coupe fiat 20vt
Tech Spec:
1997 r reg
2 litre, 5 cylinder turbocharged engine
5 speed manual
220hp, 228 lb/ft torque
styling-
as with many bangle offerings, opinion is very much split on the coupe...i admit im biased as it’s a car iv lusted after for a long time. i just love the contradiction in styling cues, it’s a masterpiece of retro modernity for me..the slash cut wheel arches, clamshell bonnet and bug eye headlights are very modernistic, yet the recessed taillights and exposed alloy filler cap and general styling hark back to a golden era of coachbuilt Italian exotica. this car wears pininfarina badges, yet pinin is only responsible for the interior, bangle is responsible for the love it or loath styling...i think his inspiration must have been the slightly quirky, slightly eccentric offerings of zagato in the 50's and 60's...imagine this car with zagato's trademark double bubble roof, it would look SO right..for me, the car is elegant and stylish, an almost eccentric, modernistic homage to the Italian designs of yesteryear...
the interior is more of the same...you open the door with the cunning hidden door handles, and are met with lovely looking black leather seats, and that lovely body colour strip of metal that splits the dash horizontally, again, modernistic but so old fashioned!!.the chrome pinifarina script is subtle and attractive and serves reminder every time you get behind the wheel that you are wearing the automotive equivalent of a sharp Italian suit!!...the dials are proper old fashioned clocks, and all the better for it...modern digital electricery would jar in this cabin..the seats are one of my gripes about the car..they look great but are a bit short on support when your pressing on..fine for a gt car, but this wee car can generate pretty good levels of grip for a powerful fwd car, and you are soon searching for similar grip from the seats..the later le models had leather recaros and must be much better in this respect..genuinely useable rear seats are a surprise, tho with the driver’s seat right back its the usual coupe story of being a three seater!! the lovely chunky leather bound wheel and gear lever feel great to use, an old fiat trick this..make the bits you touch feel good..they even do it on the baby cinq sporting i own, but it does have the effect that you feel like the designers have cared about your driving environment!.wheel is adjustable for reach and height, so you can get very comfortable.....now..whisper this...this car, a fiat remember, actually feels like a quality bit of kit..perhaps it’s just cos im not used to having a 'nice' car, but the cabin feels well made, well screwed together, the doors shut with a satisfying clunk, the gearchange is positive, precise...this car was over 20k when new, and, was actually made by pininfarina at their factory, bit of pub trivia there!!..so this may or may not be why it feels so nice??...
driving/ride/handling
the wee coupes controls are very nice to use..the box feels smooth and precise. it’s a lovely place to sit tho the one disappointing thing about the whole experience is a lack of drama..this is a swoopy Italianate coupe with a bespoke interior..yet, it feels like a saloon to sit in..its airy and spacious...a case of damning the car with faint praise??..the cars ride has surprised me..i had expected a recalcitrant bucking bronco, usual stiff legged Italian sportscar..but it’s quite supple, quite civilised..the car is happy to trickle around town, the steering, if anything, is a bit light for my liking..fine for the town, but a bit more of a meaty feel would be welcome when your tanking on...the cars handling has surprised me too...with the caveat that you pick your line and apply the power smoothly on the way thru the corner, the wee car digs in, grips and goes....if your brutal with the power, or if the roads at all wet/slippery, it will torque steer/understeer with so much power and torque going thru the front end and no traction control...but then, as I’ve always maintained, the best traction control is your right foot...you can throw it around with the exuberance of a hot hatch, but this is a car that rewards a more precise style of driving, a more measured approach..it doesn’t have outrageous wheels/tyres so relies on decent engineering and chassis in the first place to generate good levels of grip, and as a result of this, feels much more communicative than an overtired hot hatch
Performance:
the cars trump card....it is a great q car...only place this car has a turbo badge is on the b pillar..outwardly, it’s just another fiat coupe.....let the sonorous 5 pot warm up tho, find a long straight and floor the throttle and jeez, this car GOES..not like an old school lag lag bang turbo, its smooth, almost linear power....the car does have a wee bit of a kick low down as the turbo spools up, but you can drive around this and it will rev freely to the red line if you feel the need..and you WILL feel the need..the little coupes pace is both searing and addictive...it pulls really, properly hard in all the gears...even in 5th if you floor the loud pedal, it pauses, takes a big gulp of air and rockets down the road...like most good turbo cars, it combines that almost instant dollop of torque you get in a good turbo diesel, that initial wallop in the back, with a good n/a engine ability to rev freely and keep on delivering in the higher rev ranges..best of both worlds....it can get a bit lairy on bumpy roads if you’re not careful putting the power down, and let’s not kid anyone on, 220hp/228lb/ft is too much to put through a wrong wheel drive chassis that i think, dates back to the tipo of the late eighties!!!..but, like many other cars with this kinda output and this layout, you can drive round the inherent flaws..i tend to think of the car more as a relaxed tourer than an out and out back road burner....
in summary, this car is a stylish, elegant q car. those in the know exchange meaningful glances, those who aren’t are best left in blissful ignorance..this is a rare commodity..an Italian poster boy with style and substance..a male model in an Armani suit....carrying a half brick...and a baseball bat...just in case....this car fits my whole 'walk softly but carry a big stick' ethos to perfection
Tech Spec:
1997 r reg
2 litre, 5 cylinder turbocharged engine
5 speed manual
220hp, 228 lb/ft torque
styling-
as with many bangle offerings, opinion is very much split on the coupe...i admit im biased as it’s a car iv lusted after for a long time. i just love the contradiction in styling cues, it’s a masterpiece of retro modernity for me..the slash cut wheel arches, clamshell bonnet and bug eye headlights are very modernistic, yet the recessed taillights and exposed alloy filler cap and general styling hark back to a golden era of coachbuilt Italian exotica. this car wears pininfarina badges, yet pinin is only responsible for the interior, bangle is responsible for the love it or loath styling...i think his inspiration must have been the slightly quirky, slightly eccentric offerings of zagato in the 50's and 60's...imagine this car with zagato's trademark double bubble roof, it would look SO right..for me, the car is elegant and stylish, an almost eccentric, modernistic homage to the Italian designs of yesteryear...
the interior is more of the same...you open the door with the cunning hidden door handles, and are met with lovely looking black leather seats, and that lovely body colour strip of metal that splits the dash horizontally, again, modernistic but so old fashioned!!.the chrome pinifarina script is subtle and attractive and serves reminder every time you get behind the wheel that you are wearing the automotive equivalent of a sharp Italian suit!!...the dials are proper old fashioned clocks, and all the better for it...modern digital electricery would jar in this cabin..the seats are one of my gripes about the car..they look great but are a bit short on support when your pressing on..fine for a gt car, but this wee car can generate pretty good levels of grip for a powerful fwd car, and you are soon searching for similar grip from the seats..the later le models had leather recaros and must be much better in this respect..genuinely useable rear seats are a surprise, tho with the driver’s seat right back its the usual coupe story of being a three seater!! the lovely chunky leather bound wheel and gear lever feel great to use, an old fiat trick this..make the bits you touch feel good..they even do it on the baby cinq sporting i own, but it does have the effect that you feel like the designers have cared about your driving environment!.wheel is adjustable for reach and height, so you can get very comfortable.....now..whisper this...this car, a fiat remember, actually feels like a quality bit of kit..perhaps it’s just cos im not used to having a 'nice' car, but the cabin feels well made, well screwed together, the doors shut with a satisfying clunk, the gearchange is positive, precise...this car was over 20k when new, and, was actually made by pininfarina at their factory, bit of pub trivia there!!..so this may or may not be why it feels so nice??...
driving/ride/handling
the wee coupes controls are very nice to use..the box feels smooth and precise. it’s a lovely place to sit tho the one disappointing thing about the whole experience is a lack of drama..this is a swoopy Italianate coupe with a bespoke interior..yet, it feels like a saloon to sit in..its airy and spacious...a case of damning the car with faint praise??..the cars ride has surprised me..i had expected a recalcitrant bucking bronco, usual stiff legged Italian sportscar..but it’s quite supple, quite civilised..the car is happy to trickle around town, the steering, if anything, is a bit light for my liking..fine for the town, but a bit more of a meaty feel would be welcome when your tanking on...the cars handling has surprised me too...with the caveat that you pick your line and apply the power smoothly on the way thru the corner, the wee car digs in, grips and goes....if your brutal with the power, or if the roads at all wet/slippery, it will torque steer/understeer with so much power and torque going thru the front end and no traction control...but then, as I’ve always maintained, the best traction control is your right foot...you can throw it around with the exuberance of a hot hatch, but this is a car that rewards a more precise style of driving, a more measured approach..it doesn’t have outrageous wheels/tyres so relies on decent engineering and chassis in the first place to generate good levels of grip, and as a result of this, feels much more communicative than an overtired hot hatch
Performance:
the cars trump card....it is a great q car...only place this car has a turbo badge is on the b pillar..outwardly, it’s just another fiat coupe.....let the sonorous 5 pot warm up tho, find a long straight and floor the throttle and jeez, this car GOES..not like an old school lag lag bang turbo, its smooth, almost linear power....the car does have a wee bit of a kick low down as the turbo spools up, but you can drive around this and it will rev freely to the red line if you feel the need..and you WILL feel the need..the little coupes pace is both searing and addictive...it pulls really, properly hard in all the gears...even in 5th if you floor the loud pedal, it pauses, takes a big gulp of air and rockets down the road...like most good turbo cars, it combines that almost instant dollop of torque you get in a good turbo diesel, that initial wallop in the back, with a good n/a engine ability to rev freely and keep on delivering in the higher rev ranges..best of both worlds....it can get a bit lairy on bumpy roads if you’re not careful putting the power down, and let’s not kid anyone on, 220hp/228lb/ft is too much to put through a wrong wheel drive chassis that i think, dates back to the tipo of the late eighties!!!..but, like many other cars with this kinda output and this layout, you can drive round the inherent flaws..i tend to think of the car more as a relaxed tourer than an out and out back road burner....
in summary, this car is a stylish, elegant q car. those in the know exchange meaningful glances, those who aren’t are best left in blissful ignorance..this is a rare commodity..an Italian poster boy with style and substance..a male model in an Armani suit....carrying a half brick...and a baseball bat...just in case....this car fits my whole 'walk softly but carry a big stick' ethos to perfection
