And just for the record, in a scant 3 years of ownership, as a then pauperish
20-something, I had to:
Rebuild the engine
Replace the head gasket, 12 months later
Replace the: water pump, alternator, starter (twice), front calipers, and
transmission. On a 4 year-old car.
Sure learned something about "cars," though. FIAT: F**king Italian Attempt at
Transportation.
--
Martin Secrest
GT6, TR6
"Michael D. Porter" wrote:
> Mark Price wrote:
> >
> > My vote would also go to the Fiat 128. The little shoebox car. It would blow
> > a head gasket anytime the outside temperature was either higher, or lower
> > than about 70 degrees.
>
> For those not intimately familiar with this younger cousin of the 124
> (btw, the late `60s 124 Spyder coupe was one of the prettiest cars of
> its day, to my mind--_very_ Italian styling), the head was very
> curiously designed, roughly v-shaped in section, with one _very_ thin
> edge. If one weren't exceedingly careful in removing the head, the
> entire flange would break off straight through all the head bolt holes
> on that side.
>
> It also had an exceptionally strange transaxle, with a very odd internal
> shift lever arrangement, which, after even minimal wear, allowed one of
> the shift forks to flop out of engagement with its synchro.
>
> I will say about Fiat--they grudgingly admitted that the body design on
> the 128 and the 131 encouraged premature rusting, and a great many were
> scrapped as a result of a class-action suit, something that GM, to my
> knowledge, never did with the Vega. (!)
>
> To my mind, the Vega probably should have occupied the 128's slot, and
> the 128 should have shared top spot with the Yugo, since the Yugo was,
> essentially, a 128 in Yugoslavian peasant attire.
>
> Cheers, all.
>
> --
>
> Michael D. Porter
> Roswell, NM
> mailto: mporter@zianet.com
>
> `70 GT6+ (being refurbished, slowly)
> `71 GT6 Mk. III (organ donor)
> `72 GT6 Mk. III (daily driver)
> `64 TR4 (awaiting intensive care)
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