- Joined
- Mar 23, 2008
- Messages
- 175
- Points
- 30
Fiat bodywork used to be appauling, it would rust before your eyes, (127, Strada etc) unfortunately the tag is still sticking a little. Lancia inherited the same tag, in fact to such a degree they withdrew from the UK entirely. As a car Fiats have always been great.........they just rusted.
I can also remember never having to queue for petrol when unleaded was introduced some 20 years ago, i owned a 1977 Fiat 127, and guess what, it used unleaded fuel, i had several debates with staff at filling stations who would not turn the pump on, announcing over the tannoy that my car was to old to use the "new" fuel. Fiats were so good my mate always selected them for banger racing, mainly because the engines were unburstable, unlike Ford which would throw end shells on the second lap. We once jammed the throttle wide open on a 903cc 127 and left it for 10 minutes and it would not self destruct!
Unfortunately the fix it again tomorrow tag has stuck, but Fiat are not alone, other marques still suffer, like Skoda. A damn good car which was once an absolute pile of junk, talk down the pub and everyone will tell you just how good they are (which they are). But you will need to sell a kidney to buy one new, and then you cant get rid of it (unless you can find a taxi firm), its a Skoda, everyone plays safe and buys the VW instead.
I think i'm going off track a little, but i know what it's like, i'm now on my 6th Fiat. I bought my last Panda new, but i still got comments like "why another Fiat?"
I can also remember never having to queue for petrol when unleaded was introduced some 20 years ago, i owned a 1977 Fiat 127, and guess what, it used unleaded fuel, i had several debates with staff at filling stations who would not turn the pump on, announcing over the tannoy that my car was to old to use the "new" fuel. Fiats were so good my mate always selected them for banger racing, mainly because the engines were unburstable, unlike Ford which would throw end shells on the second lap. We once jammed the throttle wide open on a 903cc 127 and left it for 10 minutes and it would not self destruct!
Unfortunately the fix it again tomorrow tag has stuck, but Fiat are not alone, other marques still suffer, like Skoda. A damn good car which was once an absolute pile of junk, talk down the pub and everyone will tell you just how good they are (which they are). But you will need to sell a kidney to buy one new, and then you cant get rid of it (unless you can find a taxi firm), its a Skoda, everyone plays safe and buys the VW instead.
I think i'm going off track a little, but i know what it's like, i'm now on my 6th Fiat. I bought my last Panda new, but i still got comments like "why another Fiat?"
