General uno reputation

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General uno reputation

mechaniker said:
They also envy how easy it is to park...

Yeah. You shoulda seen the teeny-weeny parking space I slipped my car into a few minutes ago!

The reason the parking was so small was because on either side (in front and behind) me there was a big-ass 4x4 (SUV) hogging the surrounding universe. Anyone ever notice how badly those morons park? You'da thought that they'd be more precise than average because of their size. Apparently not.

-Acolyte
 
jjhepburn said:
Just one little point from me :)

I am a teacher at a girls high school and I have had a few comments from my students about my bright yellow uno. Some comments are along the lines of it being to small for me, but quite a few are about my cool car. They like it :) in fact I had another good comment about it just last week :) of course if it had a rotary and crome wheels and a 20" sub it would be better :) but you need to remember I aint trying to 'pull' at work :cool: :

Haha, a friend of mine was a teacher at an all girls school here in Auckland too. He also drove an Uno, and he said the girls gave him a lot of crap over it. Unos are not cool in auckland.
 
uno's look very dated, even when they were released they looked dated. at the time i didn't like them much, but these days i enjoy the retro styling. the younger generation dont rate uno's because they are so old and dated, most old cars have a bad image with the younger crowd. my favorite car on earth is a 1985 series1 escort RSturbo. i'd get laughed at in most McDees carparks but most kids dont know crap so who cares what they think, they havent been around long enough to have an opinion, thats why they cant vote. they'd prefer a 1.0 corsa, and i'd prefer them to have one, so its a win win situation.

the condition of most uno's is pretty damn bad, that creates an image in peoples head of the average uno, even if you have a minter when you tell people you have an uno they get a picture in their head of a rustbox, not fair but understandable when you see the average uno, not that there's many around these days. that tells you they dont last very well, where are they all? dead thats where, dead and rusted to nothing. cant deny that.

people who are old enough to remember the uno days are also old enough to remember the old fiat image- "all fiats are crap they rust and break daily" its still the verdict from many older people today, i hate taking any fiat to a garage, they always laugh and say fiats are crap. if VW made the uno it would be a classic, but fiat made it so its doomed to scrapyards. hey at least it isnt quite as bad as a old skoda or lada for reputation. only life long virgins drive ladas.

as time goes by i like the uno more and more, after stanford i saw a mint condition white F reg uno turbo heading north on the M1. it was so clean i'd be proud to drive it regardless of what people think. plus i couldn't get away from it in my 1.8bravo, any uno from the 80s that can do 120 on my arse and still look like it wants more gets my vote (y)
 
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jug said:
as time goes by i like the uno more and more, after stanford i saw a mint condition white F reg uno turbo heading north on the M1. it was so clean i'd be proud to drive it regardless of what people think. plus i couldn't get away from it in my 1.8bravo, any uno from the 80s that can do 120 on my arse and still look like it wants more gets my vote (y)

You just hit the nail on the head there mate :D
 
Well I now have something to add to this thread :)

Tonight I just happened to be leaving the museum (where I work) at the same time as the rather attractive German girl, Julia (with a 'Y'). I said, "I've brought my car..." which should have been followed with the line "wanna ride?" but I didn't quite manage that.

And she said, "What a cute little car! What does it say... 'A-barth - FIAT... Ooh it's Italian!"

That should be all the encouragement I need to get my panel and paint work finished! :D

-Alex
 
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alexGS said:
Well I now have something to add to this thread :)

Tonight I just happened to be leaving the museum (where I work) at the same time as the rather attractive German girl, Julia (with a 'Y'). I said, "I've brought my car..." which should have been followed with the line "wanna ride?" but I didn't quite manage that.

And she said, "What a cute little car! What does it say... 'A-barth - FIAT... Ooh it's Italian!"

That should be all the encouragement I need to get my panel and paint work finished! :D

-Alex


Hahahahahah..............Go on Alex! :D

Tell her this......................"You know when women say that a car is like a extension of a mans *****........."

point out the car is small and fast and that you have big feet...........:D lol
If you get what i mean ;)
 
Well... where should I start?
I went through a long line of vehicles, but Uno 45 was the first car I bought for a second time. I love the maintenance-free engine, space available inside... AFAIK only Panda Mk1 makes better use of the outer outline.
According to my calculations, 85% of my mileage is home/supermarket/sister-in-law (10 km)/downtown/Giulietta (daughter) to her swimming lessons etc. Only those 15% are longer trips. And if I or my wife scrathes the curb? Who cares, the car was cheaper than the crib it transports.
BUT the sentence above is not said to ridicule my Uno - it is a fine examle of a functional, easily serviceable, user-friendly machinery. If one accepts Uno for what it is - cleverly designed car for everyday use - I think that even after more than 20 years since its release, Uno is still an excellent choice.
I must say that, about 2 years ago, I almost developped a crush on certain French cars with a special suspension system. It lasted only until I found serious design faults on the car, serious assembly errors (4 different bolt types mounted where only one should be used) and found that, for no obviout reason, the parts are twice as expensive as those for Fiat.

I believe Unos are disregarded because there were so many of them manufactured (6+ millions AFAIK), and therefore they are scattered everywhere you look, mostly in somewhat postmortal :D status.

I am not sure about whether mafia used UT as an escape car, but I am sure that Italian carabinieri are using Alfa Romeo and Lancia :D

But the times, they are a'changing... Some 5 years ago I travelled from Venice to Bologna (to see Museo Morandi collection) through Italian countryside. It seemed to be FULL of Unos!
Two days ago, my relatives returned from holidays in Italy. According to them, the country is almost Uno-less:(
 
Good points (CZ)enda... and no, there are not many Unos in Italy - more Tipos, but mostly much newer cars.

Also I don't accept the idea from jug that the Uno was dated when it was new. Just look at some of the styling features! For example, the way the doors run into the roof so that there are no gutters. How many other cars in 1983 were like this? Certainly, popular new cars like the Honda Civic and Austin Metro were not.

What about construction details like the bolt-on wings and the lights at the edges of panels rather than mounted in holes? Plastic wheel arch liners and almost flush-mounted door windows? Single wiper and seats mounted on sideways rails, using levers so the seats would raise when brought forward? All of this was more adventurous than the norm - it was the future.

And the plastic bumpers - all-plastic, not just plastic strips on steel bumpers... and the door handles (not chromed, but sophisticated designs)... I'm not saying that any of these features have no drawbacks, but at the same time, they made the Uno cutting-edge. There was never any question of the interior - the only other car that was as radical was the Citroen Visa...

By the time of the 1989 facelift, the large square-ish headlights looked dated rather than 'clean' - but that goes for most of the late 80's designs as well. e.g. FIAT's own Croma/Lancia Thema. Notice how new cars are being fitted with larger headlights again - probably because larger headlights work better?

So if you feel the Uno was dated when 'new' in 1988, possibly. But this is a 1983 design, remember... and most of those techniques (bonded panels, plastic lights, etc.) still hold true today. Perhaps compare with the model before the Uno, the 127...

Attached is a 'chance' pic that shows the Uno juxtaposed with other cars both newer and older. Form your own conclusions... Since modern cars are taller and contain simple plane surfaces (fewer 'fiddly bits' for a smoother shape), to me it's obvious that the Uno is more modern than the 3-series BMW several years its junior, or the Honda Civic that is just a little over-trimmed (protruding skirts and vents), clouding the basic outline. The '86 Corolla still has gutters, for goodness sakes... As for the 70's designs (Escort and Corona), I don't see the same form at all. There are quarterlights and flared wheelarches. The Escort shows the 'coke bottle' shape fashionable in the days before wind tunnels, and the Corona looks like a scaled-down American coupe. I don't see how the Uno could be mistaken for a 70's car.

My 164 (shown below) is a design that was actually new in 1988. Since chiselled lines are always in fashion, do you think it looks dated now? Why? ;)

-Alex
 

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:mad:
The reputation of an Uno is so low just because fiat is not good in aftersales,their dealers suck big time,and the spares are damn costly and service centres are an absolute MESS. They even dont know where to look for a particular complaint. Thanks to the friendly neighbourhood mechanic!!

Uno's are a proud to own ,considering the fact how well it drives,how spacy it is compared to the same class (At least here in India)and it's damn cheap to have one.Maintanance is also low,as well as good milage.Just one thing is the costly spares(We are not talking about merc's here!) and poor availability..Who can wait for 2 weeks for a carburator ring or gasket ?But if you know where to look for, this is a problem solved !.

I am a new owner of an Uno, have another car, but loves the way this one drives..and it's a nice feeling beating the other bigger saloon's in a redlight stop!!

I love my UNO !!:slayer:
 
I miss my UNO Turbo (she used to give people a good run!) but I really miss my PALIO :( 164kw, she was an Audi and Scooby eater :) along with others who got in her way ;)

Now I'm just waiting for my GP so I can tweak her as well!
 
dear pottleflump

No we are not. We have only the old school fiats ,then the uno's,palio's ciena/petras only available in India. So no luck with punto !

Rajeev(n)
 
jug said:
as time goes by i like the uno more and more, after stanford i saw a mint condition white F reg uno turbo heading north on the M1. it was so clean i'd be proud to drive it regardless of what people think. plus i couldn't get away from it in my 1.8bravo, any uno from the 80s that can do 120 on my arse and still look like it wants more gets my vote (y)

Ah ha, so it was you that pulled out of the M1 services at speed on seeing me in my uno t!! That's what I love about my uno. It is so deceptive, that most non italian drivers assume its an old 1.0 wreck, until they have a spot of bother trying to keep up! :) Sorry for teasing you at 120mph on your tail, its all good clean healthy fun, and part of the uno turbo experience!!
 
A friend bought a mk1 45 on 280k miles!! He was a bit of a d1ck and killed it within a month! :(

Tom
 
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