Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo | Spotted

Affordable Italian sports cars have come and gone since, but few hold a candle to Fiat's turbocharged Coupe...

We’re in desperate need of an affordable, two-door Italian sports car. Now, that hasn’t been through a lack of trying: Alfa Romeo came so close with the 4C, with its stunning looks (bug-eyed headlights aside), carbon tub and rorty four-pot turbo engine. Frustratingly, a questionable suspension setup resulted in a busy ride on UK roads, meaning it wasn’t nearly as good to drive as it was to look at. Then there was the Fiat 124 Spider, a car that ought to have been a slam dunk given that it's essentially a rebodied MX-5 with an in-house turbo engine. And yet, neither it nor the Abarth version seemed quite as responsive as the Mazda.

Which isn't to say that the affordable Italian sports car hasn't been a benchmark for driver involvement. The Alfa Romeo Brera was very pretty (from the front at least) and had a throaty bark when paired with a 3.2-litre V6. It's just the chassis was so underwhelming that it took an overhaul from Prodrive to sort it all out. But that doesn’t make the standard cars any less desirable, because even though they’re far from an enthusiasts' dream, they’re stylish and exotic enough for the pros to arguably outweigh the cons. So when was the last time Italy launched a properly sorted sports car? Well, it may have been this: the Fiat Coupe.

Arriving in the UK in 1995, the Coupe turned up in a bustling sports car market spearheaded by the MX-5, MGF and Alfa Romeo GTV to name but a few. It was an immediate hit, with razor-sharp styling designed by Chris Bangle (then at Pininfarina) that cut through the conservative efforts of rivals and supported the technically related GTV brilliantly as a cheaper, yet more aggressive-looking alternative. The interior was just as stylish, with a band of body-coloured trim wrapped around the dashboard with and a Pininfarina logo mounted above the central air vents. From every angle, both inside and out, the Coupe oozed coolness.

It drove properly, too. Although the Coupe sent its power to the front axle (most of the competition were rear-drive) the fully-independent suspension - with MacPherson struts at the front and rear trailing arms mounted to a separate subframe - gave the platform an innate agility that went down a treat with reviewers and enthusiasts. Brembo brakes added to its performance credentials, while all UK cars came with a limited-slip differential to put the power down without completely losing the plot.

Then there are the engines themselves. At launch, the car was offered with an array of four-cylinder petrol motors, including the 2.0-litre 16v engine from the Lancia Delta HF Integrale - yet it’s the 20v inline-five that everyone associates with the Coupe. Five-cylinder motors were just as much of a rarity back in the '90s as they are today (more so, even), so not only did the Coupe look distinct, it sounded unlike anything else on sale. Naturally aspirated versions delivered a decent 147hp, but turbocharged cars like the one you see here dialled that up to 220hp. Performance was rapid, with 62mph coming about in 6.3 seconds, which put it ahead of the V6-engined GTV until Alfa refreshed it in 2000. Even then, performance was near identical.

Fiat sold thousands of them, with the 20v Turbo being by far the most popular in Britain. Because they were so affordable and immensely desirable, there are a lot of tatty examples out there that can be had for just over £5k. This isn’t one of them, however, with this 1998 car being the tidiest-looking Coupe we’ve seen in a long time. It’s a low miler with 52,000 tallied, although the seller claims it’s only driven 900 of those over the last two years. They also claim it doesn’t have an MOT and won’t be sold with one, but running over the recent history reveals clean passes in ’21 and ’22. It’s currently up for £9,000, which seems chunky before you consider that you rarely find them as clean and original as this. Alternative, there’s a rarer LE versions (Recaro seats, body-coloured trim etc) for just under £4k more with a fresh MOT included. Decisions, decisions…

SPECIFICATION | FIAT COUPE 20V TURBO

Engine: 1,998cc five-cylinder, turbocharged
Transmission: six-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 220@5,750rpm
Torque (lb ft): 229@2,500rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
Year registered: 1998
Recorded mileage: 52,000
Price new: N/A
Yours for: £9,000

See the original advert here

OP Posts Only

Prev 2 3 4 5 Next

OP Posts Only

Author

Discussion

Benzinaio

Original Poster

90 posts

3 months