(G) Why did you buy your Uno?

Were you swung by this catchy tuned advert?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLLetL8npRU&search=tipo

Oh dear, I started you off on the 'youtube' thing with that 500 video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi3Igmikuk4 , didn't I?

I was browsing there for hours this morning and saw the video that you linked to... I thought it was just too awful to post here! Talk about "'80s kitsch"...

OK, to answer the question (and get the whole thread rolling) - I bought my Uno Turbo because I could afford it and it was available. I had always wanted an Uno Turbo, ever since owning my 1986 Uno 60.

In turn, this Uno 60 was bought because it was cheap and my Mum had an Uno 70SL.

We bought the Uno 70SL because it was cheap and Mum had written off the Uno 45.

And we bought the Uno 45 because Mum had written off the 128 saloon, and after 24 years of 128 ownership, we thought we'd try a newer FIAT.

-Alex

I bought a 1989 mk1 60s and then found out a turbo model exsists and saw "my" one about 3 years ago and bought and loved it!

Guilty as charged!

I honestly can't believe they actually spent money on that advert!

I got mine because our workshop had a Cityvan to start with, then got rid of that and had a 3 door Uno... 85 model I think... Being the workshop "hack" car, it got everything done to it, heavy exhausts thrown in the back, driven around town at Mach 3, and our young office guy use to drive it on the weekends and thrashed it to death, but it kept on going and needed almost no work. It eventually needed some new steering rack ends and some wheel bearings, but other than that it was totally fine. The boss wanted to get rid of it though and get a "slower" more expensive car so people looked after it better, so we got a Land Rover Discovery V8. Dont ask how much its costing him in petrol though hahahaha.

After all that I felt I really wanted an Uno, I loved the way they drove, I knew they were cheap, easy on gas, quick around town (I live in a major city), and that they would stand up to insane amounts of "abuse".

After my old Mazda 626 2.0L got nicked and trashed (bastards) this Uno I now have (see sig) came up for sale having been owned by one of our customers. The owners wanted to buy a Honda Civic because for some reason they felt the Uno might get too expensive to run. Fine by me. I paid NZ$500 for it.

So yeah, awesome car. If this one lasts me 2-3 years I will get a 3 door Punto if I can find one, or perhaps an Abarth one if they come down in price.

Every day I look forward to driving it. I now often want to just go for drives for the sake of driving which I never wanted to do in my big slow Mazda.

I got my first because it was cheap to insure!!! And my second because i loved the first so much!!

Anyone care to explain what on earth is said in those adverts?

I think this owner bought their car for its subtle colour...


This photo does no justice to the pinkness!

I bought my first Uno becuase I fell in love with them looking for my first car .. was a 999cc fire IE with 15s and a loud exhaust

Ive since had another 2 999cc unos, a 70SX ie and im now on my second turbo

Just love them, they are great fun cars to drive and the turbos are just superb

i bought my uno cos it was pretty cheap, pretty immacculate with "low" mileage and 2 owners from new.
plus my dad stole my money and bought it for me.
LOVED it.

NOW
selling it because ive now found out its 7 owners from new, things keep going wrong and its had the milage wound back. i hate it.

lesson learned: never buy a car with lack of history.

btw: i still love unos. just not mine

I bought my uno as a temporary little run around (i wanted a golf GTI) for next to nothing off my aunt, it was originally a 1 litre start i.e and had 28k on the clock, had no problems except for the clutch going after 2years and it had done 85k before i decided to turbo it. Having sat in my friends mark 1 it just made me want one soooooo badly, i was amazed at how quick it was and learnt more about them and how rare and unique they are.

I bought a crash damaged mark 2 turbo with full service history cheap as chips and used all the parts to Convert it into a mark 2 uno turbo!!!

p.s This is why i love Uno Turbos, just a random clip i found on the net filmed on a private road i believe...

http://media.putfile.com/1403997

F R O $ T Y

Hmmmm... how do you get a 'private road' dual carriageway with three lanes in both directions... and why would Minicabs be allowed on it?

That Uno has some serious problem - there appears to be no boost Mine's indicating '1' at that speed. LOL

Also I think the exhaust must be smaller than mine because we can hear the wind noise.

All that notwithstanding, I think the video sums up the 'push' of the Uno Turbo's engine very well. No gearchanging even! I love the way I can drive a long distance including uphill and overtaking, and never even need to change out of fifth. You can't fault these cars for flexibility (at least in standard form!) Mind you, there's an incredibly-small 700RPM difference between 4th and 5th ('88 Mk1 with later-style box but lower 5th gear I suspect) at full noise (500RPM in 'normal' use), which makes it feel like a racecar - I love it...

Somehow the Uno Turbo takes 105bhp (maybe a little more) and makes it feel like tons of power - when do you EVER really need to change down in an Uno Turbo? - while other cars (Top Gear's Suzuki Liana for example) also have 105bhp and somehow feel 'just adequate'.

Compare and contrast with my Toyota Celica (*GT-R!*) which is apparently just as fast (166bhp?!) but feels more like a gentle saunder in a Corolla, in fact it's rather Liana-like really. The automatic gently slurs through a few ratios at the first sign of a hill and the chassis floats and wallows across the road, steering dead as a duvet, the exhaust just drones. What a bore. I've never driven a FIAT like that. Even a Marea sounds like nothing else on the road...

-Alex

LOL "NO COMMENT"

F R O $ T Y

Back on topic.
I noticed by pausing that ad - they've cheated!

When they throw the parachute in, firstly there's no rear shelf precariously dangled in the middle of the opening (on its too-short strings) - otherwise they'd have to rather ungracefully stuff the chute underneath.

Secondly, and more importantly, there's no back seat! (see picture below). Considering in the next few frames, we see someone getting in the back, that's a bit naughty...

And finally, has anyone ever managed to close their Uno tailgate from the corner in that limp-wristed way...

Hey, maybe there is WAY too much time on my hands...

-Alex

I compete in autotests at my local motor club. The top 5 cars in every event are usually pug 205 gtis, but i wanted something a bit different. One guy said "Well, what other small car can you get for £400 that goes to 60mph in under 8 sec and has disc brakes all round?" I had to think for a while, but then realised the answer was looking me in the face - Uno Turbo!!
Admittedly, I still havent finished in the top 5 yet, but I think that's more down to my rubbish driving than the cars performance (although turbo lag is sometimes a problem..)!

Think I've found a new best friend!

Indicated 140... bout the same as the Tipo gets.