RE: SOTW: Fiat Tipo 2.0ie 16v

[adamasbo69]

First car that i ever went off the clock in, down hill tho, very fast in their day.. anyone been on how many left.com? saw the other day theres only 63 uno turbo ies left on that site

[jayfish]

I remember coming across one in my mildly tweaked Bravo HGT, thinking 'ha ha previous gen 2.0 fiat hatch, I'll show it' then having to hang on for dear life to stay on it's bootlid, 143 BHP may not sound hot hatch nowadays, but no lard on this generation to slow it down.
Wouldn't want one, but respect is due for one driven in anger.

edit for grandma fail

[Smike]

VeeFour said:

pistonchris said:

The astra gte did have 156 bhp well before the tipo.

Not 'well before' - they were launched in the same year.

The Tipo base car might have been but you couldn't buy the Sedicivalvole version in the UK until over 2 years after the Astra GTE 16v

[grahamw48]

I don't know when Fiats started to improve, but as a person who'd normally dismiss them out of hand, I happened to buy a cheap Marea Estate, intended for temporary use while I looked for another 'proper' daily driver. Cost £800.

Anyway, the old girl was very smart, TOTALLY reliable, economical (16valve 1600), rustfree, and soldiered on very nicely for another 60,000 miles over the following two years, with nothing spent other than for 'consumables'.

As I was getting mileage allowance, I was in-pocket too.

Sold her on, still running perfectly for £600.

Back to diesels now.

[heisthegaffer]

Smike said:

VeeFour said:

pistonchris said:

The astra gte did have 156 bhp well before the tipo.

Not 'well before' - they were launched in the same year.

The Tipo base car might have been but you couldn't buy the Sedicivalvole version in the UK until over 2 years after the Astra GTE 16v

I thought the gte 16v came out in 1987/8 but the sedicivalvole finally came out in 1992.

On the continent they had the 1800 16v '16s' which got panned by critics so the 2.0 was released over here. sadly rumours of the 160bhp were just that, rumours, a bit like the punto mk1 abarth with the new 1800 160 bhp engine and lsd. Now that would have been a game changer in 1993, as would the puntograle. And the 4WD grand puntograle, but typically FIAT hadn't/haven't got the balls to do anything remotely as brave as this.

[johnpeat]

ITech said:

My old Boss did have 3 of these as his company car, all of which broke down or had faults that required several days work at the Dealer, very very regularly, that is a true FACT.

Also, the loan Fiat's he was given, whilst his car was being fixed (under warranty), also gave similar trouble. So this is not my opinion, or a mistake, or anything other than my certain knowledge that the several Fiat's he drove over a period of about 4.5 years, that I worked with him, were almost constantly un-reliable.

I'm not sure the irony will illuminate anything in your life, but I can say EXACTLY the same about Mercedes, BMW and Audi (and other marques) as I've worked with people (senior to me if not 'my boss') who've owned multiple of those marques which required extensive dealer work to rectify persistent faults and in at least 2 of those cases, had cars replaced either by the manuf. or leasing company due to this.

Anecdotal evidence like this is worthless - meaningless - useless, you and your boss are a sample so tiny as to tell us nothing useful whatsoever. Hell, this entire forum is barely a useful sample for that

I once owned a Honda which spent 4 weeks of it's first year with the dealer - 24 visits in total to 5 different dealers (also 2 days spent with Honda Factory Technicians) but I hear people think Hondas are reliable and solid and who am I to argue with that?

All irrelevant on a classic car anyway - you aren't buying it as a 'starts every time' daily runner...

[nismo48]

sledge68]5TUU said:

is there only me that thinks this is an abomination and not Shed worthy?!? dont like it one little bit and def wouldnt part with any spondoolicks for it

yes it seems to be only you

If you read his profile and garage..owned a Plymouth p/t cruiser..enough said

[benjfrst]

some strange comments.

1/ Rust, electical, reliability.

I doubt this is going to be daily transport for anyone sensible. An enthusiastic owner will address these issues if they crop up. I have just bought an 18 year old citroen for £1800 and fully expect to pay much more than that to keep it tip top.

2/ Price.

Its peanuts compared to 1st year depreciation in almost any new car. Only a handful left, I would have priced it higher and said so.

3/ Badge snobery or not understanding what this is.

Forget the looks, this was a class leading hot hatch. Its a drivers car. If you dont get it, I suppose you never will.


Great almost unique car, that more than likely will be very fragile and demand lots of attention, will bring smiles and sadness in equal measure. Dimissed by the masses. Cult car? maybe not but a lot of the ingridients are there.

[ITech]

johnpeat said:

I'm not sure the irony will illuminate anything in your life, but I can say EXACTLY the same about Mercedes, BMW and Audi (and other marques) as I've worked with people (senior to me if not 'my boss') who've owned multiple of those marques which required extensive dealer work to rectify persistent faults and in at least 2 of those cases, had cars replaced either by the manuf. or leasing company due to this.

Anecdotal evidence like this is worthless - meaningless - useless, you and your boss are a sample so tiny as to tell us nothing useful whatsoever. Hell, this entire forum is barely a useful sample for that

I once owned a Honda which spent 4 weeks of it's first year with the dealer - 24 visits in total to 5 different dealers (also 2 days spent with Honda Factory Technicians) but I hear people think Hondas are reliable and solid and who am I to argue with that?

All irrelevant on a classic car anyway - you aren't buying it as a 'starts every time' daily runner...

All very illuminating.. yes other marques sometimes build un-reliable cars, we all know that. The first generation of Mercedes C-Class rusted badly etc. But, I think for someone to have owned 3 Tipo's and driven several others in a 4.5 year period and for them all to be very problematic, does seem to indicate, poor build quality of that model. Why do you think so few are around now, ok they didn't sell many new (wonder why...), but, of what was sold they are nearly all gone - because the build quality was bad and they did not survive!
I've bought several classic cars and used them as a daily runner and they have always started every time, as I expect them to. So, even if you are going to be optimistic and label this a 'classic car'. I do not agree it doesn't matter, if it does not start when you want to use it.

[joz8968]

joz8968 said:

Although not a 'fashionable' shape now, I've always rather liked its aesthetic - has a 'thuggish', purposeful air. Very Italian...



...Looks fab in black.

marc2 said:

Can you push the Tipo forward a bit so I can see the 105/130tc better please

Yeah, I noticed that too.

gforceg said:

Where is that / what was the display? A few nice cars in that picture!

Classic Car Show, NEC.

Edited by joz8968 on Saturday 2nd July 10:38

[joz8968]

My sister always used to refer to her 1.4 5dr as "The Tardis". It did indeed feel like it had a massive amount of space inside, which seemed to bely its dimensions.

Edited by joz8968 on Saturday 2nd July 10:41

[Smike]

heisthegaffer said:

Smike said:

VeeFour said:

pistonchris said:

The astra gte did have 156 bhp well before the tipo.

Not 'well before' - they were launched in the same year.

The Tipo base car might have been but you couldn't buy the Sedicivalvole version in the UK until over 2 years after the Astra GTE 16v

I thought the gte 16v came out in 1987/8 but the sedicivalvole first arrived in 1992?

So you're sort of agreeing with me then?

It was certainly well over 2 years anyway. Astra GTE 16v was out around May 88 and the Tipo Sedicivalvole about late 91

[VeeFour]

Smike said:

So you're sort of agreeing with me then?

It was certainly well over 2 years anyway. Astra GTE 16v was out around May 88 and the Tipo Sedicivalvole about late 91

Ahhh, OK. Always thought the 16v was available earlier than that.

[Deluded]

grahamw48 said:

I don't know when Fiats started to improve

Anything from around 1990 onwards really wasn't a bad car. A lot were best in class (mk1 Punto?) and others wern't far behind the lead.

Yes, the pre 90s Fiats rusted and they have never lost that reputation even though they have all been galvanised for around 15 years, if not more. All cars of that era rusted too, no idea why Fiat got the bad rep. Manufacturers like Ford and Merc continued to rust well after Fiat had sorted it out. Look at the KA, Puma, A-class etc. Hondas of the same era also seem to be rusted through and falling apart these days, same for mazdas, hyundais etc.

As for engines, well, the Fiat FIRE (used in pretty much every model at some stage since the late 80s) is a cracking engine and has stood the test of time. It's still used in the new ones today and even other manufacturers use it too. Same for the Fiat JTD engine. Alfa use it, Vauxhall use it. Cracking diesel engine.

Electrics are sometimes a let down, especially in the cars of the early 00s such as the Stilo, but then, find me another car of this era that doesn't seem to throw up error codes daily. The french equivelant is just as bad.

They are, and always have been cheap, affordable cars. They aren't trying to be executive and the price and build reflects this. If you want something with a better build, buy a VW, it will probably breakdown though, but who cares, you still have that class leading interior with soft touch buttons to play with on the drive.

[grahamw48]

Couple of my colleagues were running diesel golfs, bought new when I had the old Fiat, and they were in and out of the garage with them, and some massive bills too.

A working car needs to get you to work every day, and should pay for itself (and any weekend toys ).
That's all I ask.

My boy is just about to take his test, and I'll be getting him a Fiat of some sort, as the low capacity ones are also cheap to insure.

Camping trip to Scotland in the £800 Fiat (plus over 500 miles a week for work):

.

Edited by grahamw48 on Saturday 2nd July 12:27

[Deluded]

^

I've had 2 Mareas in the past. All of the 2.0 20v variety though. One estate and one saloon. The engines are real gems. Just a bugger to work on as space is so tight in the bay. They sound fantastic and go very well too.

Had a Bravo with the same 1.6 in your Marea though. Pretty nippy in the Bravo and very revy too.

[TomJS]

benjfrst said:

some strange comments.

1/ Rust, electical, reliability.

I doubt this is going to be daily transport for anyone sensible. An enthusiastic owner will address these issues if they crop up. I have just bought an 18 year old citroen for £1800 and fully expect to pay much more than that to keep it tip top.

2/ Price.

Its peanuts compared to 1st year depreciation in almost any new car. Only a handful left, I would have priced it higher and said so.

3/ Badge snobery or not understanding what this is.

Forget the looks, this was a class leading hot hatch. Its a drivers car. If you dont get it, I suppose you never will.


Great almost unique car, that more than likely will be very fragile and demand lots of attention, will bring smiles and sadness in equal measure. Dimissed by the masses. Cult car? maybe not but a lot of the ingridients are there.

Post of the day. Please collect your "True Pistonhead" badge.

[bertelli_1]

Just found some pics of mi old one -




It took ages to sell it & I let it go for about £650 I think.

[johnpeat]

ITech said:

So, even if you are going to be optimistic and label this a 'classic car'. I do not agree it doesn't matter, if it does not start when you want to use it.

I actually think "not starting" is a REQUIREMENT of a classic car.

You don't think a Nissan Micra will ever be considered a classic do you?

It's the faults and foibles - the rarity and the oddness of the cars which makes them classic - not just their age.

Odd thing is, this just reminds me of how 'weird' people thought the Tipo was at the time. It was 'a box' in the way the Sierra was a 'jelly mould' and people couldn't understand it.

Roll forward almost 20 years and every car looks like that

[johnpeat]

ITech said:

But, I think for someone to have owned 3 Tipo's and driven several others in a 4.5 year period and for them all to be very problematic, does seem to indicate, poor build quality of that model.

All it tells me is that the drivers/owners are the sort of people to complain about faults - and not everyone does that (you'd be amazed what some people will put up with or completely ignore).

Example: I have a loan-car outside whilst my car is being rewired. It's an X-Reg 406 HDi and it's regular user says it's one of the nicest cars he's driven as a 'wafting along barge' sort of thing - it cost him pennies and he wants it back ASAP

It is, indeed, comfy and smooth and massively roomy (I'm tall and I rattle around in it). Only snag is that it steers-right alarmingly when you let go of the steering wheel and you can't turn the radio off!!! The owner didn't notice either of these things in 3 months of ownership - I noticed them inside 2 minutes.

I'm not saying every FIAT owner is picky or a whinger but I AM saying that a lot of the stories you hear come from that sort of person and if that sort of person happens to have a local FIAT dealer (or indeed ANY car) then...