Last week, I left you while I drove to my wedding in my father-in-law’s Corcel station wagon with our wedding cake occupying all the rear space up to the front seats. That was March, 1990. Yet, we had to wait until November 1992 to get our first car.
For that first purchase, I looked around for something useful; just a functional set of wheels. The first car we saw for sale and the one that really triggered my motivation was a 1982 Subaru 600. Not my kind of car, but small, with low expenses, and low consumption. Of course, hitting a snail with the 600 could cost you your life.
Truth be told, we were taking a credit with a very low interest; i.e., at 0%, from my F-I-L, and we didn’t want to overreach. To be sure, we talked to him and he said: “Get whatever you want. I can lend you for the Subaru or for much more”.
Well, that said, a certain somebody rapidly grabbed the nearest newspaper to find the best car he could find. On the other hand, there was a second somebody, who could also read, particularly numbers.
“Hey, here’s a 10-year-old Opel Rekord with 45000 km, just like the one we had, what do you think about that”?
“I think that we shouldn’t drive around in a car that’s larger than our apartment…”
Back to the newspaper.
“Why don’t you look for a Fiat? Many friends own one now, all say it’s very thrifty on gas”. To add insult to injury, Fiat was a top brand in South America at the time. So you could find many used ones; not necessarily at good prices but one within our budget was sure to appear with time. There was the Fiat Uno, Fiat Premio (a Uno with a trunk and 2 or 4 doors) and the Fiat Elba (A station wagon, at the time with 2 doors). Engines were 1050 and 1300 cc. Trim versions were S and CS. In due time, more variations would appear, but at the time those were the available ones.
Buying a Fiat? I thought of Dante and the Divina Commedia, wondering in which circle would Giovanni Agnelli reside.
As you might remember, Fiat was heresy in my paternal house. Then again, you couldn’t deny that Fiats had 4 wheels and that some even ran, which fulfilled the “functional set of wheels” requirement. Still, on my Sunday paper perusal, I’d claim the ones that appeared were not adequate for one reason or another… until SHE found the one: A Brazilian 1988 Uno Cs 1.3 with 13000 km. 13000 km in 4 years? That was weird. The price was right though, so I took it to the mechanic and when he called it good, we bought it.
The car was assembled in Uruguay, and not badly at that. Or so it seemed. I had been helping friends to check out used cars for more than ten years, and neither I, my friends, nor my mechanic noticed that the Uno’s radiator was new and that the car had gotten additional soldering upfront with most bolts painted over in the engine bay. Meanwhile, by the driver’s door, the floor carpet was not properly attached, and a curious reddish stain was found in the engine.
But as said, not that I noticed any of it. But when the Uno’s previous owner showed up to sign away the title, an elderly woman, she asked whether I was my Mom’s son. Taken by surprise, I said yes and asked how did she know. Turned out she was the aunt of a childhood friend of mother’s, who was reaching 70 at the time. She then elaborated that she had decided to get a new car with an automatic as she was having some problems shifting the Uno. Problems that resulted in a small run-in with another car… so, there was the explanation behind the car’s repairs.
I’m sure she used much less than these, but she’s not even reading this.
That Fiat drove us through 4 years, many vacations, two sets of pregnancy sickness bags, two baby deliveries, bringing home said babies, infinite McDonald’s outings, and ice cream parlor searches….plus lots of job huntings.
The Uno line in Uruguay at the time was available as the S with a 1050 cc and the Cs with a 1300 cc engine, both with a 5 speed. The 1300 was peppy enough to keep up with fast traffic, had a terrific steering allowing to place the car anywhere, and brakes that supposedly had some kind of connection between the pedal and the rotors and drums. That is to say, not great, especially in the rain.
Easter 1996, I was a little younger and, let’s say slimmer. She’s somewhat taller and a neuroscientist.
The packaging was amazing. The Brazilian version had the spare wheel located over the engine, as other Fiats did (the Italian version had it on the back). Though the car’s styling didn’t change much from the European version, the hood and face were much different. While the Italian used a classic hood with gaps at both sides, the Brazilian had a complete opening, including the upper area of the fenders — a little like an early BMW 320 or 520.
The Uno would eat for lunch a silencer and the remaining exhaust plumbing for dinner, so I probably changed the whole tubing once a year. A couple of days into ownership I decided I’d repair the silencer myself and got a repair kit: It came with a flexible rectangular tin plate, some kind of wiring, and some kind of contact cement. Upon seeing the result I was really pleased with myself as my mechanical abilities –and whatever requires good aim and finesse– are next to nil. To enjoy my car’s purported new silent ways, I started the engine only to discover there was also a hole in the silencer’s upper area, which gave the cabin a resonance box feel.
That said, the Uno was very smooth riding. That didn’t help much when riding to the hospital for our first baby’s delivery; most of that drive was over a very old and posh area near a very nice park, which of course my wife wasn’t in the mood to appreciate. But the street itself was paved with cobblestone. Very nice, cool… And jumpy. She hasn’t forgotten that. Neither was she too happy when I took the same route again 20 months later when our next daughter was born.
May 1994. The little guy doesn’t fit there anymore. And engineers are too proud to go around in supermarket trolleys. Notice the right seat, which pivoted on a single axle at the front, easing entry and exit without requiring more space.
We kept the Uno until 1996. The car had just about 45000 km, but that early crash had taken its toll by then. There were a couple of overheatings, followed by oil consumption, and assorted failures of the carburetor, brakes, and electrical systems that forced me to sell it in order to get another car.
I placed an ad and a guy called me at 7AM that Sunday. I was going through a fever at the moment, but I told him to come and see the car anyway. The guy was in his late forties or early fifties and lived about 10 miles from our home. When he arrived, I took him for a drive. Later, I offered him the car’s keys so he could test the car, but of all things, he didn’t have a license nor did he know how to drive. And the car was for him? Well, ok.
I drove the Uno to his house and then went to a public notary to sign the car’s title away. We then went to the bank so he could pay me through a cashier to verify the bills. Good old times. Today of course you’d make a transfer, but do not even think of asking a cashier to verify 5 or 10 grand for you. They’ll charge you for cash handling.
In the next installment you’ll read about our next car, how we came about it, and the circumstances under which we ended up keeping it for 12 years.
See you next week!
Zounds ~ are counterfeit bills common ? .
-Nate
Not as much as then. Cars and other high value items are paid for in US dollars, so it was a good practice to have cashiers make sure they were good. Not anymore, people won’t pay for a car with cash. It’s weird that US bills, that are legal tender forever, might not be accepted if not new. That happens more in Argentina than here.
Thanks for this Rafael, interesting as ever. I had a FIAT Cinquecento at the tuurn of the century, it too used to eat an exhaust silencer every year. It also had an appetite for hand brake cables (yearly) and later on head gaskets. Like you I enjoyed the handling of the cars and it’s character, I’ve always thought that Italian engines give you the performance of the next sized engine up, an Italian 1.3 gives you what a Ford or Nissan 1.6 gives you. This isn’t necessarily reflected in BHP but experience in this case is king.