My Car (Sorry it's not a DeLorean)

[Jas_racing]

Bought in December 2007 and currently on 75k miles. One of only 3 known in the UK in this colour (which makes it a sod to get colour matched parts).










Oh, and for a few months I owned two -

[Domi]

Really nice

[bozzzydmc]

Jummy

Love the colour !

[A Van]

Great pictures, dont worry about not being a DeLorean!...we like to see fast cars also!

[Jas_racing]

Great pictures, dont worry about not being a DeLorean!...we like to see fast cars also!

[ace]

Nice car! Hope I'll be able to take a ride in it sometime

[jerzybondov]

Is it stock or have you done anything to it?

Looks great, I've always quite fancied one of those...

[jamesrguk]

I've always fancied one of those, the syling reminds me of an Alfa I used to drive, typical italian design, a fantastic blend of slightly akward angles and beautiful curves I love them.

I'm shortly going to be int he market for a replacement car and the thought of a Fiat Coupe had crossed my mind but I'd be stabbing in the dark, I have no idea as to reliability and running costs.

Would be interested in your experiences

James

[Jas_racing]

I've always fancied one of those, the syling reminds me of an Alfa I used to drive, typical italian design, a fantastic blend of slightly akward angles and beautiful curves I love them.

I'm shortly going to be int he market for a replacement car and the thought of a Fiat Coupe had crossed my mind but I'd be stabbing in the dark, I have no idea as to reliability and running costs.

Would be interested in your experiences

James

My experiences have been very good - both of my Coupé's have been late 1999 20V Turbo models and very well screwed together (in none other than Pininfarina's own factory and without a robot in sight!), much better than most other previous Fiat's I've owned. Mine is a daily runner and is as happy plodding around at 30mph as it is screaming at 130mph!

As with all sporty cars a well-maintained & not thrashed-to-death example will be reliable. Weak areas are front & rear wishbone bushes wearing out every 2 - 3 years, oil-cooler pipes rusting on earlier models, turbo's smoking due to worn oil seals (particularly if a decat has been fitted, tell-tale sign is blue smoke after 5 or 10 mins idling) and cracked exhaust manifolds on earlier models (a ticking sound on cold start up). None of these issues are mega bucks to sort though (wishbones are £50 ish, a recon turbo with uprated seals & bearings about £300 and easy to change, oil cooler & pipes about £250 and a repaired manifold £100 ish). Everything else is pretty tough Fuel ecomony is 26 - 32mpg, depending on how you drive.

The one big myth that surrounds the 5 cylinder 20V and 20V Turbo models (introduced in 1996 to replace the 16V 4-pot versions which are now somewhat long-in-the-tooth) is the cambelt, often being quoted at £2000 to have changed!! (Every 5 years or 72k miles). Actually it's about £400 at a specialist or 10% less if you're a Fiat Coupé Club UK member like me (£15 per year). Clutches are also £400 if done on their own but a caring owner will have cambelt & clutch done at the same time to save considerable costs. If you're buying look for these both to have already been done and with an invoice to prove it, if not it's not a big deal to have them done if the price of the car is right

Price wise good 1998/99/00 20V Turbo's go for £2,000 - £2,500 now, which is peanuts for a 155mph car, but the more exclusive and rarer 'Limited Edition' and 'Plus' (like mine) models go for £4,000 - £4,500 and sport tasty upgrades like 6-speed 'boxes, push-button start, Recaro seats, 180mph clocks, air-con as standard, etc. All have the same performance though (220bhp), which is best described as "savage" With a stainless exhaust fitted and on full boost at about 4,500rpm to 7,000rpm the roar from the exhaust enters a whole new level and has to be heard to believed - kinda like a "jet" roar and enough to wake the dead!

20V Turbo's are a bit pricey to insure for some so the 20V non-turbo is a good option as it is still pretty fast (148/152bhp) and retains the gorgeous 5-pot growl - good examples can be had on a 1999 - 2000 plate for £1,000 - £1,500 now. Leather & air-con are options on non-turbo's though.

Anything else you wanna know, just ask! I'll post some more piccies later.

[Jas_racing]

Is it stock or have you done anything to it?

Stainless exhaust & panel filter - that's it! Although as Bozzzy spotted mine does have the super-rare factory option Zender front bumper & skirts