Cheeky Girls.

Took it for a run out to Buxton.
By God that suspension has some bounce.
Interesting, quality photo attached.

 

i like the way the door has been blended almost invisibly

 

Don't be silly Rick, that's @oscar photoshopping a new colour scheme.

 

Which one?

 

That's it, my little Italian adventure is over.
Advertised with 8 months MOT and sold within hours for the full £120 asking price.
Off it goes up to Teeside for the next frantic chapter in it's life.



An odd little device, but one that made me wonder how different my life might have been if the local garage had not been into German cars with their lazy, reliable teutonic torque but frenetic little Italian devices. Their sheer exuberance and willingness is so different, I honestly felt that I could rev this until all of the valves jumped out of the top of the head and did a little jig on top of the bonnet to signal that it might be time to change up!

If it wasn't for the comedy randomness of the electrics, I might have to check out an Alfa...

 

Don't do it.
My Brera had all of the Italian comedy traits, the window would randomly open, whilst driving and when parked and locked! The only way to open the boot was to remove a piece of trim from the dashboard, it was designed that way!
All the Breras had their electric switches in different positions from each other, depending on who fitted them out at the factory.
My personal favourite was the OE carpet that after 6 months use bunched up under the clutch pedal and held it half on, burning out a clutch and flywheel every 6 months at a cost of over a grand. This is by no means an exhaustive list.
It was however ball achingly gorgeous and ridiculously quick at over 170 mph.

 

We had an Alfa 147 for a couple of years and it was brilliant
Never had anything go wrong and it sailed through a couple of MOTs with only minor wear and tear items needing attention.
I used to go on the Alfaowners Forum and some of the stuff people had to endure was unbelievable
I suspect we were quite lucky

 

I've just spotted this thread and as soon as I saw the pic I though "I know that car." One of the guys on the Mk1 Fiesta site bought one and did a massive rebuild but most of the pics are deleted now so I can't confirm if it's the same vehicle or not, same colour though, also the guy in question came from Tiverton. Does that ring any bells?

 

Probably. As it says earlier in the thread, the real owner is a bloke called Phil. I'm honestly not sure where he's from but I did follow a ludicrously long re-build thread for this, effectively worthless car.

 

best car i have had was a alfa 156 sportwagon was a bit high maintenance through

 

His username is PhilbusMo so I'm guessing it's the same guy. He took a lot of stick over that little car from his fellow Fiesta owners but he stuck at it and what a task it was. Inner sills, outer sills, lots of fabricating due to lack of replacement parts and just about everything structural underneath but he finally got it on the road so fair play to him. I've just found one of his later pics and it's the tailgate and the reg confirms it's the same car.



I'll try and copy/paste a couple more pics if anyone is interested before he deletes them all.

 

It's a Y10 is it not?

The precursor to those Fiat Racistwordchento
Funny way to own a car.

 

Me and my mates were into Italian cars just for the fun of it. They were always reliable (ignoring the bodywork issues), cheap and easy to maintain, cheap to buy and fun to drive. 124s, 127s, 128s, an Uno, an Argenta and a 2300 Coupe. We had an Alfa 33 later as well, which we loved but sold at about 6 years old because the floor was 'wearing' thin.

 

That's the chap.
It was completely FUBAR - failed it's MOT on 12.5.12, the welding and rebuild thread ran from then until it passed it's next test on 2.5.14.
Most of the pics have vanished from the site I frequent, I cannot post a link because the idiotic filters on here change the URL.

 

What site was that because most of his pics on http://www.fiesta-mk1.co.uk/forum/index.php have been removed as well.

 

Here's his first post after he bought it. Great little car......little did he know.

"Post subject: Lancia Y10 1.3 GTIe - Looks like a weld-a-thon...
Posted: 03/04/12

Anorak


Joined: 15/09/09
Posts: 2072
Location: Tiverton
With the tax running out on my surprisingly clean Sierra, I decided it was time to get a smaller car for my commute. Winding A roads and congested city streets are not as fun in a Sierra as one could hope; so off it went to eBay whilst I searched for another car.

Sold for an absolute steal at £350 by the way, if you can find a tidier Sierra with 7 months MOT for less then I would be very surprised indeed.

And here is the new car that I came up with. Say hello to the slightly deranged Italian now sat on my drive. A Lancia Y10 1.3 GTIe.


I may have only had it three weeks but I have fallen hopelessly in love with this little motor. First and foremost, despite being a Lancia, it has been the most relaible car I have bought in 2 years, with the Maxi, Cressida and Sierra all having carb issues marring my enjoyment and in some cases the engine longevity (pouring fuel out the overflow, sticking shut and sticking open respectively).



But the joys of fuel injection. Such a simple starting process with no choke or auto choke to ruin the fun!
1) Get in the car, and put keys in ignition barrel.
2) Move key to position one and allow it to go through its electronic checks.
3) Move key to position two and swear when there is no sign of life from the starter motor.
4) Turn off ignition and then move straight back to position two which starts engine but sends low oil light blinking furiously on the dash board because you rushed it and the electronic check panicked.
5) Turn off ignition again and then set to position one and allow electronic checks to complete again.
6) Turn key to position two and engine starts with no issues what so ever.

Such a simple six stage process!


Then you're on your way, at which point this little car becomes more fun than a Leyland DAF full of hookers. The throttle response is instant and it zips away, bouncing over every bump with unexpected speed. Chucking it round bends is also a laugh as the tiny little tyres scrabble away with not an awful lot of grip, but a superb amount of predictability and enormous amusement.
The engine itself is the old Brazil unit, which saw service in many Fiats over the years, but I believe that this is the only incarnation it has had with fuel injection. It manages the peculiar trick of sounding horribly thrashed like it might suddenly explode at low revs, really getting into its stride and sounding much healthier at high revs, which is exactly what it wants to be doing ninety percent of the time. The gearbox is a rubbery five speed with syncromesh whine that could be mistaken for a supercharger to the untrained ear, but that is all part of the character.



Speaking of character; the interior is a joyous place to be, with a nifty flannel covered dash and alacantra seats, teamed with that brittle hard plastic that only the italians can manage. Despite this being a very well cared for example, a piece of plastic often randomly falls out above the cigarette lighter, the central fascia is falling apart, the A pillar trim is coming away and the sun visors squeak and rattle. But would I change it? No. It all adds to the charm. Since this picture was taken, the original steering wheel has been re-instated.



All this reliability, economy and amusement was had for just £650, with 2 months MOT and tax until June. Its not even that rusty, apart from bubbling on the door and rear arches and has service history back to 2002.
Everyone should have one.

_________________
Mrjayware wrote:
Front & rear springs are pretty much the same, Usually just different sizes & Poundages


Last edited by PhilibusMo on 13/05/12, edited 2 times in total."

Please notice the line "it's not even rusty" hahahahaha

 

I really like the Lancia Y10s. Nearly had one for my first car but put my foot through the floor on the dealerships forecourt.

 

A couple more pics.