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From: peterg@tekcbi.UUCP (Peter Galambos)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: best car worst car
Message-ID: <460@tekcbi.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 13-Jan-86 13:47:01 EST
Article-I.D.: tekcbi.460
Posted: Mon Jan 13 13:47:01 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 15-Jan-86 00:41:22 EST
References: <3124@sdcc3.UUCP>
Reply-To: peterg@tekcbi.UUCP (Peter Galambos)
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 49
Keywords: FIAT=HELL
Summary: 

** DO NOT REMOVE THIS LINE UNDER PENALTY OF LAW **

I have to second the nomination for the 74 FIAT 128SL as the worst car
of all times. I was the unfortunate original owner of one of these turkeys.
I sold it at 32,000 miles and considered myself lucky to get $1500 for it.

The 74's had a seat belt interlock on the starting system and the control
box was mounted right underneath the nice black dashboard. The box would
get excessively hot on summer days and the car would refuse to start. I finally
had to rewire the starter relay to bypass the system.

A front wheel bearing went bad at 28,000 miles and cost >$100 to fix.

The cheap plastic check valve in the vacuum line to the power brakes failed
at 20,000 miles causing a vacuum leak the size of a quarter. (Of course,
the car wouldn't run that way, and it took me about 2 hours to find the
problem.)

The car would die at 45-55 miles an hour for no apparent reason and would not
start again for about 2 minutes (I never did track that down).

It was almost impossible to tune. 2 degrees off one direction and it wouldn't
start, 2 degrees the other direction and it backfired going down the road.
It required tuning every 5000 miles.

The rear vent windows were GLUED to the closing mechanisms and were under
tension when closed. They both popped loose at 15000 miles and nobody
could fix them to where they would stay glued for more than a couple
of weeks at a time.

The timing belt cover was 1/2" wider than the space between the end of the
engine and the engine compartment wall. It took me 45 minutes to get
the @%&! thing off.

On hot days the plastic interior gave off fumes which thoroughly fogged up
the windows. You had to use window cleaner about twice a month if you wanted
to see where you were going.

Despite the tiny engine which could barely pull the thing up a hill at 45 MPH
it got no better than 30 MPG on the highway and 24 MPG in town.

These are just some of my fond memories of this beast. Definitely the worst
car I've ever come in contact with!

				Peter Galambos
				Tektronix, Inc.
				...{decvax|ucbvax}!tektronix!tekcbi!peterg

Disclaimer: I'm sure my employer does not care what I say about Fiats.