not really a FIAT !

[renault]

I am really pi$$ed off with car companies like FIAT and Citroen using the identification of their old classics like the 500 and DS respectively to promote the new **** they are selling currently - and with forums which incorporate these new models in the same forum as their classic predicesors. These new cars have nothing in common with the classics we love - and I would go as far as sayng that FIAT and Citroen are nothing anymore. Buy an new FIAT 500 and you might as well buy a Ford or nissan. Stop pretending that this is really still a FIAT. Cars are all the same now so they have to rely on styling exercise,s borrowing from the classic days when FIATs were FIATS and Citroens were Citroens.
Sorry about the rant (and no doubt the poor spelling) but I am sick of people talking about the new 500, the DS and the Mini in the same breath as the classics.
They are incapable of creating a new classic and so can only leverage off the reall classic of the 1960's.
I am struggling to find a dedicated classic 500 forum which does not use facefook.

 

[varesecrazy]

Citroen..

Once the swivelling headlamps..and hydrulaic suspension disappeared.. so did the charm


Fiats:

Not the same once the Cannons disappeared..and top speed tailed off around 300mph

Did they ever make a jet..?

 

[chris3234]

Nobody is talking about them in the same was a the classic versions?
I'd go as far as saying a lot of people buy them barley know of the older versions

 

[varesecrazy]

Nobody is talking about them in the same was a the classic versions?
I'd go as far as saying a lot of people buy them barley know of the older versions

I remember when the plant 5 mins from my worked started churning out the 'BMW Mini'

Should be called a maxi nowadays..

But if you actually get to see ONE of the early efforts..it does have a styling nod to Issigonis

Unlike the bloated crap they churn out now

At least FIAT still make a SMALL car

 

[s130]

You have raised two points on my radar.

1) Facebook - I'm not on it, have never been and never will be. For me it is just the pits of brain dead followers of superficial mumbo jumbo and self importance. More importantly it is the privacy, tracking, profiling, and personal data "sump". For some it is their life and I'll not tread on their toes but as all good advice from governments and professional advisers "buyer beware"!!!!!!

2) Fiat using old model brands and success to sell "new" era models. *They* all do it form VW to Fiat to For and the Mustang. From my point of view I read/judge these "new models" based on x.y.z

There is an interesting Fiat legacy here. This is the Abarth saga. If we pass by the early Carlo Abarth years, before Fiat took over, and then waltz by the Fiat Abarth tuning division with so many successful world beating performance cars to when Abarth and Lancia merged their motor sport operations at Civasso to produce the Delta Integrale rally cars, then this is the point in time that the Abarth brand/label/.... was dropped.

Later Fiat introduced the Abarth badged Cinquecento. A pure marketing stunt to cash in on legacy but with no real delivery other than the name/badge.

We come to today where Fiat have resurrected the Abarth Brand but whilst they are good performance cars they for me are not real Abarths.

I've had a number of exchanges with Fiat Abarth UK and they have no records, history, date or acknowledgement of the old traditional Abarth models. SO SAD and DISGUSTING.

And 30,000 for a Fiat 500 Abarth ....... I think either Fiat or the purchasers have lost the plot.

 

[portland_bill]

Intriguing thread.

Fiat started in 1899.
When the nuova 500 was introduced, I wonder how many people had a similar attitude when comparing it to the early 1900s cars. "Not proper Fiats, not what they were, modern rubbish" etc.
Fiat's second car was an improvement on the first, so already they weren't making them like they used to.

For me, even now, Fiat still manage to build some emotion into their cars, missing from other brands. My Fabia is an excellent car, but just a very good car. The Panda is inferior in almost every aspect, as one might hope for the price and age difference (9 years), but still puts a smile on my face every time I drive it.
(As I type this it is having its MOT, so the smile might droop a little later.)

VW traded for years on the slogan "If only all things iin life were as reliable as a Volkswagen". This was always a myth. VW only ever invented one car, the aircooled bug and its derivatives. All the subsequent front engined, water-cooled cars are derived from Auto-Unions. The aircooled VW was often unreliable and troublesome. They had short lives, only appearing to be long-lived because the new ones looked like the old ones. When they ceased production, they disappeared very quickly.

Each to their own, don't let the new cars distract you from your love of the old ones.

 

[DaveMcT]

My old car is a 1976 Suzuki GT750.

I would happily have a Citroen CX (prices for good ones have gone ballistic) or even a higher spec BX. The later badge engineered dross by PSA? No thanks.

 

[renault]

my mate has a CX estate for sale for very little money if you are interested Dave.
Located in southern France. No rust but you will need a trailer.

 

[renault]

does anyone know of an english language forum dedicated to the REAL Fiat 500, which is free to join and not using facebook ?

 

[AndyRKett]

borrowing from the classic days when FIATs were FIATS and Citroens were Citroens.
facefook.

Ironic given the fiat 500 designed off the back of the 600 which was built to mirror the layout of the VW Beetle and the Renault 4CV and was nothing like any other fiat that proceeded it. So really at this time fiat where not building Fiat’s, they where building their own version of a Beetle.

Citroen stopped making Citroen’s because making Citroen’s caused them to go bust multiple times.

Also this forum has to be one of the best fiat forums around with a massive wealth of information and an active 500 classic area that does not mix the old classic 500s with the new fiat 500, I don’t think you’ll find another like it, but then it’s also insulting to the forum to come on here and ask for recommendations to different forums

 

[Eklipze3k]

does anyone know of an english language forum dedicated to the REAL Fiat 500, which is free to join and not using facebook ?

What's wrong with this one? https://www.fiatforum.com/500-classic/
Fiat Motor Club GB tend to focus more on the classics, but I believe they charge to join? It's been a while since I looked so I could be wrong.

 

[rmjbn1]

FIATs stopped being 'real' FIATs once Vittorio Jano and Walter Becchia left Around 1923?

Citroen stopped making Citroen’s because making Citroen’s caused them to go bust multiple times.

The way Citroen (and to my mind Lancia) used to go about making cars was wonderful, but no, it wasn't exactly a sustainable business model was it! They made some superb techincally innovative and originally designed cars, but it couldn't last.

FIAT haven't fallen as far as some. At least they still design and build their own cars, which are fun to drive (unlike Citroen). Nothing too sophisticated or innovative, but they do it very well, I think.

Buy an new FIAT 500 and you might as well buy a ...nissan.

Now, STEADY ON! I'm not personally a huge fan of the 500 because I don't like the whole retro style over substance thing either, but it is not a **** car! It is based on the 169 Panda after all

 

[renault]

point taken Andy. I appologise.

 

[DaveMcT]

my mate has a CX estate for sale for very little money if you are interested Dave.
Located in southern France. No rust but you will need a trailer.

Thanks I'm more interested in the saloons but regardless, I'm too busy these days to give it the time.


I would like a late Turbo 2 or an early (Mk1) turbo or a Pallas but these days you'd need a mortgage to get a good one.

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1007761

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C895112

This is more reasonable https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1152849 but as said I don't have the time to look after it. Never mind enjoy it.