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I always liked the looks of that car.
All good ideas on paper. Still. Exactly what was forgotten along the way and the Versa seems as close to those parameters as any, especially in the areas of interior room compared to exterior size.
Thanks for the video.
Looks a lot like the Chrysler K-cars, Omni and Horizon. Probably similar “goodness”.
Never drove one. My brother had Fiat X1-9 and 850 convertible which I drove. They were so flimsy that you could open a door and lean on it. The door would not close well until it got re-aligned. They did not start well in Midwestern winters.
Not many things make my heart gush like seeing a Fiat X1/9. Not even puppies playing in a dewy meadow.
My family had seven different Fiats over 14 years. Including a Moretti. They were not very reliable, but when they ran, boy were they fun. Like the old advertisement said. “nothing drives like a Fiat”.
I had a 1980 Strada, my first new car. It drove great for a car of it’s day. Was much more powerful and outhandled it’s competion.(Escort,Chevette, Corolla)
I beat the crap out of it for 2 years. It took everything I could give it. Also gas mileage was in the low 30s. Great car. I would think by now Fiat has solved their reliability issues.
In the UK Stradas kept up the great euro tradition of dissolving almost before your eyes. FIAT has made some great cars over the years (127, X1/9, 500) but the quality has never really been there. My brother has a new Grande Punto which the seat frame collapsed and took weeks to get spares so I am guessing things have not really improved that much. Mixing Chrysler genes (horrible quality, nasty interior, cliff face depreciation) with FIAT ones (poor quality, dodgy reliability, spotty dynamics) will lead to an offspring that only a mother could love. Dolly the (rusty) sheep here we come!
A neighbor of mine got one of these to replace his Brava. My dad was tempted to get one, but got a Rabbit Diesel instead, and boy was he glad. That Strada broke down all the time while my Dad’s Rabbit was surprisingly very reliable. The neighbor finally had enough and ended up getting an Accord…
friend of mine had an 850 spyder back in the early 70s. That thing was tiny. The engine (all 0.85 liters of it) was in the back and there was not much luggage space. But the two of us, accompanied by his big dog, did once drive it from Chicago to New York in one very long day. The incredible thing is that it could keep up with turnpike traffic (70 mph back then), even carrying 350 lbs + of man, dog and luggage.
When overseas I had the opportunity to drive a Fiat 131 a few times. Amazing handling and not an extremely powerful motor but lively would describe it nicely. In the US, friends with them liked them but there were trouble-prone, to say the least. Measured against the Detroit iron of the day, that’s saying something.
I’ve always wanted on eof their little roadsters but I’ve never indulged myself in the luxury of a car that you can’t rely on.
That Strada sure looks better than any subcompact available today.
Fiat? A Car? I thought thats what our currency was…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_currency
That looks exactly like a Omni/Horizon(not a K car)of the day, except for the grill.It also looks like all early 80s small sedans. We had a Horizon for 10 years,which appears to be 8 yrs longer than the average Fiat experience. It was as good as any car of the day for the price. My kids had it for the last two, they learned to drive a stick in it. We then gave ($100) it to a friend of theirs who drove it for a couple more.
Everyone is in love with the cars they can’t have. Well, when that big wet smelly dog shows up on your porch we will see how many “Fiat lovers” let it in.
Just to illustrate how much value there is in the reputation of a car maker: to this day, I would probably be very reluctant to ever buy a Fiat, just because I saw my father’s Fiat quickly dissolve into rust 30 years ago…
Robbie :
January 24th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Just to illustrate how much value there is in the reputation of a car maker: to this day, I would probably be very reluctant to ever buy a Fiat, just because I saw my father’s Fiat quickly dissolve into rust 30 years ago…
Funny, since the “you’re not a loyal American if you don’t buy Detroit iron” crowd argues that all past sins of the D2.8 should be forgiven and forgotten, even those that have occurred within the past 5 years. Supposedly because they have no bearing on current product.
Your point illustrates nicely how reputations and perceptions are hard to shake.
My buddy had an X/19 in high school. All his Perkin’s restaurant paychecks went to try and keep it running. He learned not to visit the mechanics while they were working on it because they were always swearing up a storm. Total POS but we loved that car.
It always amazed me how such a tiny car got such horrible gas mileage. I seem to recall it only had 77hp (guessing from memory). Where did all the gas go? Also, word was you were lucky to get 70,000 miles before the engine let go.
Great memories, but no Fiats for me. Ever.
The only Fiat I’ve ever driven was a rental ’97 Brava. Odd styling, but a nice driving car on the UK’s roads. Beats what rental companies here offered in ’97.
The 70 Spyder [little rear engine 2 seater] my brother bought was so badly rusted after 2 years in Iowa that it was structurally unsound and the dealer actually took it back.A Chevy dealer. The frame was ready to drop the engine from the corrosion.
New paint after a year should have been the first clue.Beautiful car though.
The Strada looks good and the concept is still sound. All those attributes the ad points out continue to be solid objectives for building a small car : ride, handling, room, fuel economy, efficient packaging, practicality.
Of course the same was true of the X Car. Somehow the move from blue print to cold rolled destroyed something….
I was desperately looking for a Strada in the mid-80s but ended up buying a used ’79 128. Like has been said, fun to drive when it ran. But had to crush it when the unibody holding the front suspension rusted out.
Supposedly they all rusted out because they were using Russian steel at the time which had too high an oxygen content?
I would buy a new one, no problem though – I hope they get here soon!
Mr Farago: give it a rest. I mean really? What do you want to imply? With the Multipla and now Strada? I don’t understand(can this be considered flaming? hope not)
Even as a “fanboy”, and lifetime experiences may vary, I know when Fiat showed up in this market 25+ years ago, they had a novelty. A small, transverselly mounted engine, that gave a very small car (the 147) some incredible handling, economy, interior space though “spotty” reliability, “questionable” durability. Imagine this, at that time all else on offer was significantly larger, thirstier, traditional. Simply putting it, my family and friends were not early adopters,
Move on to about 1990 and they got their stride right. A new car (Uno, and sedan and station wagon and pick-up versions) and my father took the risk (afterall in a previous life, working abroad he had had a Fiat 131 which was pretty good). That Uno 1.5 ethanol-only car stayed 9 years in the family. And made converts. Since then, anyone of us would buy a Fiat. Eyes closed.
Full disclosure, mom, pop and 2 brothers and a sister have in total 3 Fiats, 3 Renaults, 1 Peugeot, 1 Nissan and 1 VW (my father’s, though not his choice, heck, it’s free since it’s a company car – to show he’s not really a VW guy anymore his last 3 cars before the VW were Nissan (2) and a Fiat).
So whatever. Take it as you will. I live in a third wold country with crazy temperature swings. And rain. And crazy ass roads the sight of which you wouldn’t believe. In a mountainous state. With a topography to drive you nuts. And not just out in the canyons, but on everyone’s daily drive (stress on brakes, coolant system, suspension). The city is, literally, on top of the mountains, not nestled in some valley. With grinding traffic. Bad “gasoline” and ethanol. (just to get out of my house I face a grade you wouldn’t believe) And the Fiats just go and go.
We’re a car family. Dad was a rally driver. Taught us to drive at 12. And to baby cars. And to drive the snot out of them. But always maintain them. Religiously. The Nissan (a Pathfinder-diesel, is calling it quits just after 5 yrs – so it’s officially a POS). The Peugeot is not doing so great (recurrent AC problems), 3 yrs old. The Renaults, it’s too soon to tell since they’re all brand new (though previous ones fared well). The Fiats: my sister’s 5 yr-old has had only regular maintenance. Same applies to my 3 yr-old as well as my brother’s that 10 years old (and it gets boring but same applies to all other Fiats in family, at least 8 of them, which were all reliable. Dare I say “Toyota” reliable. Never stranded anybody, started everyday, only regular maintenance. As opposed to some previous Chevys, Fords, Vws and now Nissan).
So, what’s the conclusion? Drawing from mine, and my family’s, and friends’ experiences, pray you get some Fiats. Even if they’re Plymouth-badged. You could do much worse.
And Mr. Farago. Don’t be so cryptic. Tell us what this “Those who don’t learn from history” means.
That car was known here as Fiat Ritmo.. I had forgotten they even existed. The production ended only 21 years ago, but most likely every single one of them has rusted away. Horrible cars.
The same goes for Fiat Uno, my first and possibly the worst car. Everything fell apart at 150000 km: the clutch, the transmission, the brakes.. even the cardboard door panels and the passenger side mirror fell off. The Uno was still sold in the mid-90’s, but it has also disappeared from our roads.
My father had a 1988 Fiat Croma back in the day. It broke down at least once a month, developed oil leaks, and every single electrical system had to be rewired. Truly an exceptionally bad piece of automotive engineering. Oh, and it managed to get 89 hp out of a 2 liter twincam engine.
Modern Fiats are supposedly better, but I’d rather buy a Lada than ever touch an Italian car again.
FrustratedConsumer:
“I was desperately looking for a Strada in the mid-80s but ended up buying a used ‘79 128. Like has been said, fun to drive when it ran. But had to crush it when the unibody holding the front suspension rusted out.”
Same here – had a red ’72 – first the lower control arm on the right side pulled from the unibody – (I found a skilled welder who reconstructed that part of the frame) – after that, me and my cousin hit a big bump going onto the High Level Bridge when the front sway bar ripped from the frame and it was all I could do to keep us from going into the concrete guard rail…
I took it to the local Fiat Dealer, where they officially pronounced the car “scrap”, whereas a salesman immediately proceeded to attempt to sell me a ’76.
I just gawked at the guy.
Still, I wouldn’t write any car off these days; the Internet certainly weeds out the “dogs”.
FIAT Television Network? I’m calling my cable provider and demanding this channel immediately! Though I think the whole vid sounds better with Georgio Moroder in the background to match the ending credits.
I can see this whole Fiat/Chrysler thing working out as well as the Mercedes Sprinter. Good luck finding parts for any of these vehicles when Chrysler goes down. It’ll be 1986 all over again.
The Strada was actually not a bad car for its day. I think a huge part of FIATs bad reputation in the US was the mostly crappy dealer network. Around here the was one dealer that was paired with a MB dealership, Guess what cars got priority.
Another dealer was also a Triumph MG dealership. They just couldn’t make any money being down the road from one of the biggest Datsun dealerships in the country.
My shop did great servicing FIAT, MG and Triumph after they left the US. You really had to take care of those cars to make them reliable and of course there was the rust. Don’t forget though Japanese cars rusted just as bad in those days but were more reliable.
My mother bought a ’72 124 sedan in 71 after the floor fell out of her 66 VW bug (rust). The 124 lasted to 1980 with only a water pump going bad. Otherwise just regular maintenance. Rust in the front suspension area got that one.
Had 850 spyders and coupes. Had an X 1/9 that other than regular maintenance I sold after owning it for 15 years with no problems despite having the poo driven out of it by me.
I’d love to get a hold of a good 850 spyder for a summer around town car, fun, nimble and 40 mpg around town.
Let’s not forget the Yugoslav produced version of the Fiat 128, the infamous Yugo. The Yugo was produced in a Yugoslav weapons factory. Funny thing is that they car sucked but the tanks worked just fine.