TheFlash
New member
Hello All,
A little story for you:
Over 20 years ago when I was in high school taking an Auto Shop class, we received a request to pick up a donated car – a Fiat 128 two door – from the other district’s high school ~10 miles away.
My auto shop teacher selected me and another student to go over to the high school and I was to drive the Fiat back to our school. The other student gave me a lift in his old Ford and we soon got to the high school.
The Fiat 128 had two doors and was bright yellow with mostly black trim. The body was in excellent condition as was the interior. I started the engine and it started right up, but ran extremely rough. The four-speed manual transmission shifted okay in 1st and 2nd gears, but I had a lot of trouble getting it into 3rd and could not get it into 4th.
Taking it slow through the back streets, I found that even with the rough running engine, that little Fiat had the heart of a Ferrari. The exhaust sound was great, the engine was still revving and trying to pull hard, and the car really was making an effort.
We arrived at the auto shop all too soon and my drive in that cute little Fiat came to an end. My auto shop teacher told the class that anyone who wanted to buy it could have it for $50. I immediately told my instructor that I was interested, but had to check with my parents first for permission of purchase. (My insurance and other driving fees were under my parents’ plan.)
I came home very excited and told my father about the car. He soon peppered me with questions: How was I going to pay for insurance? How was I going to pay for repairs? Did I know what was wrong with the car? Etc., etc., etc…
I was working a summer job only (at the insistence of my parents) and so didn’t have the extra funds at that point in the school year.
Unfortunately, that little Fiat 128 slipped out of my grasp and one of the other auto shop students bought the car. It turns out that all it needed was a set of new spark plugs and a couple of the transmission forks were a bit bent. That was all it took to get the engine running smoothly and the transmission shifting precisely.
To this day, I have regretted not doing everything I could to buy that Fiat 128 and unfortunately, I have never seen another similar 128 ever again. But, that little Fiat with the heart and soul of an Italian beast still left an impression on me to this day.
Here’s my question:
Does anyone know how many of the 2-door Fiat 128s were imported into the U.S.
I see so many pics of the 4 door or the 3-door (2 doors with a hatchback), but not many of the 2-door ‘Sedan’.
Here are a few pics I sourced from the web to show in general what the car mostly looked like. (I think it was a later model than these pics.)
Any help finding out more info about the Fiat 128 2 Door Sedan would be helpful!
Thank you and regards,
Mike
A little story for you:
Over 20 years ago when I was in high school taking an Auto Shop class, we received a request to pick up a donated car – a Fiat 128 two door – from the other district’s high school ~10 miles away.
My auto shop teacher selected me and another student to go over to the high school and I was to drive the Fiat back to our school. The other student gave me a lift in his old Ford and we soon got to the high school.
The Fiat 128 had two doors and was bright yellow with mostly black trim. The body was in excellent condition as was the interior. I started the engine and it started right up, but ran extremely rough. The four-speed manual transmission shifted okay in 1st and 2nd gears, but I had a lot of trouble getting it into 3rd and could not get it into 4th.
Taking it slow through the back streets, I found that even with the rough running engine, that little Fiat had the heart of a Ferrari. The exhaust sound was great, the engine was still revving and trying to pull hard, and the car really was making an effort.
We arrived at the auto shop all too soon and my drive in that cute little Fiat came to an end. My auto shop teacher told the class that anyone who wanted to buy it could have it for $50. I immediately told my instructor that I was interested, but had to check with my parents first for permission of purchase. (My insurance and other driving fees were under my parents’ plan.)
I came home very excited and told my father about the car. He soon peppered me with questions: How was I going to pay for insurance? How was I going to pay for repairs? Did I know what was wrong with the car? Etc., etc., etc…
I was working a summer job only (at the insistence of my parents) and so didn’t have the extra funds at that point in the school year.
Unfortunately, that little Fiat 128 slipped out of my grasp and one of the other auto shop students bought the car. It turns out that all it needed was a set of new spark plugs and a couple of the transmission forks were a bit bent. That was all it took to get the engine running smoothly and the transmission shifting precisely.
To this day, I have regretted not doing everything I could to buy that Fiat 128 and unfortunately, I have never seen another similar 128 ever again. But, that little Fiat with the heart and soul of an Italian beast still left an impression on me to this day.
Here’s my question:
Does anyone know how many of the 2-door Fiat 128s were imported into the U.S.
I see so many pics of the 4 door or the 3-door (2 doors with a hatchback), but not many of the 2-door ‘Sedan’.
Here are a few pics I sourced from the web to show in general what the car mostly looked like. (I think it was a later model than these pics.)
Any help finding out more info about the Fiat 128 2 Door Sedan would be helpful!
Thank you and regards,
Mike