By Ross Ballot
Aimless Craigslist searching reveals some very strange finds. You might stumble upon a killer deal. You might see a hodgepodge homebuilt chaos-machine. Or you might come across something extremely rare.
Something like a Fiat Tipo. Happening upon what the seller claims is “the only one known in the US,” I can’t help but wonder: is it? Hoon-In-Chief Jeff Glucker’s brief search revealed so, and then Antti went so far as to bring up the same car’s Bring A Trailer listing from nearly three years ago.
In all truth I didn’t even know about the Tipo until finding this Craigslist ad. And it makes sense: the Tipo was never sold in the USA. Sure, I’ve heard of more than my share of JDM forbidden-fruit and even gray-market German offerings, but those have been popularized by movie and automotive culture. The Tipo… not so much.
This first model year example has a shockingly low 55,000 miles, period-correct five-spoke wheels, and the all-important bright-red paint. Mated to a five-speed stick, the four-cylinder engine at least makes for an interesting pairing. It’s a rather, er, unique looking car, but neat in a way no car sold in the ‘States ever was.
All this Italian rarity can be yours for only $6500.
Jeff Glucker
“…JDM forbidden-fruit and even gray-market German offerings…”
But I was assured that all the cool kids have gray-market British, Dutch, and French cars! My life is a lie.
So that’s why I couldn’t get any dates in my Reliant Robin!
There’s your problem right there. I thought everyone knew the Regal comes with better pickup lines.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5753/31351838546_04dbf2802d.jpg
Reliant pickup?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ba4db73fe91985ede9c00296549dc959dca204dee994f48fbfe0e257ee35aab6.jpg
I’m not sure I’d categorize this car as “forbidden fruit”. Maybe “unripe” or “sour”, but certainly not “sweet”.
Oh, there are plenty of sour fruits
I wouldn’t call this sour or unripe. The Tipo was reasonably well built, didn’t rust as badly as its predecessors and drove OK. I rented one back in 93 and enjoyed it but it’s kind of like importing a JDM base spec Corolla, its not special enough to justify the aggro.Now if it was the Fiat coupe or spider from the 90s It would be worth it.
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To each his own. This has all the appeal of a teal Geo Metro, except about $6200 more expensive.
I agree that it’s dull and dated, if you’re going to grey import a 90s Fiat, get one of these
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Fiat_Coup%C3%A9_Heritage_Motor_Centre_Gaydon_IMG_6600.jpg/800px-Fiat_Coup%C3%A9_Heritage_Motor_Centre_Gaydon_IMG_6600.jpg
I’m thinking perhaps I’m just not into Fiats, because that reminds me of a Saturn coupe. And that’s anything but a compliment.
https://cdn.jdpower.com/Models/400×200/2001-Saturn-SC3dr-Base.jpg
You know this is based on a Tipo platform right? Though if you’re gonna grey import a Tipo, the Golf GTI rival Sedicivalvole is the one to have.
I think if I were to bother grey-importing a Fiat, it would be a 131 Abarth. That is a Fiat I might actually appreciate.
http://www.topcarrating.com/fiat/1976-fiat-131-abarth-rally.jpg
I’m not surprised the Coupe was based on the Tipo, and it’s still better looking, just like a first generation Scirocco is still prettier than a Golf. Sounds like the best grey import is the nicer body with the an engine swap.
Nah, all the engines in the coupes surpass what was in the Tipo. Some people will swear by the four cylinder versions (Lancia derived engines I believe), because those engines are lighter so the car handles sweeter, but I think I’d go for the later 20V five pot Turbo, simply because it sounds great and the novelty of having a five pot. Timing belt changes are an uttter pain though, there’s not an inch to spare in that engine bay to get your hand down the side and Fiats official procedure is to remove the engine, though specialists do it by simply canting the the engine to one side rather than total removal.
Good to know although my most likely future vehicle purchase is an early 90s Ford F-150
Strangely enough, there is only one Fiat Tipo from 1988 in Germany’s largest car classified online web portal service mobile.de (there are >4k Tipos in total). It’s 3kEUR.
The Tipo name has not really been Fiat’s best for a long time. You can still get a brand new one. One of the cheapest cars in its class around here, one of the least sold, and certainly one of those who holds its second hand value the worst. It’s actually pretty pleasantly looking, but has always felt old.
https://images.honestjohn.co.uk/imagecache/file/crop/640×426/media/13354371/Fiat~Tipo~SW~(2).jpg
Never seen that before. It is rather attractive.
It is pretty damn good value alright, especially if you’re just looking for space and comfort. They’ve changed the trim levels again unfortunately, but for a while it was the only Focus sized car you could have with an autobox and aircon for under 20k. For some reason in Ireland, despite Dublin being one of Europes most congested cities (yes it’s crazy given its size), an auto is stll seen as a “luxury” so often only available on very poor value top level trim cars. It means there’s lots of entirely mundane cars going around with stick shifts and people that don’t really know how to use it. THE LIGHTS BEEN GREEN FOR 5 SECONDS NOW AND YOU’RE STILL NOT IN GEAR GODAMMIT! AAAARRRGGHHH!!!….and breathe….
I see where you’re coming from, and that video above is an eye opener…Focus starts at 19k£, the Tipo maxes out at 20k£. I’m the kind that could really fall for the “space and comfort”-thing, but they blew some of their mission requirements. A flat floor with folded seats really should be mandatory, not this angled mess. And I would be quite afraid of maintenance costs with these, too.
I actually lusted after one of these as a teen, ideally a Sedicavalvole (16v, back when that was a thing to set your hot version apart, bear mind there were still plenty of 8V Golf and 205GTis about), but I would have been happy with a 1.4. It was a nice wee thing, not going to set your hair on fire, but nearing the end of the era where even the most small engined Euro hatches (Peugeot 205, 306, Alfa 145, MK1 Focus etc.) had all you need to enjoy driving, partly because their basic nature tended to mean that if the chassis was any way decent, you had something light enough to be fun.
You also have to bear in mind the low ambitions of a working class teen in 90s pre-Tiger era Ireland. Employment and wages were low, insurance costs were insane. I couldn’t afford to start driving until I was 21 and in steady employment. The idea that I’d own a series of actual hot hatches and sports cars from age 25 was not implausible, but never seemed guaranteed at the time.