I found this 1998 Fiat Barchetta (= little boat) for sale on a small lot in Waterloo, Ontario. The Barchetta was produced from 1995-2005, with a 2 year hiatus from 2002-2004, according to Wiki. As Fiat withdrew from the North American market in 1981, these were never sold here.
The Barchetta is based on the FWD platform of the Mk1 Punto and powered by a 1747 cc DOHC 4-cylinder rated at 129 hp/121 lb.ft. With a curb weight of about 2350 lbs, contemporary reviews praised lively performance and fine handling. Only about 56,000 were produced, and a Fiat forum believes that almost half of that number went to Germany. It was perhaps overshadowed by the hugely successful Mazda MX-5 Miata.
The car looks to be in very good condition, with 80,000 km on the odometer. There’s a small dent/chip by the left taillight, but no other major blemishes. The trunk contains a brand new timing belt and various pulleys/tensioner, plus three air filters, and miscellaneous parts. The lot attendant said it’s on consignment by a foreign student who is returning home. Asking price (verbal) $10k CDN, but I didn’t speak with the shop owner. The small shop is close to two large universities (U of Waterloo and Wilfred Laurier) which both have a high percentage of foreign students.
Do any of our trans-atlantic readers have first hand experience with this little car?
Related Reading:
I like this a lot, and not just for the color although that part is hugely appealing. Thank goodness Waterloo, ON is nowhere near me. I particularly like the alloys, they try to look like stamped steel wheels, very fetching!
Well Jim, you could come and visit. I’ll pick you up at the airport and you can do a fly and drive 🙂
Thank goodness the US import laws preclude me from your tempting offer!
4 more years!
Beautiful design. These along with the Fiat Coupe and Bravo of the era were peak Fiat to me, design wise. Also, those are the stamped steel wheels; the alloys were these, on a proposed coupe that never happened.
Steel is an alloy, too.
I actually think these remind me of the aluminum alloy wheels used on Lancia Betas.
Oops, that’s awkward! Zooming in makes it obvious… thanks!
Ooh, that coupe is unusual and sweet, like some latter-day Fiat Etceterini of the ’60’s. Never seen it before.
Hah, that’s funny. I know that car lot from when my son played water polo games at Laurier. They usually have some interesting stuff, had a nice MGB a couple years ago.
We just dropped him off at U of Waterloo on Sunday, but I doubt he needs (or can afford) a little sports car with unobtanium spare parts.
There is one of these that’s been running around the SF Bay Area for several years now. I’ve seen it at the All-Italian Car and Motorcycle Show in Alameda, Ca., next one is in October. Cool cars!
Re interesting stuff: cruised by the lot this afternoon (per bicycle), found a rubber bumper MGB, Porsche 944, Buick Raeta, Honda S2000, besides more mundane stuff. Website shows only a handful of their inventory.
Oops, Buick Reatta
I have never seen one of these before. I want to like it, but where I see the Miata as a styling masterpiece, this one is filed under “close but not quite.”
I think it is the undulating beltline that starts at the headlight then goes up, down, up down like ocean waves. I am no car stylist, but I would have done something different. Of course, I am prepared to be in the minority on this as I am on other things.
But on the other hand, this could be amazing just for the rarity. It can’t take, what, more than 6 months to get any part you could possibly need?
It would appear the car is either sold, or not on the web site for the dealer;
https://www.frankgiesautosales.com/vehicles/?category=1&make_name=&model_name=&year_start=&year_end=&price_amount_start=&price_amount_end=&odometer_amount_start=&odometer_amount_end=&transmission_type=&drive_type=&sort=&direction=&refine_search=
Cruised by lot this afternoon, its still there. Website shows only small fraction of inventory. May not be listed as lot does not own car, it’s on consignment.
Over here in the Netherlands they were briefly popular after launch, although the MX outsold it by 10 to 1. By now they are dirt cheap; in the range of 1.500,- to 3.500,- according to how much trouble you are looking for …
Rust is not an issue, the engine and hardware mechanics aren’t that bad either, but they are nevertheless hard to maintain. Changing a timingbelt or clutch requires a lot of unscrewing underneath the fenders. The electronics have a reputation for many, many malfunctions. In any case the roof needs replacing, these cars are basicly total loss.
A very well maintained MX5, even with some miles (or kilometers) on it, can be a nice and solid investment and lots of fun to drive. A Barchetta? I would only recommend it to enthousiastic people with some spare money, a well equipped workshop and a lot of patience.
This immediately brought to mind the Ford Ghia Barchetta concept of 1983 (which later was loosely recycled to become the Mercury Capri).
Be a bit kind, that Capri was made of all-new materials, though it was unarguably bunged together so loosely you might assume a certain usedness in componentry. (Drove one once, very like piloting an ugly squeakingwaterbed, and about as watertight as a leaky one).
Not attractive to me, but I did put in quite a few miles driving a possibly similar, under the skin, Fiat Marea sedan, which I rented in Florence in 2001. A car I had never heard of, and not particularly stylish either, but it turned out to be peppy, economical (1.8 gasoline) and fun to drive with a nice ride/handling balance. Much nicer than the ‘93 Corolla we owned at the time. By the way, I had reserved an Alfa 155 or equivalent; the guy at the the rental counter was adamant that the Fiat was equivalent. I didn’t see a single Alfa on their lot …
All that comes to mind is this, one of my faves by Rush. I happened to have played this in the car this morning, only to return home to find your wonderful post. CC Karma strikes again!
+2112 😉
The best is when you are having a spirited drive in your car, listening to this classic second track from Moving Pictures, and you actually get to the “one lane bridge” at the same time they do in the song….
…but preferably NOT while being chased by 2 “gleaming alloy air car[s]”.
I love this little FIAT Barchetta roadster. It reminds me of an update of the FIAT 850 Sport Spider of the late-60s / early-70s, and looks almost as little. Orange is a playful color that suits it well. A shame we never got these Stateside.
I often like orange sports cars, but don’t think it goes well on this particular shape. Less Barchetta, more liferaft.
Always liked these, and this looks a good example.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-outtake/curbside-outtake-1999-fiat-barchetta-its-all-in-the-details/
Thanks Roger, we totally missed that, I added it to the Related Reading…
Looks so much better in silver !
“What Jim said”. Thanks, Roger. I usually try to research stuff before posting or asking questions, just totally forget to check archives this time. Did find interesting Top Gear comparison between Barchetta and new Fiata 124.
My daughter attended Laurier University for 4 years and got her Masters degree at the University of Waterloo for an additional 2 years. There is also Conestoga College in town. There are approximately 45,000 students there. On any given trip to visit my girl, I would see every model of every high end car being made today. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus, Infinity, Land Rover, Porsche, you name it and you will see them there.
These are not half as bad as ppl want you to believe they are. They do not rust, the engines are more or less bulletproof, and the only thing that can give some trouble are the electrics, but again, not half as much as you read. I owned several Fiats over the years, and still have a 2004 Panda around, and with some tlc, they are pretty fun cars to drive and own. The mx-5 might have a slightly better reputation, but that reputation is covered in rust.
Seen a couple of these around here and there. There’s another one for sale over here on the west coast also. Same price too.
https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/cto/d/nanaimo-rare-convertible-beauty/6923250524.html
Love the fact that the featured car had spare timing belt and tensioner in the “trunk”. Timing belts don’t generally fail, but Fiat have a habit of using plastic tensioners……
I went to Waterloo about 50 years ago, and even then there were many interesting cars around. The best was a decrepit Aston Martin DB2. I also remember a Lotus Europa in the student parking lot.
About 10 years ago I spent a fair bit of time in the Netherlands for work. I have a friend there who had a Barchetta as his daily driver. It replaced a dearly loved 124 Spider. I never drove it but I had many rides around the countryside in it. I thoroughly enjoyed being a passenger. Other than noise from the valve train on startup he liked it, even with FWD. He never mentioned any mechanical concerns, but he is an ace mechanic with a fleet of collectibles including a Reliant Scimitar GTE, so I don’t think a Fiat would be a challenge.