Just thought i'd chime in... ive got a Croma but its the 1988 Model
Me too!
Well actually, I sold it years ago, but it was one of my better-value cars. I paid $500 Pacific Pesos for it (about $420 of your dollars I think). I repainted it myself, replaced some floppy shock absorbers, cleaned the interior up, and - that was about it.
I think most of the automatic Cromas on our side of the world were recalled to have the four-speed auto fitted (like mine had). The lockup torque converter (ZF 4HP box) was a great feature. Mine was the 2.0 i.e., but the Turbo is pretty common over here. One nice feature of the 2.0 i.e. was the Weber IAW (MAP sensor, no AFM, one of two cars to have this in 1987; the other being the F40
)
I moved on from the silver Croma to a silver Thema and finally to a black 164, which I had for two years, sold, bought a Stilo, then sold that and bought another 164. The 164 is, naturally, my pick of 'those' type-4 cars.
I don't think we'll ever have the new Croma in Australia or NZ - there's no point when that part of the market (wagon!) is so well catered-for. Back when the original Croma was new, the concept of an 'executive liftback' was a bit novel - only Mazda (626) had anything at a similar price/level if I remember correctly. But that was a Mazda... I mean, come on...
I think FIAT have got the market position of the new Croma wrong (or they have abused the Croma name). They should be trying to make a 'liftback BMW' instead - i.e. a bit luxurious with a businesslike feel, big and capable yet practical, a bit Audi-like, a bit Volvo-like - that would be in the spirit of the original Croma.
The new 'Croma' looks too much like the Vauxhall Signum on which it is based - needs to be a bit more wacky, like having pinstripe seats, a blue-vinyl-trimmed aircraft-style roof console, carpet in the centre console, and a broom in the gear selector. The height of executive style - can you say "stock market crash"? See the interior pic below...
Cheers,
-Alex