A 2-door sedan version of Fiat’s 128 was almost my first car. No, really. I’d still love to have one, but maybe one that was already in nice condition. The seller has this 1976 Fiat 128 2-Door Sedan posted here on craigslist in Acres Green, Colorado, in the Centennial area, and they’re asking $2,600 or best offer. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Mike F. for the tip!
Can you imagine a 16-year-old living in major snow country wanting a square little Fiat in a city that didn’t even have a Fiat dealer? It was this same color, too, but I think it was a 1978 model, not that there’s a lot of difference. You can see that this little yellow example is pretty beat, somewhat rusty, and just generally sembra usurato (looks worn out).
A couple of my other first vehicle contenders were a 1971 VW window van in brown and white, and also a blue 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix with a 4-speed and a cue ball shift knob, and a 400 V8. My dad said it rattled too much, which it did, but he didn’t like the Fiat at all. He wouldn’t have liked this one in its present condition for sure. The 128 was made from around 1969 to 1978 or ’79, and these bumpers are crazy huge, but I like the trunk-mounted luggage rack. Here’s a fun little two-page brochure showing a similar car.
A cocophany of wires hanging from the dash, that’s something I’m rarely a fan of seeing, along with a dash filled with cracks, and a general dirty appearance. Even on a car like this Fiat, I would have cleaned the H out of this thing. You never know if spending one hour cleaning this car may have made a difference in a sale or no sale. I can’t imagine anyone buying this car to get it on the road again, or restoring it to like-new condition, even though I’d love to have one in that condition. The seats don’t look too horrible overall, but they’re filled with cracks, and I’m sure they’re brittle. Kudos to the seller for taking a bunch of photos, though, nice work! They even included two underside photos.
And they included two engine photos! Very nice. A lot of craigslist ads don’t even have one engine photo. This is Fiat’s 1.3-liter SOHC inline-four with 62 horsepower and 67 lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by a 4-speed manual transmission sending power to the front wheels, the seller says it runs when you pour gas in the carb. Is this one worth saving?
Even at a young age……. Scott Gilbertson had a vast taste in automobiles. I can see why you liked this. I can also see why your Dad may not have had. ( My Dad used to say parts for “foreign” cars were expensive and hard to find, which I’m sure, is why the only “foreign” car he had was a ’66 Beetle). But despite that, I’ve always been drawn to unique cars from other countries. Including Fiats like this. Maybe this can be saved. Looking at the photos a second time, I agree with Scotty, some cleaning would go a long ways with this. Cool write up Scotty thank you.
My next door neighbor bought one of these new, using it as a commuter car. He told me he was getting close to 50 MPG with it, back then.
Luggage 🧳 rack 😎 👍
Any car CAN be saved the Question is SHOULD it be saved I’m leaning towards NO however part of me wants to make it into a race car for when they run them little ones around the track