Pity poor Fiat. The 128 was a game changing car when it came out in 1969; its space efficiency and driving dynamics put it heads and shoulders above anything else. The VW Golf was essentially a slightly larger 128 with a hatchback, and the Golf was hardly the only European car chasing the 128 or influenced by it. But in the US, the 128 just never got any serious traction against the inroads of rather dull but dead reliable cars like the Corolla and company.
The 128 3P was a hatchback version of the previous 128SL, the sporty coupe of the family. With its hatchback and roomy cargo area, the 128 3P might well have been serious competition for the Rabbit, Corolla Liftback and such. And it had some great qualities; it tied for the fastest slalom time R&T had ever recorded. The transmission was a joy, as was the steering and handling. The ride was excellent sor such a small and light car. But then there were of course shadow sides too…
The little 1290cc engine was geared too low for America’s freeways. The catalytic converter robbed leg room of the front passenger. The engine droned at certain speeds. Power and acceleration were not up to snuff anymore.
The driving position still had a bit of that Italian short-leg long-arm orientation. But these were fairly minor issues. The real problem is that the 128 was a Fiat, and although it was fundamentally a fairly robust car, like so many European cars of the 70s they were hobbled by many minor quality glitches that a generally indifferent and weak dealer network didn’t or couldn’t attend to properly. If you could do your own work, and didn’t live in the Rust belt, these could be great fun and reasonably reliable. But if not, the Fix It Again Tony reputation had became widespread. And then there were all these reliable Japanese cars. Care to compare this to the new Accord?
I don’t think the Erie, PA dealer ever sold any of these in the area. Two and four door sedans, yeah, but only ever saw these in pictures.
I always loved the slack R&T would give to cars like this. 4,260 RPM at 60??? Catalytic converter installed under the passenger’s floorboard (like the 90’s Camaro), 3-4 shots at reverse, booming resonance? But, all in all, it’s “thrifty, nimble, comfortable, practical and fun to drive”. Where?
I always loved the slack R&T would give to cars like this.
They made up for it by savaging everything from British Leyland.
4,260 rpm at 60mph almost limits it to in town like a moped. Crazy.
Yeah it needed an overdrive 5th slot, I’m trying to remember where and when I saw one of these last, it sure wasnt recently, Our max limit during its sale time dropped to 50mph which would have made one tolerable just lots of low geared 50s Brit cars were still in regular use in the 70s here, I killed a dozen or more.
People tend to forget the context of the times. In the US, the national speed limit was 55mph for several years in the 70s. That little oversquare 1290cc engine was just about bulletproof. Fiats were relatively common in California, The trick was to find a good independent mechanic after the warranty expired. First new car purchase was a ‘74 X1/9 which I owned for 6 years and put 98k miles on it before selling it to buy something more suitable for a soon to be father. Fiats have always been very engaging cars to drive. That’s my $.02.
And yes, no match for the Accord. But few cars were. Again… context.
I think I saw a grand total of one 3P over the years. Seeing 128SLs buzzing around Kalamazoo in the mid 70s was not that unusual. A neighbor had one, and I used to see another driving to the plant next to the one I worked at in the morning. Most likely saw others around campus from time to time. But 3Ps? There was one, which appeared to be immobile, behind a shop in Grand Rapids in the late 80s, and that was it. My hunch is by the time the 3P came out in 76, Fiat had missed the boat.
Generic 70s styling looks like a cross between the VW Dasher and the Chevette.
Test drive from 1976 featuring a lurid (even by 70s standards) combination of orange exterior and green vinyl and plaid interior. The dashboard appears to be ‘universal’ black. I get a strong sense of cheapness from this test. No match for the Accord.:
Orange and green. Even I know those colours don’t generally match.
Lol… David, given your appreciation for vintage British cars, Thames Television Archives has a terrific collection of vintage 70s road tests. The dry delivery (and 70s fashions) of the road testers adds much to the appeal. Plus, because the clips are videotaped, image quality is excellent.
You can view the full playlist of the clip collection in the right hand column, to the right of the video player.
Don’t think I’ve ever heard a car’s colour combo described as “lurid” before – most entertaining!
Fiat was already sliding down in the US market by the time the 128 3P was introduced. It was only a few years before the awful Ritmo/Strada found its way to the US. Perhaps the most attractive view of the 3P is the rear with those neat triple taillights.
I have to push back a little on your assessment of the Strada. I bought a new and drove it for 10 years and 133,000 miles in the rust belt! The Strada was well regarded among many car magazines back in the day. It did lose the crisp handling of the 128 but made up for it by gobbling freeway miles with ease! Handling was considered somewhere between the Volkswagen Golf and the Renault R5. And I got 38 mpg with it. I even took a buddy on a trip from Wisconsin to California, Washington State and back to Wisconsin. 7,000 miles in 3 weeks!
It’s pros:
Awesome ride, roomy and decent/fine if not stellar handling.
Great mileage, 38 mpg on the highway.
The shifter was vague but fine and the car fun to drive.
I could drive it for hours without fatigue. Pretty rare in a small car at that time. 4th and 5th gear were both overdrive in these.
Versatile. I hauled everything except a couch and a refrigerator when I moved to my 1st apartment.
The bad:
Battling rust was always a problem. I had bubbling around the body seams at 9 months old. Constant washing and waxing helped.
Needed a replacement carburetor (should have gotten FI).
It ate front wheel bearings. Even had to get one replaced in California on our big trip.
It did not like the Wisconsin cold. I remember 1 below 0 day when I let the engine warm up. It was toasty in the car and I got out on the highway. and after awhile I could feel and hear the engine missing. I look at the temp gauge and it was COLD! I had to shut off the heater to get to my destination! Fortunately not many trips like that.
I think given the state of small cars in the day, including Japanese ones. I did okay.
Bob
And a road test of the Strada;
Thanks for sharing. Mine had those “bowling ball” wheels too. Mine did not have the same problems as that test car did, although my A/C blend door was out of adjustment and my 1st dealer refused to fix it because of the labor involved. By the late ’80’s replacement tires were getting almost impossible to find.
The Strada had a tall 5th gear that the previous owner put in my current ‘81 X1/9 which dropped the rpm about 500 at 70.mph. very nice mod…
Leave it to CC unearth yet another model, examples of which I’ve probably seen in real life fewer than the fingers on one hand. Fascinating!
And I do like those taillights.
The under-hood shot shows a Gould battery, which makes me think the original battery was replaced prior to or during the time Road & Track had the car. I suppose Gould may have provided Fiat with batteries at the factory, but they didn’t typically sell to manufacturers.
Checking the History section of the Exide website (the current owner of the Gould battery name) confirms this- it makes no mention of European operations:
“Gould National Batteries – a recognised company name under which Exide has sold batteries for many years in the USA and Asia.”
To be fair, PR Fleet vehicles typically see terrible treatment, so I’m not surprised the car has a replacement battery, but it’s rather amusing to see the Gould name so prominently displayed in the picture.
When I had my Strada General Motors owned the majority of Fiat Motors of North America. My car and a Delco alternator and battery.
I have never driven one of these, but have driven and owned many, many cars that followed it’s formula — small, transverse 4 cylinder, front wheel drive, 4 or 5 speed, hatchback, light weight . . .
I miss cars like that. Cars you could fling around as much as you wanted, that sipped gas, and that would swallow a couch if you put the seats down and had enough bungie cord.
At the risk of sounding like an old fart, kids today don’t know what they’re missing.
Kids today drive the Fiat 500, at least some around here do. It meets all those characteristics. Not to mention the lively 500e.
This old fart drives a 2012 500 Abarth bought new in May of that year. Much fun had during the 44k miles I’ve driven it.
I preferred the look of the notchier but less practical first version. Overall though, one of the few times the bespoke coupe body was less attractive than the bread-and-butter range.
My memory of Fiat products was one of spotty quality and reliability issues, coupled with limited dealer support and parts availability.
I owned a 74 128 SL Sport Coupe, the predecessor to this car. I was looking for a commuter and it I was torn between this, the Honda Civic, and a Mustang II. I ended up buying the Fiat, and I was pretty happy with the Fiat, Handled well, good gas mileage, and was generally fun to drive. I lived in Minnesota at the time and the big problem was the rusting. Anywhere there was a hole in the sheet metal the paint would start to bubble that’s in the first year of ownership. I’m not sure if they punched the holes for the side marker lights after the car had been painted, but everyone of them had paint bubbling and lifting. I did not notice the engine speed on the highway, but in those days it was not unusual for a engine to be turning above 3000 RPM at 60. I’m not sure if buying the Honda would have been better or not, because in those days Honda’s also had a problem with rust. I took a big hit in depreciation when I sold it after two years, I think I would have done better on the depreciation with either the Honda or Mustang.
I think the gearing on my ’71 Fiat 128 sedan was something like 15 mph/1000 rpm, maybe a little more, with a 4-speed. Taller than in the 3P but not by much. I assume the 3P was geared so low for the sake of acceleration.
It’s been 40 or so years since I’ve driven a 128, but I will never forget the wonderful steering precision and road feel on those skinny standard profile tires. On the other hand, I’m sure glad we’re long past the era of cars that combined 0-60 mph times of 16 seconds and 27 mpg, yet were described as “thrifty” and “easy revving”. I did see a blue 128 coupe on the road a few years ago, but can’t remember if it was a 3P or SL.
This was right up my alley; though in 1976 I didn’t own a 3P (wanted one) but instead had to be satisfied with my “regular” 128. Several years later I bought a VW Scirocco (which I think the styling of this car resembles)…this car has the styling that’s my all time favorite…I have to remind myself though that I’m 42 years older though and no longer suited to squatting down to get into a low car like this (the few times I get in my sister’s 240SX I’m reminded of the non-scrambler I’ve become).
The 128 was a rustbucket, and I had to let it go when 4th gear came off its mount and it wasn’t worth repairing. Still, enjoyed the 128 while I had it (Freshman year of college). It had a very small fuel tank (less than 10 gallons as I recall) and burned premium, but got good mileage so it didn’t matter. Mine ran on leaded gas, and it had a manual choke…always had to remember to move the lever otherwise it would run rich (had it in snow country so it was on longer than it would otherwise be). Mine was a 2 door, and the front seat was hinged in the front so the whole seat swung forward to get in the back.
I also had requisite electrical problems…only one headlight wanted to come on one one side (problem with switch contact), and the horn wouldn’t work reliably. But until the transaxle went, it was a good car, and an early FWD subcompact which was good for me in snow country.
I forgot to get my Dad’s snow tires off of it when I junked it…he reminded me about that for years later.
This car is considered a holy grail in Spain. It was the first sports car build in Spain (by SEAT) after WWII, and the only one since Hispano-Suiza. Built quality by SEAT was good. It was the only car factory in Spain back then and workers were very proud of their work. I had a SEAT 133 and it had best built quality of any micro car I knew until the Mercedes Smart car came out a mere 30 years later.
Between the 128SL and the 3P I think I have seen less than half a dozen examples “in the metal”, and I visited Sicily in the 70s and lived in California in the early 80s.
I always thought that the trunk opening on the SL, being so tiny, was why the spare was put in the engine compartment. At least the 3P looked like you could fit something bigger than a briefcase into the trunk.
Finally, being quite young when these came out, I imagine guys like me actually liked the sound that these small cars with small displacement engines made. 3,000 rpm? 4,000 rpm? If needed, you just cranked up the radio a bit more. We rarely invested in sound deadening, if ever, but managed to find funds for louder exhaust systems.
I’ve already posted on Curbside Classics about my delightful but delicate 1973 Fiat 128SL. But aside from their reputation for reliability – or lack thereof – there was another very important reason why they didn’t catch on here in the USA. The only came with a 4-speed manual transmission. An automatic transmission was never offered.
I don’t recall ever seeing one of these in person.
I remember that R&T piece…and that car. I think its great promotions and taunt lines influenced my car drawings thoughout high school. I wish I could have turned those in as geometry homework, and watched a “B-” go to an “A”