1973 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe 1800
Discussion
I had a BC 1600 for a couple of years around 1980. Less than 10 years old when I got it but more rust than metal- I am always surprised that any survived to be around now.
But it was a wonderful car. At the time you could still buy a new MGBGT. Now, I like MGBs, seen as a period piece, but there was no comparison. The Fiat was faster, better looking (matter of opinion I know), four proper seats, 5 speed gear box...
As you see, I am just a little envious!
But it was a wonderful car. At the time you could still buy a new MGBGT. Now, I like MGBs, seen as a period piece, but there was no comparison. The Fiat was faster, better looking (matter of opinion I know), four proper seats, 5 speed gear box...
As you see, I am just a little envious!
I visited a friend in Finsbury Park. On a whim I asked the standard Norf Lahndan Cypriot garage dude in the local backstreet garage if he could do something with the idling. He fiddled with it enough to make it idle albeit a bit lumpily, and not cut out at traffic lights and junctions. Cost: Twenty quid.
wilksy61 said:
Interesting car, but it's no looker is it? I am about to email the mobile mech about the 124 and the Lancia. I look forward to comparing the two. From memory, the Lancia feels smoother and more refined (although bear in mind that the Fiat is out of tune at present). The Lancia is packaged more as a mini luxury GT, the Fiat more as a sporty hooner.
The Lancia has better paint, its Cromodora wheels are in better nick, and it has a less grubby headlining. Its engine bay is dirty but the Fiat engine bay is pretty clean.
The Lancia has better paint, its Cromodora wheels are in better nick, and it has a less grubby headlining. Its engine bay is dirty but the Fiat engine bay is pretty clean.
P5BNij said:
Some nice period decor here BV, good quality stuff, I've used some of their stickers on my classics....
https://www.isaydingdong.co.uk/ourshop/
Imma like this shiz.https://www.isaydingdong.co.uk/ourshop/
The current Mrs BV, whom I met when we were both undergraduates in 1982, and married in 2012, puts up with the heaps. She does not like them. She loved the Jensen Fabboceptor that in 2010 we drove to Rome and back in. She and I are a bit on-off but are currently on, although we only spend half of each week together on average.
Meanwhile, COOOOOOOOL -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_850
Meanwhile, COOOOOOOOL -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_850
Breadvan72 said:
I hope someone saves that.... I've noticed over the past year or two there seems to be quite a few small Fiats for sale in the wilds of Wales, mostly projects.Fiat 850 trivia alert - in an episode of The Saint Roger Moore borrows one of these fine little cars, it was set 'somewhere in Europe' so his usual Volvo P1800 wasn't used.
Breadvan72 said:
P5BNij said:
Some nice period decor here BV, good quality stuff, I've used some of their stickers on my classics....
https://www.isaydingdong.co.uk/ourshop/
Imma like this shiz.https://www.isaydingdong.co.uk/ourshop/
Breadvan72 said:
I had one in the late 1970s. Fantastic to drive as they're very light & have a buzzy 903cc motor with 52BHP. Lovely handling & steering. Quite reliable, the driveline is very solid compared to my mates Hillman Imp at the time. I wrote mine off in 78 which broke my heart. Panels were unobtainable then & not a hope now. Maybe some NOS in Italy. Doesn't have a conventional oil filter uses a centrifugal one. Whole rear panel removes & filter is about 10 minutes to strip, clean & reassemble. They are getting expensive now otherwise I would have another in a heartbeat. 
Niggles:
The cheeky, high pitched 1970s sporty car horn has stopped working, but not because of a blown fuse. The clock (which shares a fuse with the horn) is still running (slowly).
A few times in heavy London traffic and once on the country road near home the battery charge light came on, but went out again a short time later. The alternator belt seems tight enough to my inexpert eye and fingers.
Brake fluid bottles (one for front,one for rear) still not opened. A bit of pull to the right when braking firmly.
On the M40 at an indicated 70 mph in fifth gear the engine missed a beat a couple of times - it seemed to pause momentarily before thrumming on.
Not a niggle but an observation - the oil pressure gauge and the coolant temperature gauge remind me of my O Level physics in 1979. Temperature being the inverse of pressure, the needles on the two gauges swap positions very noticeably when transitioning from heavy London traffic on a hot day to open road. The Lancia has an oil temperature gauge as well as a pressure gauge, but it is broken IIRC.
The heating and ventilation work pretty well, despite the stiff slider controls that are out of sight when driving (they surround the handbrake, and do not have obviously intuitive positions), and winding the window down on the motorway does not greatly increase noisiness. The quarterlights do not work. There is a fair amount of whooshy wind noise coming from the leading edges of the doors at motorway speed, probably because of tired old seals, although I suspect partly because of 1970s.
The chrome strip that should surround the windscreen is missing.
The handbook is from a BC car with a 1608 cc engine.
It appears that nobody driving a modern Fiat notices the car, presumably because nowadays Fiat is not a petrolhead marque.
Builder and plumber vans and Hi-Luxes driven by huge blokes with buzz cuts give thumbs up, because those blokes are Polish. Not long ago I followed a white Polski Fiat saloon with a very fruity exhaust along the M4 for a while. The four buzz cutted blokes in it were having a fine time judging by their cheery expressions.
The cheeky, high pitched 1970s sporty car horn has stopped working, but not because of a blown fuse. The clock (which shares a fuse with the horn) is still running (slowly).
A few times in heavy London traffic and once on the country road near home the battery charge light came on, but went out again a short time later. The alternator belt seems tight enough to my inexpert eye and fingers.
Brake fluid bottles (one for front,one for rear) still not opened. A bit of pull to the right when braking firmly.
On the M40 at an indicated 70 mph in fifth gear the engine missed a beat a couple of times - it seemed to pause momentarily before thrumming on.
Not a niggle but an observation - the oil pressure gauge and the coolant temperature gauge remind me of my O Level physics in 1979. Temperature being the inverse of pressure, the needles on the two gauges swap positions very noticeably when transitioning from heavy London traffic on a hot day to open road. The Lancia has an oil temperature gauge as well as a pressure gauge, but it is broken IIRC.
The heating and ventilation work pretty well, despite the stiff slider controls that are out of sight when driving (they surround the handbrake, and do not have obviously intuitive positions), and winding the window down on the motorway does not greatly increase noisiness. The quarterlights do not work. There is a fair amount of whooshy wind noise coming from the leading edges of the doors at motorway speed, probably because of tired old seals, although I suspect partly because of 1970s.
The chrome strip that should surround the windscreen is missing.
The handbook is from a BC car with a 1608 cc engine.
It appears that nobody driving a modern Fiat notices the car, presumably because nowadays Fiat is not a petrolhead marque.
Builder and plumber vans and Hi-Luxes driven by huge blokes with buzz cuts give thumbs up, because those blokes are Polish. Not long ago I followed a white Polski Fiat saloon with a very fruity exhaust along the M4 for a while. The four buzz cutted blokes in it were having a fine time judging by their cheery expressions.
1970s anti-smog regulations meant that the US version of the CC 1800 only had 92.5 BHP (the UK version claimed 118 BHP), but Car and Driver still liked it -
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15142114/fia...
The surging in slow urban traffic, and the backfire when lifting off (or changing down from fifth to fourth to overtake an uphill lorry on the M40) are definitely things. I thought that I had been shot.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a15142114/fia...
The surging in slow urban traffic, and the backfire when lifting off (or changing down from fifth to fourth to overtake an uphill lorry on the M40) are definitely things. I thought that I had been shot.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 7th July 08:12
The seller told me that he had replaced the fuel tank, and the fuel filter looks new and clean.
The car came with almost a full tank of petrol that was maybe nine or ten months old. I do not know if it it was 95, 97 or 99. I have been topping it off with V-Power plus Valvemaster as and when I can.
The car came with almost a full tank of petrol that was maybe nine or ten months old. I do not know if it it was 95, 97 or 99. I have been topping it off with V-Power plus Valvemaster as and when I can.
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