The Fiat Coupe: To Break or To Sell?
Discussion
The Fiat Coupe seems to be one of those cars that's been a "future classic" for years now but it's status (and price) never seems to have improved. They now appear to be disappearing fast as a result of maltreatment at the hand of bodykits and Italian rust which is a crying shame to me.
As an owner of a (relatively) low mileage, mechanically sound 1998 Coupe I now find myself torn. I cannot keep the car no matter how much I want to, I've too many other projects on the go and not enough time to go around. The car runs perfectly and has no mechanical issues, it's spent the winter in a dry garage on SORN but it needs the brake lines sorted and the normal problematic sills sorting.
The question is, with values where they are, is it really worth me investing the money (potentially several hundred quid) to get a ticket on it and sell it as that or do I suck it up and sell it as is which will kill me as it's really too good to be broken up.
Over to you Italian owners of PH, sell or break (scrap)?
As an owner of a (relatively) low mileage, mechanically sound 1998 Coupe I now find myself torn. I cannot keep the car no matter how much I want to, I've too many other projects on the go and not enough time to go around. The car runs perfectly and has no mechanical issues, it's spent the winter in a dry garage on SORN but it needs the brake lines sorted and the normal problematic sills sorting.
The question is, with values where they are, is it really worth me investing the money (potentially several hundred quid) to get a ticket on it and sell it as that or do I suck it up and sell it as is which will kill me as it's really too good to be broken up.
Over to you Italian owners of PH, sell or break (scrap)?
It would help if you mentioned what model it is, but i'd just stick it on Ebay and get rid as a whole, they aren't worth much more in bits.
Once the cills have gone the rest of it won't be far behind; pull back the carpet in the boot and poke the joint between floor and wheel arch, look at the front and rear towers which support the bumpers and plastic wheel arch liners, the lower rad support, around the inner edges of the bonnet and if you really want to be convinced (and this is more difficult to access) take off the inner rear side panels (where the rear speakers sit) and look in there.
Once the cills have gone the rest of it won't be far behind; pull back the carpet in the boot and poke the joint between floor and wheel arch, look at the front and rear towers which support the bumpers and plastic wheel arch liners, the lower rad support, around the inner edges of the bonnet and if you really want to be convinced (and this is more difficult to access) take off the inner rear side panels (where the rear speakers sit) and look in there.
It's a difficult one this and unfortunately probably only you can make the decision.
The 20V NA (or VIS) is never going to be the one people want and the green cars (like my silver one) are also a never favoured colour. If it was an LE or Plus then breaking it would probably be silly as there will someone who will buy it, still not convinced these will ever be a classic though just a curio (pains me to say this). The Alfa GTV and Spider will be the ones people go for if looking for a car like this despite them being a poorer drive and a lot less practical.
The problem is the running costs are more or less the same NA versus Turbo and most people want the cheap power rather than the better sounding/handling NA cars. If you break it you probably won't get much as there seem to be plenty of parts about, I broke an X reg VIS and made quite a bit but was very lucky as it had a Plus interior fitted from new (car cost me £220).
Thing is I still really enjoy my 20V VIS and it's worth far more to me than the few hundred pounds I could get for it, too many good memories and years of reliable fun to scrap.
The 20V NA (or VIS) is never going to be the one people want and the green cars (like my silver one) are also a never favoured colour. If it was an LE or Plus then breaking it would probably be silly as there will someone who will buy it, still not convinced these will ever be a classic though just a curio (pains me to say this). The Alfa GTV and Spider will be the ones people go for if looking for a car like this despite them being a poorer drive and a lot less practical.
The problem is the running costs are more or less the same NA versus Turbo and most people want the cheap power rather than the better sounding/handling NA cars. If you break it you probably won't get much as there seem to be plenty of parts about, I broke an X reg VIS and made quite a bit but was very lucky as it had a Plus interior fitted from new (car cost me £220).
Thing is I still really enjoy my 20V VIS and it's worth far more to me than the few hundred pounds I could get for it, too many good memories and years of reliable fun to scrap.
I work part time at Motormech in Birmingham - we're always on the lookout for Coupes for breaking (although to be fair, we rebuild as many as we break - just a sucker for them....)
The last two 20v N/A that we bought were £200 and £125 respectively. Both were put back on the road for a couple of hundred quid and sold on for a modest profit (they're not worth much even with a full MOT)
Unless you have plenty of space and time, I wouldn't break it - it takes a lot of effort and you'll always end up with a pile of stuff you can't sell
In your position, I'd get a definitive list of work that's needed (MOT fail list, plus any personal observations, such as cosmetic rust spots) - then stick it on Ebay with a safe reserve and see what happens
If it doesn't sell, let me know and I'll look into making you an offer
The last two 20v N/A that we bought were £200 and £125 respectively. Both were put back on the road for a couple of hundred quid and sold on for a modest profit (they're not worth much even with a full MOT)
Unless you have plenty of space and time, I wouldn't break it - it takes a lot of effort and you'll always end up with a pile of stuff you can't sell
In your position, I'd get a definitive list of work that's needed (MOT fail list, plus any personal observations, such as cosmetic rust spots) - then stick it on Ebay with a safe reserve and see what happens
If it doesn't sell, let me know and I'll look into making you an offer
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