The 1972 Fiat 128 near Lynchburg, VA. The lovely Natalie was inside the car smoking.
(first posted 9/23/2012) As soon as I had the bucks, I traded in my ’62 Ford for a brand-new, Positano Yellow 1972 Fiat 128 two-door sedan. The Fiat set me back $2,000, but they gave me $100 for my Ford with the Italian Circus option. I financed $1,000, then paid off the car in one year at $98 bucks a month.
I truly loved the Fiat. Finally, I was able to outfit my car with all the goodies from Road & Track that one dreamed about. In Long Island City, and just a short subway ride away, was Fisher Products, purveyors of all things Abarth, including a 13-inch, leather-wrapped Momo-Abarth steering wheel (which I still have), and an Abarth exhaust system with salami-cut, chrome-tipped, dual outlets. Damn, I was stylin! Well, at least in my own mind.
With the 128 I learned how to adjust the clutch, change out front disc brake pads, remove and reinstall a distributor (a must for changing condensers) and other stuff, as my local Fiat dealer was totally incompetent. However, these skills prepared me for my next car, a VW Rabbit.
While far from perfect, the 128 was still much better than the coeval turd-like Triumphs and MGs. Sadly, an out-of-control Datsun 510 ran into my Fiat, on a snowy road in Kensington, MD, one winter’s eve. Total City. Actually, not all that bad: State Farm gave me $900 for a six-year old car infested with the dreaded tin worm and suffering from the Blue Exhaust Syndrome, a result of a couple of trips to Texas and New Mexico from Connecticut. (Seventy-five mph in an 1,100cc Fiat comes out to 4,300 rpm–and FOR HOURS ON END!)
Terminal wreck damage.
So now it was time for a new car. What would it be? My wife had bought a new ’74 Datsun B 210, one of the crappiest cars ever inflicted on the buying public. A real tumbrel. I also found Detroit’s current products truly offensive in every sense imaginable. As an industrial designer, my aesthetic sensibilities were offended six ways from Sunday by the bloated, Broughamesque excrescenses that Detroit still thought (or at least hoped) the buying public lusted after.
Thus did I buy a new 1978 VW Rabbit at a time when Olds Cutlasses with various flavors of vinyl roofs were the best-selling cars in the U.S. I splurged on two options, a sunroof and an all-vinyl interior; woo woo! And oh yes, orange paint that VW called Panama Brown. I’d considered the Scirocco, but my head grazed the roof and besides, the thing was a thousand bucks more than the Rabbit due only to its styling.
Speaking of which, the 128 was styled by Boano (an occasional designer of Ferraris), and the Rabbit by Giugiaro. Although I liked both, I was especially drawn to the subtle surface development of the 128.
On the road with my wife in South Dakota, on our way to the Black Hills in our new 1978 Rabbit.
I loved the low-end torque that Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection gave the motor. In spite of its mere 1,457 cc, the engine felt like a V8 compared with the 1,100 cc Fiat mill. Sure, these engines were diminutive, but the Fiat probably weighed just 1,600 lbs (725 kg) versus the Rabbit’s 1,750 (794 kg). It’s all about power-to-weight, baby. Still, everything else on the Vee Dub was clunky compared with the 128. All of the Fiat’s controls felt interconnected. Its steering, brakes and transmission all felt as though they’d been designed by a team that truly understood ergonomics and sensory perception. The Rabbit was Teutonically-clunky, but nonetheless able. My beloved Momo steering wheel made the transition from the Fiat to the “Rab”.
Wife at campsite with Rab and tent. This image was taken with a tripod-mounted Olympus OM-1 with an open shutter as I walked around firing a Vivitar 283 flash unit multiple times.
The Rabbit was a much better long-distance cruiser than the Fiat, and occasionally my wife and I would remove the back seat and pack the hold with camping equipment and a cooler. At the time, our vacations were centered around how far we could go and how many states or provinces we could visit in a three-week period. The Rab was an admirable cruiser when new. My wife and I would read to each other on the road–lots of first-printing Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books, since they were ethnically insensitive and therefore amusing. I was also adept at on-the-fly ad-libbing. Did you know that Nancy Drew was quite the slut? Then we discovered the Longarm series of adult western novels. Wow! Ten times in one day! What a stud!
On the road again.
This one was on a cross-country run from Milwaukee, WI to San Francisco; this picture was taken in the Sand Hills area of Nebraska. Yes, those are genuine Cibie Super Oscars, guaranteed to blow any stock Rabbit alternator. Still got ‘em. Given the amount of distortion, my guess is that I shot this with my OM-1 and a 21-mm lens.
Who needs an SUV? The Rabbit hatch was very commodious.
With the rear seat removed there was plenty of room for camping gear. My wife and I fabricated a tarp to cover the storage area. Genuine Naugahyde, from the skins of baby Naugas. Too cool for school.
Same trip, Milwaukee-San Francisco. Camped in either Wyoming or Utah, at the Flaming Gorge Reservoir.
May 31st but cold as hell. No campfire cooking. In the morning, I packed up as quickly as I could and drove to the first café I could find. Gazelles, or unicorns, followed me as I drove back to the paved road, perhaps to make sure that I got out and didn’t return. Later on, it was snowing as I crested the Wasatch near Park City. My descent into the Salt Lake Valley was boring: 55 mph (88 kph) on I-80, the same road I now drive at 84 mph (135 kph). Made it to Carson City that night.
Great article, I really enjoyed reading it. The 128 was a really fun car to drive but like Keith said here, they didn’t last long until needing a major overhaul. Not that it really mattered since any Fiat of the era would be a complete rust-bucket about time the motor started pushing blue, something about the same time stated, three years and 60,000 km. Time to go car shopping at that point, since it wasn’t worth wrenching on these things.
I have an identical Rabbit for a while although mine was a diesel. These were truly excellent cars. In many ways they were the best small cars I have ever driven and I loved the unassisted rack and pinion steering. The driving position was brilliant on these cars and by this point, they were pretty reliable. Even the things that went wrong on Rabbits were easy, cheap fixes and there were loads of cheap parts around. The gas ones were really peppy, the long stroke four making excellent torque and was really smooth, too. I still like the implacable diesel. Those little motors could take abuse and with the low end torque they made in the light car, I never had a problem keeping up with traffic.
The Mk1 Golf was so good they are still selling it in South Africa!
They finally quit making them at the end of 2009.
Len,
Who the hell is Keith?
Kevin
You, obviously. Hey, it’s still early here on the West Coast; give him a break. 🙂
Early Alzheimer’s added to the mix, too.
Who needs an SUV? The Rabbit hatch was very commodious.
To this day, I’m sure there are many who refuse to believe that I moved almost the entire contents of a one-bedroom apartment – two club chairs and ottoman, end tables, kitchen table and four chairs, bedroom chest, nightstand, and full-size bed frame, boxes of kitchen stuff and my clothing – in multiple trips, using a 1984 Ford Escort three-door hatch. My brother-in-law’s truck was used only to move a sofa and a full-size mattress.
Give me a hatchback – and time to enough time to make multiple trips – and I think I could move 90+ percent of the contents of just about anyone’s home. However, I’ll readily admit this is NOT the most efficient method for long-haul moves, but for less than ten miles, it gets the job done.
Buzzdog, here, here.
Had to use my Mazda P5 a couple of weeks ago to help my Mom move stuff.
Here is evidence of that move.
I had a 79 diesel Rabbit. It was bulletproof. It would not go faster then 60mph but took only $20 worth of fuel every two weeks. Those were the days. A leaking windshield destroyed the fuse panel and it got scrapped. I had the full vinyl interior as well. I’m surprised that was an upgrade.
I remember on a road trip to New Jersey to see the Grateful Dead, filling up in Plattsburgh NY for $7 and that taking us all the way down to Giants stadium and halfway back!
A 2-door 128 was not so common in its time and a real rarity nowadays! I’ve always liked the 4 round tail lights…the ad with Enzo Ferrari it’s pretty cool !
Late breaking news! 128s had rectangular tail lights.
not all of them 🙂
That Fiat-Ferrari ad is interesting.
You don’t see ads anymore that are so erudite, that draw you in with a few minutes’ worth of interesting reading. It’s all about stupid-loud slam-bam visuals now. And you kids get off my lawn.
So true. Even the wildest sixties’ Mopar cartoon ads had specific, useful information. A catchy visual and caption, followed by a well-written, thoughtful copy was the norm. Today, it’s tough to find a decent car ad in print, even for enthusiast cars that shouldn’t be difficult to write about.
“They were ethnically insensitive and therefore amusing.”
Ha. How well I remember the Hardy Boys’s token friend, “olive-complected Tony Napoli.” The fat-kid jokes about their BFF Chet probably led to some eating disorders among impressionable youths.
And Tony’s father (probably Guido) was characterized as “swarthy but a hard worker”. Imagine that! A spaghetti bender that worked for a living.
Actually the Rally had them, it was the “powerful” version with a 1,3 liters engine instead of the 1,1 !
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mauboi/3844366225/
Nice! I I’d totally forgotten about that version with the round lights. What car did they borrow them from? A Chevy Bel Air? Surely they didn’t tool up for them for such a small run of cars.
Never cared about this but yes, you make me notice they’re the same units used in the 850 Sport Coupe !
http://www.motorimania.it/manifestazioni/sportive/images_fiat/b_fiat_850_coupe_sport_54.jpg
From the Fiat 850 coupe
Apparently there are some Ferraris using 850 taillights instead of the OEM ones.
The Rally version never made it to our shores. I would have killed for the 1.3 Mountain Motor.
There’s something about the 128 that really grabs me. It was such a pioneering and pivotal design. And so delightfully styled. It’s impact in Europe was phenomenal: it was so roomy and peppy and economical, never mind fun to drive, so far ahead of the competition. It really was the final coffin nail in the VW Beetle. Which explains a lot about the Rabbit, seeing that it’s essentially a scaled-up 128 with a hatch.
I’m still kicking myself for missing the last road-worthy 128 around here a few years back, just before I started shooting cars seriously. I’m desperate to do a CC on one. Oh well.
If you write it Paul, I’m sure some of us Eurpoeans can furnish the pictures… not likely to be from Scotland sadly (not seen one here in years, wrong climate) but I’ll keep my eyes peeled all the same
Yeah, the 128 was a great, efficient, 3-box design, and could have been a latter-day Valiant if they had just held together with the same anvil-tough reliability of the Plymouth instead of being completely spent at 50k (or less) miles.
Imagine if the 128 (or Rabbit, for that matter) had been built by Toyota. It would have advanced automotive design (i.e., wholesale changeover to FWD) by at least 10 years.
Did the 128 have the front axle ahead of the transverse-mounted engine?
The axle is ahead of the center-line between front bumper and firewall, unlike the Rabbit and almost all modern FWD cars (other than the Scion iQ)
Don’t know if the engine/transaxle was mounted forward of the engine compartment centerline but, according to Wikipedia, the 128 was one of the few FWD cars of the era to have unequal length driveshafts with the gearbox and engine mounted side-by-side (the Simca 1100 being the other), the now-standard arrangement for virtually all modern FWD vehicles.
If true about the engine/transaxle being mounted further forward than other FWD cars, I wonder why it was done like that (and how it negatively impacted the vehicle in either driving dynamics or durability).
Cars like the Mini, Rabbit, and Simca 1100 get the lion’s share of accolades as the vehicles that began the efficient, practical application of transverse FWD packaging, but for my money, the 128 is the original FWD star.
Yep, and the 128 got much of its mechanical design layout from the Autobiachi that came just before it, in the 60’s.
The 128, and the Rabbit, along with the then new Civic, all heralded in the current transverse FWD layout we all know so well these days.
They all used pretty much the same, engine forward of the transaxke that sits along side it with unequal length half shafts
If the engine is forward of the front axle, it’s hard to see how every thing fits. Looks like there is almost no room for the radiator.
On the other hand, the FIAT X1/9 uses the same engine/transaxle package relocated to the back to make a mid-engine car. If the engine was behind the axle, that would make the X1/9 rear-engined instead of mid-engined, unless the whole thing was turned around 180 degrees.
You wouldn’t think an engine that small could generate torque steer.
You’d be wrong I had a 128 3P of my sisters for 2 years. You could turn in one direction quicker than the other ( I’ve forgotten which one)
Suprisingly flexable engine too, depite its miniscule stroke. I made it much easier to work on by ditching all the shrouding/splash guards around the engine.
A fun car, and with the hatch, enough room to sleep- or other activities.
Tin moth got it in the end.
Has the Fiat 128 been written up in the meantime?
I’ve got three angles (side, rear 3/4, front 3/4) on this one if you want it Perry.
Clever design! The transverse camshaft inclined downwards towards the front and always running in an oilbath thereby . .and messy when removing the cover lol
You still see the occasional one around here, mostly driven by some old guy and painted in some bad green shade but the earlier (nicer) ones with steel bumpers and hubcaps have mostly disappeared
In ’76 I was able to drive and compare 3 icons, an early ’70’s 128 wagon, a ’76 rabbit, and a ’72 beetle (curved windscreen, macpherson strut suspension version). The 128 was the most fun around town. I really liked the driving position (and I am 6-2), outward visibility, and the eager little motor. The rabbit and the beetle were for longer drives, the rabbit winning hands down for that duty. I don’t recall the 128 having better switchgear etc than the rabbit, but I do remember the rabbit using up sparkplugs quicker than I thought was right.
And writing this brings back the memory that each of the cars had their individual smells. Funny how those memories really stick, and how evocative they are.
alistair
Now that you mention it, I was constantly changing plugs in the Rabbit until I discovered Denso or some other Japanese copper plug. I wish that I could have found longer lived components for the plug wires, distributor caps, and fuse panels.
Nipon Denso plugs didn’t make it too America until much later and they were as short or even shorter lived than Bosch which is why the went away and came back as Denso to avoid their poor reputation. The plug that lasted was likely NGK.
Kevin,
I too remember those days when the back pages of Car and Driver and Road and Track contained one aftermarket auto parts company after another. MG Mitten, IECO come to mind. Times indeed have changed for in their place we now have male enhancement products touting in other ways how to rev up our motors. A sign that the market has grown with the baby boomers in mind I suppose…….
That tent looks familiar…….Eureka Timberline? I bought mine in 1982 and it is still going strong although not as used as much as in those early years. Keep the road trip stories coming! They must have given you great memories of time spent together on the road. Indeed this is a big country and still worthwhile today in getting out and seeing up close.
I believe it was a Eureka Timberline. What a great design. Up and habitable in less than five minutes.
Never drove a Fiat. I was a passenger in a Fiat taxi in Naples. I was a young sailor on shore leave and I had other things on my mind besides Italian cars…..
Here in Lansing, MI., the only place to get a Fiat was at the Edsel dealer. The Edsel dealer didn’t sell L/M cars, just Edsels, and of course Fiats.
The Fiat 128 is THE car that opened my eyes automotively speaking. In 1972 I had a ’66 Mustang GT 4-speed, with the HiPo 289. Man, I loved that car. After getting married that June, My wife and I hitchhiked around Europe for 2 months, renting a 128 4-door for a week in Scotland. Blasting around those roads while shifting with the wrong hand was terrifyingly exhilarating. From then on, handling prowess trumped straight line power for my money
Love that old Rabbit you had, great year and great color. My first sports car was a 78 Scirocco bought used. I wanted one of those ever since they fuel injected them in 77. IIRC the 75 was a long stroke 1.5L, the 76/77 a square 1.6 and the 78 a short stroke 1.5. Unusual engine changes to see in such a short time. The 78 engine was buttery smooth.
I always keep my eye out for cream puff a 79/80 Scirocco 5-speed. I lost interest in the Rabbits when production shifted to Westmoreland.
Here’s my cherry 1981 Scirocco S with the 1715cc engine. A whopping 74 hp, but with less than 2000 lbs to motivate still very peppy
Damn, that’s nicest Scirocco I’ve seen since they were new. GTI wheels and a very tasteful air dam. That color goes great with the black bumpers. I forgot they upped the engine size after 78. VW was really working hard to get that car dialed in and by 80-81 it was perfect. You should keep that thing forever!
Is that a recent pic? It’s been at least a decade since I’ve seen one, let alone one in great condition, on the road in SoCal.
That pic was taken May 2011 in Buffalo, NY…No the car did originate in Buffalo. The salt would have turned into dust. The wheels are from a Mk 1 GTI. The color is Cosmos silver metallic, which is a very pale metallic blue. Looks great with the red trim on the S model
I’m very envious…my 3rd car was a ’78 VW Scirocco, (which I never should have sold in 1988, but it didn’t have air conditioning and I was living in Central Texas 5 years by then and decided AC was important to me). I remember that the Scirocco felt “faster” than it actually was, compared to my other 2 VWs (also had a ’86 GTI and now a 2000 Golf). I wanted to buy your car (an ’81 Scirocco S) but couldn’t swing it at the time, and afterwards they became quite rare…LOVE the color , the very pale blue. Mine was also nice, a Champagne Edition (similar to a common color now, but at that time it was pretty unusual to see).
I guess this writeup matches my automotive profile to a T, because my first car was a ’72 Fiat 128. (I’ve only owned 5 cars in my life, the only other one not related to this was a ’74 Datsun 710). The 128 was by the time I owned it a rustbucket unfortunately, I didn’t know enough about cars when I bought it, and only had it about 6 months before one of the gears came off the shaft in the gearbox and it was too rusty to repair. I remember it ran on Premium fuel, but only had a 6 or 7 gallon fuel tank, also a manual choke (always had to remember to slide it down while I was driving to avoid getting too rich a mixture). It also had wiring problems with the lights and the horn that I had to fix before it could be inspected. I guess it was too traumatic to me losing the Fiat, and I didn’t have it long enough, but it probably is the car I had the least attachment to (for some reason I liked the ’74 Datsun better even, but it got me through 4 years of undergraduate studies which the Fiat would never have done)
I’d have to disagree that the Scirocco was the same car except for the styling and price. True they shared a lot but the Scirocco was tuned much different and was actually fun to drive, the Rabbit not so much. I still remember the first time I drove a Scirocco and was totally blown away how good it was to drive compared to its sibling.
My Rabbit was an ’80, purchased 2nd hand in 1989. Bought it instead of scrapping the Ranger for its first major work–a head/valve rework. (Probably should have swapped out the Ranger, but that’s life.) The Rabbit was a good commuter car, though the electrics were a little bit dicey. Loved the mileage, since the truck was pretty thirsty.
(I did 4 years of remodeling a house in San Jose using a ’75 Celica for most of the grunt work. Didn’t have a hitch, so I had to get the sheetrock delivered, but I got a lot of stuff home in and on that car. The Ranger came in handy for the last stages, though.)
My favorite two-man tent is still the Sierra Designs Sphinx. Yet another 5 minute assemble, except in Great Sand Dunes in Colorado, where the winds were an issue.
I have always loved these little MK1 Rabbits, and the 128 too, though I’ve never had the opportunity to drive either of them.
My hometown church had a priest that worked at our church from the early 1950’s, until he was unceremoniously dethroned in 1976, once had a bright red 128 Familiar wagon, I think it was a ’72 as well. I remember riding in it at least once, and it had the ubiquitous black vinyl interior. I remember wanting one at the time, I was I think in the 2nd grade when he bought it new.
My best friend for a brief time in the late 80’s, had a base 2 door bright yellow 77 Rabbit with the all black vinyl interior, and hand cranked sunroof, but it was stripped, so he could not open it, but it looked great otherwise.
I got to ride in it as well, and good older friends of my parents had a white ’75 Rabbit 2 door, with the plaid upholstery that they had for quite a few years, and their daughter Betsy drove it much of the time. These same friends also had the Opal Manta coupe as well, in that bright blue, and they had the first of the baby Bimmers, the ’76 318i 2 door, all bought new in the 70’s.
I came close to checking out a used red 78 128 back in the early 80’s, but never got a chance to do so and recently, about a month or so ago, spotted a silver Strada/Ritmo on Capitol Hill here in Seattle. Not seen on on the roads driven in decades. That was a trip if you ask me. Some older guy was driving it. I think it was the 2 door hatch too.
My first car was an ’84 Rabbit 2-door, diesel with the 4-speed stick. It was an excellent student car. Great fuel mileage, but so gutless. I theorized that it couldn’t break 75 MPH if you dropped it out the back of a cargo plane. For a couple summers I ran a lawn care business out of my Rabbit. With the back seat folded forward I could fit in a gas push-mower, weed-whacker, fuel jugs, rake, and a big wooden sign I made to advertise to passers-by while I worked.
Mine suffered from a rotting hatch, which I replaced, and leaking windshield gasket, which I gooped-up before it damaged the fuse panel, blown headgasket a year before I got rid of it. It developed a no-start condition (unless tow-started) which I could not diagnose. In retrospect it was probably a failed o-ring seal in the injection pump, which allowed air in so the pump would lose prime if left sitting overnight.
I posted the last comment on this article before it was rerun! What do I win? 🙂
Agree that Datsun B210 was the worst car I ever owned. Lucky to make it up a prolonged hill. Transmission problems in a one year old car. POS.
my aunt and uncle bought two brand new 1978 Rabbits. One was blue and the other red. The blue car was a pos but the red one was pretty decent. The blue car was an automatic which was single handedly the worst shifting transmission I have ever encountered. It also suffered numerous electrical glitches, the windshield leaked, the hatch was pure rust, the interior fell apart, it was really noisy on the highway and rode like a brick. After about 5 Winters the floorboard gave way to holes and it turned into the Fred Flinstonemobile forcing him to sell it to a young kid after 6 years. The red car lasted 2 years longer and had less issues plus an infinitely better shifting stick shift which not only made the engine quieter and smoother but much more lively. The tin worn eventually killed it’s floor boards and she was put to rest behind the Oldsmobile dealer traded in for a 1985 Cutlass Ciera wagon which they had up until the mid 90’s.
It is a sad thing most of my older pictures got lost ( and most likely destroyed) in a nasty divorce…..my then girlfriend and now ex had a Fiat 128 when i met her in 1988, silver, black interior, all sorts of electric gremlins, but fun to drive. They are al gone now, most of them retirned to rust and dust.
My mother’s friend had one. The two things I remember is that the spare tire was under the hood with the engine, and the fact that it met its end spontaneously catching fire on Route 128 outside of Boston.
Fiats ! .
Feeble
Italian
Attempt
(at)
Transportation
=8-) .
In ’75 (IIRC) my Brother bought a Fiat Spyder and had much fun with it top down 90 % of the time in spite of New England Weather .
By ’77 he’d hit a tree and the ditch with it a few times , sold it and bought a two door white VW Rabbit Diesel he kept until a VW Shop in Burbank , Ca. stole and stripped it .
I worked in an Indie French Garagein the 70’s so we took in Fiats as the Dealers were always worthless , fun little cars IMO ~ easy to fix too and they rust *very* slowly here on The West Coast .
-Nate
Kevin, you certainly were a man of good taste. The Fiat 128 is definitely my kinda car.
Why were the most interesting cars of the 70s such rust buckets?
My Dad came to visit me in Italy in the spring of 1972 and rented a FIAT 130 sedan. He was accustomed to American cars and was completely wowed by the handling and comfort at speed on the Autostrade. This came back to haunt us about 3 years later in New York when we went in together on a lovely white 131 with blood red interior. Originally, they were called Mirafiori in Italy, then Bravas in the U.S. By any name, the car was peppy, nimble, wonderfully sized, very roomy… and a complete piece of crap. Our car was towed to the dealership twice within the first 6 months. It ate two fuel pumps, 3 sets of points and had myriad other problems in the one year we owned it.. The stateside A/C installation left huge holes in the firewall that gushed freezing wind in winter. I recall driving to Massachusetts to visit friends in January with a blanket around my feet to keep my toes from freezing. What a shame, as the 131 was a spectacularly comfortable and useful design. The experience sent us rushing back to the local Dodge dealer to trade the FIAT in on an Aspen coupe that we custom ordered in silver with black lower body and window surrounds, fold down rear seat, buckets, spoke wheels, and, for economy (we commuted together on a daily trip of just under 80 miles), a slant 6 with the new 4-speed overdrive stick. This being 1976, the ever tightening CAFE standards completely emasculated the venerable mill. I believe these cars were under 100 hp, and were a couple of hundred pounds heavier than the Darts they replaced. They really didn’t advance Chrysler styling or technology, but simply tread water. It was quickly apparent that the Aspen was the second worst car we ever owned, next to the FIAT.
In 72 my parents bought a 3/4 ton Chevy pick-up and a camper for the back. Needing an in town car I suggested a Fiat 128 and they purchased a dark blue four door. My mother absolutely loved that car. (she was the only one of my parents who drove as my father was totally blind) I did too. It was a blast to drive. It had one great feature that saved my bacon once. I was in my college parking lot late one winter evening and on leaving I assumed that I could just blast through a new snowbank in front of me in the parking lot. Unfortunately the front wheels just climbed the hardened bank and the car became quite high centered with the front wheels in the air. Now I knew what the throttle knob on the dash could be used for. I Put the car in first and got the front wheels spinning setting the rpm up a bit and locking that in with the throttle knob.I then went to the back of the car and lifted the back until the front wheels touched down and eventually the car dragged itself over the snowbank. luckily I was able to chase the car down easily and got home safely. My mother by the way, was so impressed with front wheel drive in an Ottawa winter that my parents next car was a 74 or 75 Saab 99. This was quite the change as from 1950 to 1970, my parents had never driven anything other that a full size American car.
Not sure if I would call it a throttle knob, but my ’72 128 had a manual choke on the dash…I had to make sure it was open and gradually would close down on the choke as the car warmed up.. My 128 also took premium fuel, but only had like a 6 or 7 gallon fuel tank, and it didn’t use much fuel. I’m not sure which car was the last to come with a manual choke as standard equipment (maybe it was the 128) since it still had a carburator. I had an A1 Scirocco that was only 6 years later and it came with fuel injection (but had a 5th injector, which I guess was kind of like a choke, but it was automatically brought into effect when needed).
I think some cars had a hand throttle, but those go back to the 30’s in cars like Packards…seems like liability laws would keep this from being in cars nowdays.
Great account of 2 great cars.
One question I had – Kevin refers to taking an option of an all-vinyl interior. What would have been the default choice, and why would he have gone for vinyl over a fabric anyway?
I vaguely remember a flocked fabric in my dad’s 125.
Cloth (velour) was the other choice. Kevin’s car appears to be a ‘C’ model which was the mid level trim model. 78 was a good year for the Rabbit, although 5 speed was not available yet. Always liked the color, was a popular choice back in the day. Glad to see Kevin used his Rabbit for camping, with the rear seat removed there was a lot of room back there. If you also removed the passenger seat, you could sleep comfortably in the car. Enjoying the reprints, I forgot how much Kevin contributed to this site.
Since no one else has made notice of it: in the late 60s/early 70s AMC had 1 or 2 prototypes running around that featured symmetrical styling. The hood and trunklid were interchangeable, the doors were interchangeable. I think even the windshield and rear window were meant to be interchangeable. To me, the 128 (at least the 4 door sedan) looks like it was designed with that in mind….at least originally.
I rented a Fiat 127 for a week(never drove a 128) and drove my uncle’s late 70s diesel Rabbit a few times. Yes, the Italian car did feel like all the parts were engineered as 1 while the German car….not sure I’d call it clunky as much as I’d call it….deliberate. I owned a 72 Vega and a 76 Pinto (both new) and the Vega was definitely clunky. That car even LOOKED clunky with panel gaps and overall assembly quality that would lead you to believe it had been hastily re-assembled after being dropped off the delivery truck. The Pinto? Much, much better, but not really a fun or eager car like the Fiat and Rabbit.
That was the AMC Cavalier. I think you can see why the idea just doesn’t work.
I loved my small bumper 128 wagon with a later 1300 swap, bigger carb etc. No car I have had since seemed as advanced compared to its peers. In light of the time it spent at redline I thought the engine was pretty sturdy. I had access to a mechanic who understood them which made it better.
At the time it seemed like a bad choice compared to a Datsun (other than a 510) or a Corolla but I’m sure my automobile history was better served by the quirkier choice. Today when I drive my 5 speed Fiesta, also a quirky little car and likely to cause me more grief than the Civic I should have bought would have, I think back to the 128 and how I liked it despite its faults. Some things don’t change.
I was born in 1982 and have never seen one of these in my life, not even in Italy.
Good read – especially for someone, whose first car was a derivative of the Fiat 128.
I got from my father a 1980 Zastava 1100p – an Eastern Bloc version of that Fiat, although with redesigned rear. Instead of a classic trunk lid of a sedan it had a lift back silhouette copied from a Simca 1100. It gave it far better practicality and (in my opinion) somehow improved the looks as well. The original’s short and square deck is in my eyes far too rectangular.
Take a look by yourself…
I taken those pictures from a Czech used car site – here’s more pictures on the original site: http://www.tipcar.net/zastava/zastava_1100_neskutecny_stav_1125982.htm
FWIU the Zastava 5-door hatchback was developed at the same time as the sedan by Fiat in Italy but they felt a “traditional” sedan had better sales potential. (the 3-door being a later development by Zastava since that decision had already been made by the time they got to developing the 2-door variants). There was also a 5-door wagon in Argentina only while the Turin-built wagon was a 3-door.
I fell in love with the 128s for a while when I was in high school. It was one of the 1st front wheel drive subcompact cars in the U.S. I remember an ad in a magazine, showing a 128 and a few other competing cars driving up a ski slope, with the 128 in 1st place, VW Bug in 2nd. Yep, the 128 was going to be my car !! Consumer Reports even rated it best subcompact when it 1st came out, until a year later when it was reporting on reliability problems. Then my mind changed.
Fiats4fun!
Drove – and nearly bought – a new 128 to replace my wife’s first car, a Pinto… which she’d purchased new six years previously… from her earnings as a teen model for JC Penny’s, lol… decided to buy a new ‘78 Buick Regal Turbo Sport Coupe instead. Worst car I’ve ever owned.
My first new car was a ‘74 X1/9 and I still own an ‘81 X that’s in good shape and a great driver at over 225k miles.
Friends had both 128’s and Rabbits, which I drove a few (or more than a few) times. There was a lot to like about the 128, and I think the styling is a masterpiece, but the overall balance of sporty feel and practicality of the Rabbit (at least the German ones) excelled. I did briefly own a first gen Scirocco which was a POS for reliability. We’ve now got 3 years on our Golf VII and while it’s far more refined than those early Rabbits, it still feels like a worthy successor and architecturally is basically a 40 year newer version of the original. Has it really been that long??
I have to say that my impressions of a 128 owned by one of my dad’s friends and its’ superiority over Detroit’s broughams of the mid ’70s jibe with yours, from different vantage points since I was a preschooler at the time; it was far easier to see out of and less carsick-inducing, and the looks were those of a car distilled to its’ most basic elements.