It might have rotted but it was a league above the Marina. Gorgeous looking car.

OUD 522P, my Dads metallic blue 131 mirafiori S that I learnt to drive in, took and passed my driving test, and then nearly rolled it in the school car park weeks later. Then my sister did the same thing, except the rolling incident. Rusted away a few years later, but loved that car. Great shape.

Owned one of these cars back in the 90s. Obtained it from original owner, a elderly woman who gave up driving. It sat in her driveway for a year or two before I asked about it. It was in decent shape and still started right up. I got it for $500. I remember how well it handled and how it would hit 80 mph effortlessly. Too bad the timing belt broke and that was all she wrote.

The Mirafiori was marketed here in north America back then for a while, but with not much succsses. same for French cars - never really took off. I love watching Thames old videos, pretty cool seeing things from a different angle and a different era - cheers from Canada!

engineers for the engine department: longevity longevity!!! engineers for the bodywork: let's glue some rubber on a tin sheet of cheap metal and see if it helps

This car is so important in Turkey. Most of people's first car and tofaş fiat continued to produce it till 2002 (with body upgrade in 1989 but mechanics were almost same.)

Had several of these. Loved them. And yes, 100mph was attainable with a bit of work! The old saying Fiat stood for Fix It Again Tomorrow wasn't strictly true as I found them, and other Fiats I had to be very reliable. The only bad one was an '85 Regatta which we dubbed The Regretta!

crazy to think some cars just didn't have wing mirrors

I love Fiat saloons (as much as they are generally better at small cars). In the 1980s on my way to school I used to see a bright orange and black 131 Supermirafiori in the front garden of a house. I thought that it was an absolute stunner of a car. I once owned a 1990 Fiat Tempra with unassisted steering and that pretty heavy too, although that was FWD.

@danielhorrachsanchez4710

2 жыл бұрын

In fact, I've read a comment made by an Italian person about the Mk1 Tipo (the car on which the Tempra was based), according to which it started to feel heavy without power steering, even if it was smaller than the Tempra, and it's because it actually weighed more than other compact cars of that time. So, to sum up, in both Tipo and Tempra power steering was almost a must-have, since they were notably heavier than their predecessors (Ritmo/Regatta)

Handsome car!

I had a Super Mirafiori Twincam back in the mid 80’s, definitely a quick car for its time. I sold it in 87 and brought a Lotus Sunbeam, wish i had both of them now 👌👌👌

i was 2 months old when this programmed was aired, my father first car was an argentine made fiat 125 1970, over here was called "fiat 1600" his second car was a 1976 argentine made fiat 128 1.1L

Later models were offered with a DOHC (8 valve) 1.6 unit. The Supermirafiori with a DOHC 2.0 unit. The latter was pretty lively. And they got faster over time due to lifetime factory OEM weight reduction. :-)

@svenlabots1869

Жыл бұрын

I guess you're a specialist.........

I served a fair portion of my apprentiship on these little darlings. 40 years on I still have a nervous twitch when I think back to all that rust. But to be honest, with no customers present even the 1300,s went like stink & the Super Mirafiori was a forgotten Italian beast of a car. Gentlemen ... Never let apprenticices drive your cars.

My cousin had a 2000 twin cam on double carbs one time...she was a beast...

The Fiat 131 replaced the 124, that continued as the Lada built in Russia with different engines. By 1983 the 131 replacement was the Regata, then the Tempra in 1990, and the Marea in 1997. Not many of all the mid sized saloons have survived in the UK.

Always a real delight to all the lovely cars made when I was growing up happy day gone by very many thanks to all concerned.

Here in the states they were called Fiat Brava my cousin had one back in 1980 🇵🇹🇺🇸🙈

@checker3694

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, US 131s/ Brava got twin cam standard, Europe had to wait for facelift to get TC super

I had the 2 door 131 Sport, 2 litre. That was a great car. Unfortunately the body went as quick as the car did! Loved it though.

@chrisbradley1192

4 жыл бұрын

Same here.

@pierrewave7235

4 жыл бұрын

I had the 131 Supermira 2 litre, 4 door. It had the ally twin-cam engine, flying machine for it's day, I loved it.

@neilwalsh4058

4 жыл бұрын

Had 2 Sports, a 1600cc SuperMirafiori and an early 1600CL. Loved them all, ace cars

@TheHorsebox2

3 жыл бұрын

Dream car, especially in the orange.

@johnchurch4705

3 жыл бұрын

131 Sports fetch good money now.

The supermirafiori was really cool

Look at those trousers, what a hoot!

I had one in 1974 and it was a most rugged and durable vehicle. It can speed 66mph on highways with no problem at all!

this was my first car. I loved it.

I think I love this channel!!!❤️

Love the slacks!

The 2.0l sport was the nice one.

Golden years of FIAT

@canturgan

6 жыл бұрын

That was the 60s

@evo5dave

3 жыл бұрын

Most of the golden bit was actually just rust.

Love these videos keep them coming ;)

i have no doubt , the 131 was always a nice car compared to its wrong succesor the Fiat Tempra. Infact even today a 131 looks gorgeous !

Easiest fuse box access ever.......that's forward planning.

@areyouserious3092

4 жыл бұрын

I'm surprised it needed a box as it only had about two fuses anyway.

@bluegtturbo

4 жыл бұрын

Yep because of there's one thing I know from experience is that Fiat electricals are even worse than their mechanical reliability

Bet you didn't know that in Miami Florida, and most parts of the United States, buying this car was considered equally as high end and exotic as having a 3 series BMW because of the styling. Only because of the styling. In actuality it was comparable to the Volvo 240 as many magazine reviews at the time mentioned.

@syxepop

6 жыл бұрын

But the 240's (a relatively big seller from the early '80s on in Puerto Rico) were quite bigger inside than the 131's and even had a bigger engine (2.1L vs. 2.0L in US-spec).

@dinosgura

5 жыл бұрын

Wow.... my father had this car and my mother was kidding him every time for that

@craigmclean8260

4 жыл бұрын

I do recall a ca. March, 1977 Road & Track comparison test which featured a comparison of eight "sports sedans"...IIRC, they ranked (best-to-worst): BMW320i, Saab 99EMS, Volvo 244, Alfetta Sedan, Audi Fox, Fiat 131, ??? (not recalled), and Mazda RX-4...

a friend of mine in 1994 had a van from the first model but also the only van i saw with a 1.1L engine, no rust (incredible)

I was 19 when i bought a super mirafiori 2 ltr twin cam 132. Replaced the back tyres monthly. Great fun

I was just a few days away from starting Grade 1 when this was first aired. I am 50 now.

Rarer than a 1968 Ferrari Daytona.

Loving these videos 🤩 right back to being 10 agan

Loved the exhaust note of these wanted my dad to get one when I was kid in the 80s but they all rotten by then.

Those slim pillars look like they'd stand up well in an accident!

In Turkey they were still building a version of this car under license up until the early 2000s. I had one as a hire car. It was suprisingly good for an old design.

Back in the 70s and 80s my father worked at a Citroen /Datsun dealership here in Ireland and was often sent to collect new cars at the port in Dublin. They came off the boat slathered in a layer of rust protection grease. Along with other things one of his jobs involved getting this stuff off and according to him it wasn't easy, they used jizer for this job. He often saw three and four year old cars needing welding repairs, especially the Datsuns. They were well known even then for being reliable only for the rust!! Seems most cars of the 70s rusted very badly.

The slim pillars make for good visibility and allow you to be crushed real fast

best thing i saw all week......cool video,love them....

I grew up in Chile in the late 80's. This Thames intro came up before Benny Hill.

Not taxed since 1983. So much for the anti corrosion

@areyouserious3092

4 жыл бұрын

Lol brilliant

@pit_stop77

3 жыл бұрын

My dad had one, the front suspension turrets caved in from rust well before its 10th birthday

@RUfromthe40s

3 жыл бұрын

@@pit_stop77 where i live almost no humidity on the air but that made it last till early 90´s

@weaponofmassconstruction1940

3 жыл бұрын

Awww that's sad, like finding out it's been dead all these years while you were dreaming about what it was getting up to. 😭

@georgejacob3162

3 жыл бұрын

And the 'long life' that Tony Bastable mentions at 1:44!

My grandad had one of those - think it was brown in colour. i loved the engine purr compared to my dad's boring (but yellow) Volvo!

I had a Supermirafiori. Was rusting from day one. Nice car with 2 litre twin cam engine. My only Italian car ever.

Unusual design, belt driving the cam shaft yet it's an OHV

I ❤ These Fiat Supermiraflori & Miraflori 131 Cars I Wanna Own All of the Saloons & Estates

A check of the DVLA website shows that this car's tax was not renewed in November 1983, suggesting that the car died a slow death by rust after only around 7 years of life. I had the same experience with my 1978 131.

more of these first drives PLEASE

My dad had this car for 25 yrs before losing it to lack of spare parts n rust. I loved the car

My mates dad had a bright orange SuperMirafiori. It went really quickly, as did the bodywork. Shame, as it was a lovely car.

No outside mirror was illegal in my country even in those days. And the anti-corrosion failed miserably. Suprised they did not mention the 2000 TC model or the Rallye.

My dad was a sales rep. He previously had an Austin morris when he got the miafiore i thought it was a sports car!

Drove one of these back in 1983 when I worked as a taxi driver! Why the firm used the Mira for public hire I do t know, but I remember it didn’t hang about, and bits fell off regularly. Happy days!

Had a 1981 supermirifiori 1.6 twincam brilliant car shame about the rust.

Is this what inspired Hip to be Square by Hewey Lewis and the News? No one does square bodies like the Italians!!

The anti corrosion didn't work at all. Might as well been made out of biscuits.

@ckm-mkc

5 жыл бұрын

That's because Fiat did a deal with Lada and sold them an assembly line they retired in exchange for free steel - for something like 10 years, Fiat had to use very poor quality Soviet steel, hence all the rusting and bad reputation.....

@TheGalacticEmperorOfLabels

5 жыл бұрын

Mate of mine's dad had one. It fell apart.

@TheKenjoje

4 жыл бұрын

@@ckm-mkc exactly!

@SparrowNoblePoland

4 жыл бұрын

It worked if you put minimum attention to conservation of the car. Just a couple of pounds for a can wax-oil spray to be put inside the closed profiles of the bodyshell every two years, plus a bit on the floor and lower body pannels before the winter season, and it could last.

@TheKenjoje

4 жыл бұрын

@@SparrowNoblePoland you are so right, but people rarely did that, even in the times when cars used to rust. we all remember italian cars as rusty or some specific models of german cars, but we keep forgetting how terrible all the cars were in 70s and 80s in that sense....for example, golf mk2 had reputation of best built car in its class, but it was known to rust, too.

Had two of these, a friend had seven, yes seven! They were great cars, especially here in Ireland, where we don't salt the roads.

@mossyhaych8227

3 жыл бұрын

them potholes though at the time.....

@TheHorsebox2

3 жыл бұрын

@@mossyhaych8227 True...pretty bad, alright. Lol.

@mossyhaych8227

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheHorsebox2 i remember distinctly on RTE news a bus driver flipping out because of the potholes. speaking to the polticians on camera he said "look at me feckin axles ha"

@TheHorsebox2

3 жыл бұрын

@@mossyhaych8227 Remember the old boy who used to go out at night painting yellow rings round the potholes to shame the council into fixing them?

Era bellissima la 131 nel 1975.

@giuseppelopresti3740

6 жыл бұрын

Strano però che una special ( almeno mi sembra una special ) che non a nessun specchio.

Had two of these both 1,6 automatics loved them but the problem was RUST ! we used to sit in the front room & watch them dissolve! "Sara", the younger one, rotted even quicker than "Gina", which was a crying shame because they were otherwise reliable, comfortable, easy to drive with an above average performance! For the record, in those days, surprisingly, FIAT bought in the autoboxes from GM Strasbourg, which were excellent 'cog cartons'! Finally traded in Sara for an OPEL REKORD "D" & remained with GM until moving to France !

ONE OF MY DREAMCARS

I still have my 81 fiat 131 Brava. The 81 year that I have came with the 2 liter twin cam EFI engine. Mine has the 3 speed automatic transmission. All original California car with absolutely no rust anywhere. Nice comfortable car to drive in.

I shudder at the thought of an "Italian Marina."

@RoadCone411

4 жыл бұрын

I can’t imagine Fiat UK liked hearing that said about their new car...not a totally incorrect comparison though.

@bluegtturbo

4 жыл бұрын

There was one...called the Morris Ital. Came in mostly beige which described it's personality perfectly. Boy was it ugly. Imagine it beside a red 1970's Alfa GTV and you'll realise how truly ugly it really was...

@delewan

4 жыл бұрын

@@bluegtturbo Just googled it... ooooo mama, that's a sorry looking thing.

@MarthaMansbridge

3 жыл бұрын

Hindsight is a wonderful thing thought, both the Marina and Ital look far better than this ungainly, tinny thing. Can't understand what all the hate was about the Marina - it's a decent looking car for the time and far more balanced a shape than this box on wheels.

@MarthaMansbridge

3 жыл бұрын

@@bluegtturbo you think the Ital was ugly in comparison to this contraption?

35mpg for a sub 1000kg 65hp 1300cc car. My 3.0 1800kg 400hp twin-turbo V6 does a solid avg of 39mpg. That is incredible progress!

We had this car in 1986! I miss the old cars! People called Volvo boxy! 65bhp? Good god! My V70 20T has 180bhp and that’s modest by today’s standards.

Fond memories of my uncle's white 131 he had it 13 years and it was full of filler. He then bought a brand-new lada rival and drove it 10years until he stopped driving when it was then scrapped as they were worthless at the time... shame

I had one of these.

Apart from being a rot box the 1.6 was nice n nippy to drive

I had one of the twin cam sports great engine , shame it rotted away before my eyes!

Thames Tv with any of these old clips do you have any featuring reliant cars?

@areyouserious3092

4 жыл бұрын

Don't you mean reliable cars?

Tofas Sahin in Turkey still reminds of the 131.

The 2 door Abarth versions were awesome. Id love one. By the way, I know its too much detail but I lost my virginity that year, very nice it was too.....

@georgejacob3162

3 жыл бұрын

I hope you didn't do it in the back of a 131! You'd have broke the suspension!

So much better than a Dagenham dustbin

@theaccidentalcaravanner5404

5 жыл бұрын

Most things were!

I had a 131 Sport. Great car but had the dreaded tin worm

@TheHorsebox2

6 жыл бұрын

matnrach Yes a dream car especially in the bright orange. Not many left.

@rexluminus9867

5 жыл бұрын

Tin 🐛worm! 😂Haha!

@flamingskoda

3 жыл бұрын

I had a 1979 131 Sport too. Loved it. £300. It was rotten underneath but I welded on new sills and fixed it up. I welded a lot of 80's Fiats. Mine was Gunmetal grey.

The 70's was just a better time.

I wonder how many people were cut up by one of these thanks to the lack of a wing mirror.

@RUfromthe40s

3 жыл бұрын

the ones i knew all had mirrors on both sides and already screwed at windows level but still litle chromed side mirrors that almost all fiats had around that time midle 70´s, but screwed to the door panel

@jeffm1971

3 жыл бұрын

Probably why it only lasted till 1983 lol!

No wing mirror at all? Not even one? I truly am old enough to remember not seeing any car in the Netherlands ever having no wing mirror since 1967.

@danijelbukovec7844

3 жыл бұрын

In Italy mirrors (only one) became mandatory in 1975. Most cars were without mirrors before that, so many people had to buy aftermarket mirrors when the law passed. The second mirror became mandatory in the late 90s I think, but you can still drive without it if your car was made before that year.

At 1:16 you see how close the distributor is placed to the front of the engine with no absolutely protection from the water and road dirt because there is no sump protection. It was mechanically dated even in 1975, probably put together quickly to help Fiat/Italy make fast cheap exports when the economy was in dire straits

My first car in yellow. Put x19 alloys on it. loved it till she rusted away.

WTF !!! not even a door mirror !!!!!!

@infrasleep

6 жыл бұрын

No car maker did ! Seriously, you had to pay EXTRA for a second door mirror , not to mention a radio...and you were generally buying heaps to start with ! I don't know what the inflation figure would be, but I'd be surprised if you weren't paying the equivalent of around £15k for these type of wrecks-£16k if you wanted a door mirror and radio !!

@RayEttler

6 жыл бұрын

infrasleep yes but this one doesn't even have one on the driver's side

@infrasleep

6 жыл бұрын

You're right ! This is 1975, I know that in 1980 you got one mirror and had to pay for the other-often the mirrors were on the wings. So maybe had to pay for both back then !! It wouldn't surprise-same as it wouldn't surprise if there was one and it had fallen off during the hundred yard drive to the cameras !

@TheRoybeasley

6 жыл бұрын

The starting price mentioned in 1975 (£1750) is equivalent to £17,300 in today's money...

@jeroenjansen2709

6 жыл бұрын

3 speed automatic? Those bell bottoms 😁

These videos are so comical, they provide great entertainment. Can’t help but laugh at the times.

Graham Hill did a TV ad for the Mirafiori

The anti corrosion treatment worked well. It lasted at least 6 months. Had a 127 Sport it skipped the ‘rust’ and went straight to rot!😂

These were cute. :)

Build quality aside, you have to admit the Italians are the masters of design - even after 45 years this car doesn't look outdated.

@phil955i

3 жыл бұрын

You are joking right? It looks a product of it's time, the 70s.

@JohnDoe-uw9nq

2 жыл бұрын

@@phil955i and in the 70s it was light years ahead of its competitors AFA design is concerned.

@phil955i

2 жыл бұрын

@@JohnDoe-uw9nq in what way? It looks like any other 3 box RWD design from the 1970s.

@mevlutenisersar3735

Жыл бұрын

​@@phil955i Qu'est-ce que la conception rwd et afa ?

@phil955i

Жыл бұрын

@@mevlutenisersar3735 RWD = rear wheel drive. AFA = as far as

That anti-corrosion preparation must have been specially formulated to last all of 5 minuted :-D

My father bought a new Jaguar XJ6 (2.8) in 1970 and it cost £2000. (As i recall, it was a really nice car). 5 years later, a 1600cc Fiat cost the same price. Inflation was rampant at that time.

the first time i saw one with automatic gears and where i live there were lot´s of vans ,cars were just a couple of them i had a 1.6L but had to buy it in italy ,red but a darker shade of the colour ,rwd , regards

My father had one of those, 1.3L Mirafiori....and YES.....he used to wear bell bottoms. Man....those were the days....LOL

3 years after this cars had to ge fitted with 2 rear view side mirrors, today you onky require door mounted cameras

learned how to drive manual on this car...my uncle had one

@paulparoma

3 жыл бұрын

On this car?! But it's an automatic...

What a delicious boxy car, so simplistic

Had a friend with a Super Mirafiori in white. Think it was a 132? And 2 litres win Cam? Superb car that turned to dust in 3 years

I was two and a half when this clip aired. Ironic, because that’s about how long most 121s lasted before showing signs of chronic rust. In a time when rust was rampant across many carmakers, it must have been pretty bad that Italian cars (Fiat, Lancia, Alfa) stood out above the rest when it came to corrosion. They didn’t really get their act together until the late 1990s.

I LIKE IT

Stylish car for the era, but no wing mirrors? Even in the 70's I'd thought that was a minimum. Shame they rotted before your very eyes.

Amazing ,sleeky and snazzy modern car . Not bad for £2000 new. I wonder if I can arrange a test drive before deciding to purchase . Maybe they can offer HP? I always need to be careful buying new cars like these. I hope the car salesman won't see me coming like the last one did.

do you have reviews on the old Peugeot 504 or 505 ? this stuff is gold and a lot of thanks.

I had a 1981 131 Supermirafiori with a 1600 twin-cam engine and P6 tyres. It was an absolutely brilliant car. Rust was a problem.