Who remembers the Fiat 128 3p?

[Clapham993]

Just updating my profile & adding some previous cars. Remembered that back in the late 80's I borrowed one of these from my brother - on and off - for about 18 months.

Did any of you guys have - or does anyone even remember - thesecute and charasmatic little coupes?

(And yes, mine was the Berlinetta with the Starsky & Hutch stripe & the deck-chair seats.....)

[Vario-Rob]

Yes funnily enough! Never has a car been so easy to remove from terra firma.

Still think a Firenza has it by the short head though

[_Al_]

If it's the one I'm thinking of my family nearly bought one..

[toppstuff]

And a lovely little car it is too.

Fiat should bring out a new expression of it - a nice small coupe with a bit of style, it would sell well !

[jimbro1000]

Apparently there are less than 20 of them in the country! If you really had the genuine article at any time you should consider yourself privileged.

They might be cheap & tacky when it comes to build quality (some reputations Fiat really do deserve!) but it was a great little car!

[pjs917]

Great looking car, not as charasmatic as the Alfa Sud but a really nice motor. One used to park in my village back in the late 70'searly 80's and it was very pretty.

[haggishead]

my pal had a 3p berlinetta when I was a student - he was a total nutter, drove everywhere as if his backside was on fire, all the time. He eventually wrote it off turning right at traffic signals, in front of some poor sod driving the other way.

So then there were 19! (I think there must have been more than 20, they weren't all that uncommon at the time)

[joospeed]

a bloke up the road from me had one .. in silver which suited it well .. very smart stylish car i think now .. back then i thought it was just another little insignificant italian rust mobile though .. how times change

[davidd]

My friend pasty had one, light blue metallic. Very nice litte car. I seem to remember thrashing it round the perimiter of Carlisle airport one sunny day before I was 17

D.

[eric mc]

They used to be a regular feature at The Phoenix Park motor races in the 1970s. There was an Irish FIAT 1283P racing series. They sounded good too, especially with racing exhausts.

[Farmer]

jimbro1000 said:

Apparently there are less than 20 of them in the country! If you really had the genuine article at any time you should consider yourself privileged. They might be cheap & tacky when it comes to build quality (some reputations Fiat really do deserve!) but it was a great little car!

there must be more than that surely ? a friend of mine had one to "junk" around a field in

[clapham993]

Vario-Rob said:

Yes funnily enough! Never has a car been so easy to remove from terra firma. Still think a Firenza has it by the short head though

Who could forget getting the damn thing airbourne on West Stow bridge - almost as scary as seeing 115 (& the road through the floor) in the Firenza..

[michalik]

toppstuff said:

anybody got a Fiat 128 3p berlinetta or just a 3p whats the difference? I had 1 and have spare stripes to fit to mine when i find it. And a lovely little car it is too. Fiat should bring out a new expression of it - a nice small coupe with a bit of style, it would sell well !

[LuS1fer]

The 3P or 3 door hatchback version of the 128 Coupe followed on from the prettier 128 SL Coupe. Whereas the 3P had a more squared off back and 6 individual lights, the earlier coupe was more of a coupe than a hatchback.

I agree, Fiat need to rethink this formula. We want more stylish small-engined cars that seat more than 2 people.



I used to love the Lancia Beta HPE as well.

[2 Smokin Barrels]

This car had an extra choke for richening the mixture at altitude. I seem to remember you could use it like a hand throttle.

[Twincam16]

LuS1fer said:

I agree, Fiat need to rethink this formula. We want more stylish small-engined cars that seat more than 2 people.

Definately. I think the last cars to do this were the Ford Puma and Vauxhall Tigra.

I think young people especially would appreciate them. I find it rather unfortunate that young couples just go off into MPV-buying as soon as the word 'family' is mentioned. Using a supermini/compact platform to build a stylish coupe with all the accoutrements of what it's based on, but with sharper handling and suspension, makes a lot of sense to me and would keep people interested in driving for longer. I'm tired of hearing 'practical' types lecture me on how you have to give up your fun for practicality all the time.

[cptsideways]

I drove down to the Gambia along with Simon & Ru who were in a 3p


It made it too!!, but broke down the most times of all our 40 cars in our group & got stuck the most times too.


Read all about their antics here www.teamruralchic.co.uk


>> Edited by cptsideways on Saturday 11th June 12:37

[loose cannon]

always fancied a 131 mirafiori sport in orange
when was the last time you spotted 1 of them
lot's of late seventies cars just seem to be extinct.
even the one's you hated seem to have a strange attraction these days when you see them floating around

[Twincam16]

loose cannon said:

always fancied a 131 mirafiori sport in orange when was the last time you spotted 1 of them

My Dad had one, in orange, in the late '80s. After a while, I don't think the orange bits were actually paint

Went like the clappers though.

[apprentice]

I have such a 128 3P languishing in my garden under a tarpaulin; if anyone wants one? Free to a loving/not so loving home. But before clearing out the crap in your garage and hitching-up your trailer - be aware, it has been given a professional T-bar treatment (think Triumph Snag) and hasn't moved in a decade.

However its all there (minus the roof!) and sits on factory alloys.

apprentice