Hi all,
As I'm new here I'm curious to know what age and model Uno's everyone drives.
The Uno came out in 1983 ('A' reg), and I wonder if anyone has one this old? From my experience the first two model years of production didn't seem to be very well rust proofed and I haven't seen any this old on the road for years. However, from 1986 to 1989 'C' reg. to 'G' reg. there still seem to be a fair few nice ones left. I also notice that a lot of early mk2's rust badly, but after 1991 they seem to be better protected. Does anyone else notice this?
For the record, I have a Uno 45 S 3 door 1.0 FIRE with carburetor, first registered in May 1986. I bought it off Ebay in March of last year for £46! Apart from rusty door bottoms (common Uno problem) there is virtually no rust on the car at all, though the paintwork had oxidised badly. However, I'm going over it with rubbing compound and T-Cut and it's coming up pretty good.
I managed to replace the passenger door with a rust free one in the same colour, also bought off Ebay for £11. Still looking for a rust free drivers side door in 'Rosso' red.
Oh yes, it only had 62,000 miles on the clock and a stack load of service history and receipts. It has great fuel economy and manages to get just over a 100mph (downhill I hasten to add) on the speedo. On the flat it can hit about 90mph, but the best thing is the way it can cruise at 70 - 80mph all day. Pretty good for an 18 year old 1.0 hatchback!
It's not the first Uno I have had, my previous one was also a 1986 45 FIRE but only the base model. Took that up to 105,000 miles when I traded it in for a Citroen 1991 AX GT. Though the AX was way quicker and handled better, it just didn't have the character of my old Uno. It also had the build quality of a KitKat wrapper, and even though it was a one owner/ low mileage car that had been looked after it seemed to be falling to bits around me. It also started using oil and water (valve stem oil seals and head gasket problems, well known faults on the AX) I sold it while it still looked good and ran well, and bought my second Uno as mentioned above.
I'd also reached a skint point in my life (again!) after working abroad for a while, and needed to get back on the road as cheaply as possible. As I knew the Uno 45 FIRE model really well and still had a load of spares, it was my first choice. With my budget I didn't have much of a good selection, near dead Metro's, rusted Nova's/ Fiesta's or terminally boring Micra's. A Uno it had to be, and when a good one one came up on Ebay I bid up and was surprised it only sold for £46. 10,000 miles later and I haven't looked back.
I love my Uno to bits as it's fun to drive, easy to work on, mechanically simple and quite tough. It's also dirt cheap to run, parts are plentiful and also cheap, and it has bags of character. Though by now I ought be driving something more modern and upmarket, I get a real kick out of driving an 18 year old Fiat that still looks in good shape. I also feel a little smug when friends with more modern cars get huge bills because of things like the airbag warning light coming on, ECU modules failing and costing £600 to replace, ABS pumps failing and being a garage only repair job. With a reasonable tool kit I can fix or replace just about everything on my Uno myself.
Anyway, enough of my car. Does anyone have an older Uno than mine? I suspect most on this forum have mk2 Uno's, though I wonder how many people have a mk1? What is the story behind you getting your Uno, and what is your general view of it? Would be interesting to hear from other Uno fans.
Oh yes, I'd love a Turbo, but until I get myself out of debt I'm happy to stick with my 45. Still, at least I've got something to aim for!
As I'm new here I'm curious to know what age and model Uno's everyone drives.
The Uno came out in 1983 ('A' reg), and I wonder if anyone has one this old? From my experience the first two model years of production didn't seem to be very well rust proofed and I haven't seen any this old on the road for years. However, from 1986 to 1989 'C' reg. to 'G' reg. there still seem to be a fair few nice ones left. I also notice that a lot of early mk2's rust badly, but after 1991 they seem to be better protected. Does anyone else notice this?
For the record, I have a Uno 45 S 3 door 1.0 FIRE with carburetor, first registered in May 1986. I bought it off Ebay in March of last year for £46! Apart from rusty door bottoms (common Uno problem) there is virtually no rust on the car at all, though the paintwork had oxidised badly. However, I'm going over it with rubbing compound and T-Cut and it's coming up pretty good.
I managed to replace the passenger door with a rust free one in the same colour, also bought off Ebay for £11. Still looking for a rust free drivers side door in 'Rosso' red.
Oh yes, it only had 62,000 miles on the clock and a stack load of service history and receipts. It has great fuel economy and manages to get just over a 100mph (downhill I hasten to add) on the speedo. On the flat it can hit about 90mph, but the best thing is the way it can cruise at 70 - 80mph all day. Pretty good for an 18 year old 1.0 hatchback!
It's not the first Uno I have had, my previous one was also a 1986 45 FIRE but only the base model. Took that up to 105,000 miles when I traded it in for a Citroen 1991 AX GT. Though the AX was way quicker and handled better, it just didn't have the character of my old Uno. It also had the build quality of a KitKat wrapper, and even though it was a one owner/ low mileage car that had been looked after it seemed to be falling to bits around me. It also started using oil and water (valve stem oil seals and head gasket problems, well known faults on the AX) I sold it while it still looked good and ran well, and bought my second Uno as mentioned above.
I'd also reached a skint point in my life (again!) after working abroad for a while, and needed to get back on the road as cheaply as possible. As I knew the Uno 45 FIRE model really well and still had a load of spares, it was my first choice. With my budget I didn't have much of a good selection, near dead Metro's, rusted Nova's/ Fiesta's or terminally boring Micra's. A Uno it had to be, and when a good one one came up on Ebay I bid up and was surprised it only sold for £46. 10,000 miles later and I haven't looked back.
I love my Uno to bits as it's fun to drive, easy to work on, mechanically simple and quite tough. It's also dirt cheap to run, parts are plentiful and also cheap, and it has bags of character. Though by now I ought be driving something more modern and upmarket, I get a real kick out of driving an 18 year old Fiat that still looks in good shape. I also feel a little smug when friends with more modern cars get huge bills because of things like the airbag warning light coming on, ECU modules failing and costing £600 to replace, ABS pumps failing and being a garage only repair job. With a reasonable tool kit I can fix or replace just about everything on my Uno myself.
Anyway, enough of my car. Does anyone have an older Uno than mine? I suspect most on this forum have mk2 Uno's, though I wonder how many people have a mk1? What is the story behind you getting your Uno, and what is your general view of it? Would be interesting to hear from other Uno fans.
Oh yes, I'd love a Turbo, but until I get myself out of debt I'm happy to stick with my 45. Still, at least I've got something to aim for!