Faults:

The engine blew at 90,000.

Paint was very thick, as if they dipped the car.

General Comments:

It was my first car. I had the choice of buying a using Mercury Comet V8 or a new car. My dad put the down payment down and I paid the rest.

It was the 70s, what can I say. My first mods to it were big house speakers and a Jensen cassette player.

It was a 4 speed, and it would beat up on 6 cylinder gremlins all day long in drag races. I liked it for what it was - Mine. It didn't have a cruise control, but I made do by setting the choke and idle speed, I could cruise 65mph all day long without touching the gas pedal.

The timing belt went out at 90,000 miles; strangely it didn't bend a valve, and the block looked as good as new.

I gave it to my dad and he sold it. Both are long gone now.

Faults:

Timing belts broke with no warning, at any time, for no reason, even when new!

I maintained this car perfectly, waxed and polished and in the dry Southern California area, it formed rust bubbles on the hood when less than 1 year old!

General Comments:

The old adage that FIAT stands for "Fix It Again Tony" was never more truthful. I actually made my local FIAT repair shop rich!

I wanted a car that was unusual and had some performance, the FIAT seemed ideal. I loved that car, it had real soul... but she was just too damn unreliable. I actually would turn the key to start it while praying that it would start! It broke down so much... if the timing belt snapped, the valves would fall on the pistons and bend, and damage the pistons!

Never, never would own a FIAT again! Ever!

Faults:

Clutch cable.

General Comments:

I purchased the car new in 1974 from Roma imports in Patchogue, NY. I had originally wanted the navy blue with tan interior, but the only one available was red and tan.

I loved this car from day one. Very comfortable for hours on end. I could fit three of my friends in it easily (we're all 6' tall or more.) I remember pulling up in front of a girlfriend's office, and her boss watched three of us get out, and he said it looked like the little car in the circus that 20 clowns get out of. I think he meant it as a compliment.

I drove that car in all kinds of weather and it never got stuck. It was one of the first cars in the USA that was front wheel drive, and had an electric cooling fan that would sometimes run for a few minutes after shutdown. Invariably, a passerby would catch my attention to tell me that I'd left my car running.

The only problem was the clutch cable, which broke about every 12k miles.

All in all, I loved it. It got great mileage, handled well, looked good, and when I sold it, it was because I needed money. About six years later I saw it parked on a street on the south side of Long Island. I knew it was mine because of the unique Lexan mudflaps I'd installed when I first brought her home. I sometimes wish now I'd rung the doorbell to see if the owner wanted to part with it, but at the time I had one son, another on the way, and was trying to buy a house. Money.