1987 Fiat Uno 45 Fire from France - Comments

Door window glass mounting broke at about 100,000 km (both sides); exhaust tube rusted through (~110,000); tailgate window glass washer pipe broken; rear lamp cluster badly grounded - developed "cross-blinking" at ~130,000 km.

A very nice, cheap and reliable car; not too great performance but managing up to 150 km/h on a highway. No real trouble in three years with any vital part (engine, suspension, brakes, steering..)

Worth the money and more.

I am 17 and own a Fiat Uno 1.0 i.e.

I am a bit of a boy racer and tended to lose out a bit to my mates. I decided to add a full system sports exhaust to it, plus Spitfire sparkplugs and HT leads, not forgetting the K&N airfilter.

Along with my modifications, alloys and bore exhaust, the performance has changed and it looks like a Turbo. I would give it an 8/10 for performance not a 6.

Paolo Di-Mascio.

I have owned an Uno 45 Fire 1.0 1988 vintage for five years. In all that time, and nearly 60,000 miles (20 thou on the clock when I bought it) it has only ever let me down once when the wiring under the distributor cap wore away. It was cheap to fix and was running fine again the next day.

The only items I have paid for in keeping this car on the road, other than consumables, have been steering rod gaitors (x2) and a wheel bearing.

It is not a fast car, nor is it glamourous. It is, however, the most reliable vehicle I know of. Rust has never really been a problem, although signs are appearing on the passenger door.

I rarely clean it; it gets a decent service once a year from my local (non-Fiat) garage; for short to medium distance runs, and as a reliable town car, I would heartily recommend this vehicle.

Tom from UK

I've got a 1987 Fiat Uno 45 with the fire engine (it also has attractive uno45 decals up the side - nice!).

It's my first car, I bought it last year from a vicar's son. It runs perfectly and I am more than happy with it. The first MOT I took it for, it failed and it cost £215 to get right. Since then nothing major has gone wrong with it. The choke cable snapped (but it was the man from the AA who yanked it until it did and they wonder why I don't want to rejoin).

It's a fantastic little vehicle.

Phil (UK)

PS, the car's name is Doris.