Discussion
I’ve only owned it for only 13 years, and drove for the first time last weekend, although only 5 metres out the garage for a wash. I’ve spent the last 18 months replacing the ill fated Croma Turbo conversion back to a lightly modded 130TC lump. It was last running in 1999 and on the road in 1990.
Still a fair bit to do, electrics being the biggest.
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/2XHwqLTF.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/fZpiY5zq" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/fZpiY5zq.jpg)
Still a fair bit to do, electrics being the biggest.
I’ve never even heard of These cars, I could look it up but prefer info from a owner.
OP run down of this car when released engine size standard and what yours is now also this turbo was it a bolt on or from factory ? Love to get info from someone who lives and breaths a vehicle.
It look awesome by the way
OP run down of this car when released engine size standard and what yours is now also this turbo was it a bolt on or from factory ? Love to get info from someone who lives and breaths a vehicle.
It look awesome by the way
It's got the 2 litre Lampredi Twin Cam Fiat running Carbs. The engine was used in many Fiats and Lancias.
The engine was Turbocharged for use in the Integrale, Thema, its Tipo Quattro sibling the Croma, and the Fiat Coupe.
Edited as I wrongly stated the Lampredi was Turbo'd in the Tipo when it wasn't.
The engine was Turbocharged for use in the Integrale, Thema, its Tipo Quattro sibling the Croma, and the Fiat Coupe.
Edited as I wrongly stated the Lampredi was Turbo'd in the Tipo when it wasn't.
Edited by carinaman on Thursday 7th May 23:19
It’s a Fiat Strada 130TC also known as the Strada Abarth. It was Fiats equivalent of the GTI, except they went old school and used a long standing 2.0 twin cam engine, added a flowed head, bigger valves, peaky cams, a four branch manifold and topped it with a twin 40s.
It created 130bhp and 130lbft, hence the 130 and TC for Twin Cam.
Uk cars had a pair of Recaros that weighed about as much as the rest of the car, didn’t tip enough to let anyone in the rear but otherwise were perfect.
Mine was on the road until 1990, then bought by a good friend to race. He built it from a bare shell, and it hasn’t been on the road since and last raced in 99. It weighed 750kg and had c150bhp and was a consistent class winner in an Italian UK based championship.
He decided to move to a modified class and dropped in a Croma Turbo drivetrain but never completed it. (The Croma Turbo is the same as an 8v Integrale engine, unless you’re a Lampredi guru, in which case it’s 90% similar)
I bought it 13 years ago and life has stood between it and exiting the garage door. Now my kids are older I’ve finally got going on it, having hoarded more stuff than an incontinent pensioner in the toilet roll aisle in a pandemic.
Still a load to do, it’s now running, wiring is a major challenge to 1) work and 2) make it road legal: hazards, fogs, speedo etc.
The plan is an occasional hill climb or track day, should I complete it before fossil fueled Motorsport is banned, I’ll then need to start again and fill it with Double A’s.
It created 130bhp and 130lbft, hence the 130 and TC for Twin Cam.
Uk cars had a pair of Recaros that weighed about as much as the rest of the car, didn’t tip enough to let anyone in the rear but otherwise were perfect.
Mine was on the road until 1990, then bought by a good friend to race. He built it from a bare shell, and it hasn’t been on the road since and last raced in 99. It weighed 750kg and had c150bhp and was a consistent class winner in an Italian UK based championship.
He decided to move to a modified class and dropped in a Croma Turbo drivetrain but never completed it. (The Croma Turbo is the same as an 8v Integrale engine, unless you’re a Lampredi guru, in which case it’s 90% similar)
I bought it 13 years ago and life has stood between it and exiting the garage door. Now my kids are older I’ve finally got going on it, having hoarded more stuff than an incontinent pensioner in the toilet roll aisle in a pandemic.
Still a load to do, it’s now running, wiring is a major challenge to 1) work and 2) make it road legal: hazards, fogs, speedo etc.
The plan is an occasional hill climb or track day, should I complete it before fossil fueled Motorsport is banned, I’ll then need to start again and fill it with Double A’s.
Edited by Dunk130TC on Thursday 7th May 23:44
Thanks for the kind comments, it was only on the road for 5 years and it’s been garaged ever since, so it is in fantastic condition (for an 80’s Fiat!). Even so, it’s had some plating around the rear arches but otherwise is very sound. It has had some paint and wears a few battle scuffs, which is part of its history, so I’ll leave it as is.
Yes it’s on DCOEs which sound lovely
Yes it’s on DCOEs which sound lovely
These are incredible, very lucky to have experienced one some 12-13 years ago. My best mates big brother bought a red one by chance that had been sitting in his works car park a long time. He got it cheap and got it running well after spending a bit of money on it. He took me out in it down some country lanes once it was done and what a thing it was! Always remember the crazy recaros and the mass of dials on the dash, plus the incredible noise it made!
Make sure you get plenty more pictures up and videos when it's running!
Make sure you get plenty more pictures up and videos when it's running!
J.C... said:
Awesome car. Those Fiat twin cams - what an engine!
I had an early 131 with a very tired pushrod engine. Swapped it out for an 1800 twin cam from a 132. Made a big difference. I later had a couple of 2 litre 131’s, but always felt the the 1800 engine had the edge on them, as it seems so much more eager to rev. At the ripe old age of 20 I was running around in a 205Gti 1600 and looking to change (I only ever kept cars a few months back then)
An advert in the local paper yielded a potential swap for an '86 130TC local to me and I was all for it.
Unfortunately my insurance company wasn't so keen so the swap never happened and the lovely Strada remains one of my nearly-cars to this day.
An advert in the local paper yielded a potential swap for an '86 130TC local to me and I was all for it.
Unfortunately my insurance company wasn't so keen so the swap never happened and the lovely Strada remains one of my nearly-cars to this day.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff