shot and posted at the CC Cohort by Ralf K (Don Kincl)
When was the last time you saw a Fiat Brava (131) at the gas pumps. Don had this to say about it: Driver’s side looks good, passenger side was completely rusty. 55k original miles, daily driver. That most commonly happens when a car is stored in a carport with one side exposed to the elements.
And only 55k miles? It’s hardly broken in. This Brava went over 560,000 miles on its original engine. So no Fix It Again Tony jokes in the comment.
Related CC reading:
CC For Sale: 1980 Fiat Brava (131) With 559,355 Miles – The Original Engine Is Smoking Though
Curbside Recycling: 1976 Fiat 131S Mirafiori Station Wagon – Tony Gave Up
Curbside Classic: 1980 Fiat Brava 131
That most commonly happens when a car is stored in a carport with one side exposed to the elements and the car is poorly rustproofed in the first place.
My BIL bought one of these as his first ever new car in 1980. Poor guy, it was a hot mess by 1982. He kept pumping money into it and finally surrendered in 1984 and bought a base Toyota truck, which lasted many years.
My dad, a WWII European theater vet, returned from a mid-80s Austria/Germany soldier reunion (where he was stationed post-war) with a Euro-car itch, so he bought a used Strada. He loved that little thing but within a year or so it was so glitchy he finally dumped it.
I briefly (18 months) owned an old X1/9. It was a hoot but very mechanically needy, and I got to the point where I was tiring of having to contort my lanky ass into it. I remain a huge fan of the Spider, one of the most beautiful car designs in my opinion and would certainly consider the latest version with nearly all Mazda components if I was younger and more limber.
Fiat has made some amazing cars. If only they could get the reliability act together.
I was just a kid, but remember Fiat’s ad that implied that owning one of these got you into that exclusive BMW, Jag, Benz, Alfa. et al, European car owner club without spending as much. And I thought geeze, wouldn’t that include Bettles, Foxes, Rabbits and Le Cars if one was playing that game?Maybe it was the same ad agency that compared similarities between Grenadas and S-Class Benzes.
And it seemed people that understood these Fiats could have decent luck keeping them running but if they didn’t, God help them. A family in my neighborhood had one less than a year to only get fed up and trade it for a first generation Accord. Then they owned a series of only Hondas after that. Their son who was my playmate, asked me to be careful to never mention that car in name to his Dad.
My sister’s hubby was a big Fiat fan and had a 128 then a red/orange131 Brava wagon that was really a blast to drive but the typical problems surfaced and in W NC Fiat service and parts were spotty so he moved on to Nissans for many years, trucks and wagons, with no regrets.
I really like the conservative lines of this car, the red paint is the cherry on top .
My good friend Merkel loves FIATS and has one of these and other Fiats in his car barn .
Sadly he never drives any of them but they’re all in VGC .
I’ve met a few FIAT and Renault enthusiasts over the years, it truly does seem to require a particular love and understanding to make them reliable daily drivers but when in good nick both cars are really fun and comfortable drivers .
I briefly owned a 1963 two toned Renault Dauphine with the awful “Ferlec Clutch” that didn’t work properly, I loved the lines of the Dauphine but never could coax it to shift properly .
-Nate
This car (along with some others such as the Volvo 140, Fiat 128, even the US Ford Fairmont) make me wonder why the term “boxy” is considered a pejorative when referring to a car’s styling.
One of my college roommates had first, a red Fiat Spyder and a little later on, one of these Bravas. Not surprisingly, I liked the Spyder the most but The Brava was a fun, comfortable ride as well. Especially when up to four of us were going somewhere.
This guy was notoriously hard on vehicles, but the two Fiats held together just as well as some of his other dodgy buy here pay here finds.
In 1978, my parents bought a 1978 1/2 Fiat SuperBrava with European delivery and the summer in Italy with a car with AC no less was so much fun as a 15 year old. Fiat’s product strategy back then for the US was odd where they sold the 131 for the first half of the 1978 model year, then sold the fully refreshed model as the SuperBrava and the exterior only refreshed model as the Brava. In 1979, they dropped the Brava model and rechristened the SuperBrava as the Brava….nice and confusing.
When we got the car home in the US, problems did crop up where it started to have some minor rust within the first year, needed to replace the drivetrain due to an unknown weird noise and other lovely things. That said, I loved that car….
My folks had a metallic-green ’79 Brava wagon for several years when I was a wee lad. I don’t recall it being in the shop more than a scant few times, and at least two of those visits would have been for a routine timing belt change anyway. It never broke down leaving us stranded on the road, even taking us on cross-country two-week vacation trips every summer without fail.
Funny thing too, as Dad got it for a steal in the first place. He and Mom were already Fiat fans, having owned first a ’69 and then a ’71 124 Sport Coupe for many years until Sis and I grew too big for that to remain practical as a family car anymore. He’d noticed the Brava wagon languishing on the dealer’s lot for roughly a year and knew they wanted it Gone. So he went in with a bottom-dollar offer and stuck to his guns, refusing every counter-offer. Finally, he told them us kids were getting restless and rounded us up to head out the door when they relented and called him back in to accept his offer.
Just to show not all Italian cars rust, at least not when they’re made by Lima in plastic. As it comes looks a little basic and rides very, very low but some genuine Fiat red and some detail painting makes quite a difference. One day I’ll finish it properly; the wheels need improving for a start.
Interesting to know then the Brava alias 131 got a longer lifespan in Turkey.
https://tinyurl.com/TofasSahin
The last time I saw one was 2008 in Geneva. I remember it vividly, like spotting Elvis or a UFO. Next to it in the “only seen once” category is a Talbot Solara – since it´s a forgettable car I forget when I saw it but it was about a decade ago in Copenhagen. The 131 I saw had a single spoke steering wheel. This was back in the day when Citroen were influential and when car interiors had strong, simple themes (and 200 fewer parts). CC should hand out an award to anyone who can snap a Bellini-edition 131.
Our local junkyard owner used to call them “Fiasco’s”.
In my mother’s land, they translate F I A T as “Fehler in allen Teilen” ( = faults in all parts).