1979 Fiat Strada review from Bob Mayer, WTVJ Miami
- Thread starter dishdude
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I've watched all of his Miami car reviews on YouTube, those late 70s cars were pretty bad.
The Strada I test drove didn't have any of the defects mentioned in that old video. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by it---at least short term. No longer-term experience.
I have a copy of the Strada owner's manual.
I have a copy of the Strada owner's manual.
Owen Lucas
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Wow, what a super basic car, $6000 sounds like a lot of money for 1979 and I can't see anyone paying that for an econobox at the time.
adjusted for inflation... that $6k in '79 is $ 24,724.79 today
my parents paid ~$5k for a new 1985 Dodge Omni that was so basic, It didn't even come with a Radio..Dad had to have an aftermarket AM only unit installed...
( $13,901.95 in 2023 Dollars)
U.S. cars back then were just as crappy. And the stuff he complained about, bad battery, steering wheel off center, is just poor dealer prep.
It was-- a new Fairmont's MSRP was $4100, and it was way more car.
Yes, they were all pretty bad, but none were worse than the Fiats, especially the Strada, it was worse than the 128 that it replaced. Even the British cars were better (but not by much). That is why Fiat was forced to pull out of the US market, the word was out that they were overpriced POS cars and they couldn't sell them. Several years ago when they came back I predicted that the same thing would happen, and it did.
I was selling cars at a Chevrolet/Oldsmobile dealership in early 1979. I can't recall all car prices at the time, but a Chevrolet Chevette listed for about $4200. An Oldsmobile Toronado went for about $10,600, and stepping up to a Cadillac Eldorado would be about another $1000. If I recall correctly, you could get into a Monte Carlo or Cutlass for about the mid $6000's. A Camaro Z28 would run in the high $8000 range.
How many Fiat's have you owned?
I had a '72 124 Sport Coupe. Drove very nicely. Believe it or not a 25,000 mile timing belt interval. Very poor corrosion protection, which was a significant negative. If well maintained, at least the mechanicals were pretty robust.
I've never had a car since, though, that would rubber-band so much in first gear...
'Boy would that 1600cc engine joyously rev!
I've never had a car since, though, that would rubber-band so much in first gear...
'Boy would that 1600cc engine joyously rev!
I didn't (and wouldn't) own one, but I was in the car business and drove (and worked on) many of them. The only Fiat that I ever liked was the 124 Spider, but I would never own one because they were still POS cars. I lived in Wisconsin at the time and with the copious amounts of salt they used on their roads, Fiats would turn to iron oxide in short order.
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I remember dad ordering an '80 Omega coupe around that time which took a long time for it to arrive. Then an '83 Toronado after that which was pretty nice. I think it was around 17k.
HAHA. So you never actually OWNed one. I've had nine Fiats, from a '72 up to the modern ones. Wouldn't say they were any worse or better than similar cars from some other makes.
I had a red 1969 Fiat 850 Spider, 4 on the floor, rear engine, 2 seat convertible. My folks bought it new and I got it as a hand me down in 1975 as my first car. It was fun to drive but it leaked rain water like a sieve to the point where I kept an old coffee can in the car at all times so I could bale it out after a rain storm. Eventually the floor started to rot so badly that I had to wedge a 1" x 4" under the seat rails to keep from scraping pavement. Crappy car but still fun and pretty unique for the day. To this day, high school classmates remember me for that car.
Worse yet was the tendency of Fiats and Alfa Romeos to start rusting immediately upon arriving at the port in Baltimore. I experienced this firsthand with a 1971 Fiat 124 Spider.
That's still better than Chevy Vegas which started rusting while still on the assembly line.
