rear wipers all together on my other cars.

As for alloys. Again Im not wanting "bling bling" in your face ones. Something nice but without loosing too much performance. I didnt know if 15" would be too far tbh.

I do have a nice set of Alfa Sprint pepperpots... they could look quite good.

So removing the 80's OE stripes isnt a crime of humanity then?

15's won't look ott, but 14's will look to small when you've fitted them.

I do have some old pics of my UT where I had all of the above (in my recommendations), but with the Taifun Automolitek GmbH headlamp conversion too. I'll have to dig them out, as the car was unique, (only about 3/4 of the conversions made it into the UK).

You could leave the handle on the boot. I preferred without, and never had any issues with the interior boot release.

I wouldn't have thought removing the 80's stripes will be an issue. My UT didn't have them anyway, some did, some didn't as it was a dealer option I believe.

Not sure where those pepperpot alloys will fit. Alfa's are 5 stud aren't they? In any case, and bare in mind this is just my personal taste, I don't like rounded alloys on the Uno, the Uno is very clean and square, and to me a sharper edged alloys suits better.

nice!!!

personally i would go for de-locked doors, the boot handle removed but wipe and number plate left where they are, and a MK2 turbo rear bumper with the red strip! i hate the no rear wiper look, it looks silly IMO, i'm getting mine put back on soon as i get a wiper motor!

My black MK1 has a mk2 rear bumper fitted and has painted bumpers, Fuel Cap and surround, arches, skirts, mirrors and has the black vinyl removed from round the windscreen and in between the door and rear window, looks much better.

I think the standard wheels on a uno turbo are crap, however if you was to keep them on a mk1 best off getting strada wheels, they look exactly the same but are 14" instead of 13".

I'm getting a set of tipo 16v wheels polished for my black mk1, v nice!

on my red MK1 it has a set of OZ super leggera's fitted, they look awesome and are very light wheels and the car feels faster and handles better with them on compared to the standard wheels.

heres a few pictures of my mk1 turbos...

Mark.

That would be great if you could. WOuld be interested to see them.

Some interesting ideas. All seem to be the sort of thing Im thinking of so interesting reading (and viewing)

One of my current cars runs SuperL's. They are indeed a very light wheel. The Alfa sprint wheels are 4 stud btw. My neighbour runs a Alfa Sprint Veloce. Absolutly stunning car and has a lot of stuff lieing about for it so was just an idea.

Delocking has never been a big feature on my cars in the past as it involves repsraying and I dont fing the keylock that intrusive anyways. Hence why I thought I would leave the boot handle on as well.

Seeing those pics, its amazing what a difference a few subtle mods can do. That last pic of OSMUT's red car looks fantastic! Really impressed by that.

I think the stripes will be coming off pretty soon and ill have to play about with some cheap alloys (i dont see the point spending mega bucks on alloys - but that just may be me) I see where your coming from with angular alloys being needed. Always quite liked Compomotive MO's... if you could find a set for decent money!

Is there any pics of MK1 with standard bumpers compared to MK1 wearing MK2 standard bumpers available? Id like to see what effect that has on the appearance as its been mentioned a few times.

my black MK1 uses a mk2 rear bumper and my red mk1 uses the standard mk1 bumper.

i prefer the MK2 rear bumper as it goes further down and wraps around the exhaust. its basically the same bumper with a bit added on

I think that Mark's (Oldschool Mk1) Uno turbo shows how well a few very subtle mods are all that are needed to make a Uno look good. In many respect it also shows how good the original design was in the first place!

Flushing the tailgate and moving the number plate to the bumper? Not for me I'm afraid, makes the back look too tall, too bare and also makes it look as big as a barn door. This is even more so if you fit the mk2 turbo bumper as it sits lower. Some people like the flushed look, but to me it's

Removing the rear wiper? Daft! If it's a road car then it's incredibly useful and gets used often in the wet and wintry months. You'll soon miss it if it's not there. To make it a little more modern looking fit a Punto wiper arm as suggested.

De-locking the doors. It looks ok, but more to the point it adds a little extra security by removing the rather bad standard locks. However, the top of the door can still be bent down very easily...

Wheels - purely down to taste. Big wheels look all out of proportion and don't suit the oldschool looks of the Uno. Deep dish or chunky wheels as in the 'Euro' look suit it - 13" and 14" work well - but I'd say no more than 15" else it looks silly. The only exception is if you are fitting Coupe brakes in which case you have no option but to fit 16".

Removing the stickers/ stripes. As Circolo said, they were an option. Some had them, some didn't. Personally I think the Uno looks better without them, it looks too cluttered and 'fussy' otherwise.

I also saw a UT at Brooklands last weekend without the arches and skirts fitted but still with the turbo bumpers. With chunky wheels it looked really good, so that's another option if you like the clean and smooth look.

And regarding the rear bumper, the mk1 bumper makes it look a bit more chunky from the rear. Almost like a scorpion poised to strike. I think I prefer the mk1 bumper (it's the same as all other mk1 models) though the mk2 bumper also looks good but in a different way.

Stick to subtle mods and the UT can be improved. Heavy mods just make it look like a Max Chav reject. But really it's up to you what you do and what you like best out of the possibilities.

this is my fave..

Here's a few pics of my Uno Turbo: the day I bought it with the demure original look, and some more recent pics showing a few small changes (perhaps surprisingly, it's lowered 45mm).

I've since thought about adding a white insulation-tape stripe along the bottom of each sill trim, and I've also re-installed the foglights since the photos were taken. I considered the Mk2 rear bumper (I even have one spare) but decided that (in the words of Chas), it made the back end look 'pear shaped' and I prefer the trim looks of the original.

I feel good driving my Uno Turbo; I think it looks purposeful. If it could be considered un-sporting, then it could be pointed out that anything less than a Formula 1 car is un-sporting in some regard

By the way, I think that the Mk2 front bumper won't fit without substantial mods, as it is taller (the Mk2 front wings are less-deep below the ridge and the headlights are mounted higher).

-Alex

My personal preference is keep it original and subtle. I don't like the Mk2 rear bumper on the Mk1, just looks wrong to me. Take the stickers off, debadge, lower the car and just clean it up. Keep it original and it'll retain the original appeal and value.

I deffo love the half colour coded bumper look as on Alexs car, reminds me of the big bumper model mark 2 Golf GTI and makes the uno a lot more Beefy from the front!!!

F R O $ T Y

Righto - ive been playing about with photoshop for a bit (for the 1st time - so be kind )

I think ive decied I prefer the MK1 bumpers on the MK1 in the end... But as Alex has done on his excellent example I like the colour coded valances.

I still think de wipered boot lid, but I admit that the Punto blade as presumably fitted to that blue one half way up this thread.. does look a lot better placed. (also wheres that badgeless grill from?)

Ive also tinted the top half of the lights in this pic to a light smoke. How that would work in real life Im not sure?

Ive made the alloys white too, think that works?

Anyways, perhaps a little conservative(?) but I think this will be my aim. What do people think?

Oh and hope you dont mind me using your car OldSkool.

Quite nice axnutty
...though moving the tailgate handle would, in my opinion, be a pointless exercise as it would involve cutting the internal structure and putting in a bell-crank for the link rod which normally runs straight across to the catch. Better to remove it completely and use an electric release on the striker (attached to the bodyshell).

That colour... I'm not sure that I like it that much, looks a bit too purple and 'strange', if it was a lighter blue (like the Pole Blue that Stilos come in) I would be happier

De-wipered boot lid is fine if you like it that way, just remember to use some Rain-X on the glass. Bumper would benefit from some black paint to make it really black. Wheels look nice, Integrale-like, will definitely look more 'sporty' than standard.

Let us know how the 'real' project progresses!
-Alex