Sedicevalvole, it's a Tipo!

[shed driver]

What a glorious name and probably a good way to get a pretty quick and quirky car to be a possible summer daily.

https://www.carandclassic.com/car/C1817641

Sensible miles, fantastic engine and room for the family. I can't remember when I last saw one, but I did have a 1.6 Tipo DGT with the digital dash and body kit back in the early nineties - comfortable and great space for 4. Quite nippy when coming from a basic Metro! The Tipo was car of the year in 1989 - and now it's almost extinct - are there any other examples of a similar fall from grace?

SD.

[LuS1fer]

£8000 for a styleless Tipo. Seems a very tough sell to me.

[rallycross]

Such a rare car now ( was always a rare car).
I’ve got a race prepared one that’s only done 900 miles since new and was raced in a U.K. race series it’s not been raced for over 20 years one day I will get round to fixing it and driving it on a circuit. I’ve never driven one on the road but around 91 these were rated as one of the best hot hatches by Performance car magazine

[vixen1700]

LuS1fer said:

£8000 for a styleless Tipo. Seems a very tough sell to me.

Indeed.

Non ULEZ compliant too.

[dxg]

And it doesn't have the digital dash.

[s m]

rallycross said:

Such a rare car now ( was always a rare car).
I’ve got a race prepared one that’s only done 900 miles since new and was raced in a U.K. race series it’s not been raced for over 20 years one day I will get round to fixing it and driving it on a circuit. I’ve never driven one on the road but around 91 these were rated as one of the best hot hatches by Performance car magazine

Pretty much every car mag of that time to be fair, not just Performance Car

[Mr Tidy]

I've always quite liked them, even if the styling could be better!

It isn't cheap but it's one of those "find another one" sort of cars.

[Countdown]

IIRC its USP was the fact that it had a galvanised body and (unlike other Fiats) it wouldn’t rust at the first sight of rain.

[Rob 131 Sport]

For me the heyday for Fiats was the late 70’s and early 80’s when most of their models 127, Strada, 131 and 132 were class leading.

The cars that came after like the Regatta and Tipo were just a little bland to me. The Croma Turbo of this period was a lovely car though.

[Risonax]

Countdown said:

IIRC its USP was the fact that it had a galvanised body and (unlike other Fiats) it wouldn’t rust at the first sight of rain.

Which obviously turned out to be a complete waste of time, give inevitable extinction.

Also spawned the ugly booted Tempra version.

I thought there might have been some corner of the world this would have lingered in production for decades after, but it seems even the Vietnamese ditched it in 2000.

[heisthegaffer]

Love these and part of the appeal is the understated styling. I think they're very colour sensitive. As mentioned in the wheels thread, I love the starfish alloys.

It had a really nice interior and I love the dials. Don't forget you can remove the steering wheel center to change the look of the wheel.

They were so highly rated when they came out but I recall a couple of tests stated different cars felt inconsistent. Typical Fiat although could be due to early production of the 16v specifically.

A real shame they didn't sell more.

[Om]

Obligatory...

[P100]

Keeping on the quick Fiat theme, What about the Fiat Stilo Abarth and the limited edition Stilo Schumacher.
They both have the lovely 20valve engine that gives the Stilo a good turn of speed with good economy.

Both languish in the bargain basement of value currently, so its worth a check if you see one for sale

[Dapster]

CAR magazine raved about the Tipo back in the day.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/alb...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/alb...

You know you are getting old when you remember reading the road tests (instead of doing your homework) the first time around!!

[s m]

Dapster said:

CAR magazine raved about the Tipo back in the day.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/alb...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/alb...

You know you are getting old when you remember reading the road tests (instead of doing your homework) the first time around!!

As did Fast Lane as well

It was pretty much the pick of early 90s hot hatches according to motoring journalists

[Gompo]

They really disappeared quickly, which is a shame.

The only one I remember seeing was a permanent fixture on the South Circular around the Herne Hill area, back in 2008.

[thegreenhell]

P100 said:

Keeping on the quick Fiat theme, What about the Fiat Stilo Abarth and the limited edition Stilo Schumacher.
They both have the lovely 20valve engine that gives the Stilo a good turn of speed with good economy.

Both languish in the bargain basement of value currently, so its worth a check if you see one for sale

Or it's predecessor, the Bravo HGT with the 2.0 5-pot engine. There's a cheap non-runner on AT at the moment if anybody's brave enough.

[Mr Tidy]

thegreenhell said:

P100 said:

Keeping on the quick Fiat theme, What about the Fiat Stilo Abarth and the limited edition Stilo Schumacher.
They both have the lovely 20valve engine that gives the Stilo a good turn of speed with good economy.

Both languish in the bargain basement of value currently, so its worth a check if you see one for sale

Or it's predecessor, the Bravo HGT with the 2.0 5-pot engine. There's a cheap non-runner on AT at the moment if anybody's brave enough.

I prefer the looks of the Bravo to the Stilo, but if I bought a 5 cylinder Fiat it would have to be a Turbo Coupe!

[heisthegaffer]

thegreenhell said:

P100 said:

Keeping on the quick Fiat theme, What about the Fiat Stilo Abarth and the limited edition Stilo Schumacher.
They both have the lovely 20valve engine that gives the Stilo a good turn of speed with good economy.

Both languish in the bargain basement of value currently, so its worth a check if you see one for sale

Or it's predecessor, the Bravo HGT with the 2.0 5-pot engine. There's a cheap non-runner on AT at the moment if anybody's brave enough.

Another fantastic and underrated car. Beautiful engine.

[NathanChadwick]

Risonax said:

Countdown said:

IIRC its USP was the fact that it had a galvanised body and (unlike other Fiats) it wouldn’t rust at the first sight of rain.

Which obviously turned out to be a complete waste of time, give inevitable extinction.

Also spawned the ugly booted Tempra version.

I thought there might have been some corner of the world this would have lingered in production for decades after, but it seems even the Vietnamese ditched it in 2000.

Well, they only imported 500.
Galvanisation lasts 10 years.
Add in thrapping and then scrappage, it’s hardly surprising.


But hey let’s not get in the way of some Italian cliches eh