Fiat Ritmo Abarth

cnocbui

I recently tried to sell my Fiat Tipo Sedicivalvole, and no one in Ireland was interested, except for the usual 'how about €500'

carchaeologist

Anan1 wrote: »

I thought Stradas were UK only and all the rest of us had Ritmos?

You could be right,i know it was one or the other.

cantdecide

cnocbui wrote: »

I recently tried to sell my Fiat Tipo Sedicivalvole, and no one in Ireland was interested, except for the usual 'how about €500'

My first car was a 93 Tipo. What a great car it was too. Did it shift, no? What are you looking for it?

Have you seen the Stilo abarth on done deal?

mondeo

I have not seen a Ritmo since the early 90's, a neighbour had a blue one and I use to think it was a sports car as it looked pretty sporty with that bonnet vent thingy or whatever it was suppose to be. Use to cycle past it on my BMX and eye it up:D I was very nieve.....

Blue850

There were 2 used as rally cars in Galway, one an Abarth 130, reg ZB 130, or 130 ZB, ex works car, brought into Ireland I believe by Grandon's the Fiat dealer in Cork, long dead, but the engine is still around.
The other was a 1300 reg 456 LIM, it was an absolute mint road car, owned from new by my Uncle, traded for a Golf in Western Motors and one of the mechanics bought it and turned it into a rally car. its dead now too

Max_Damage

Anan1 wrote: »

I thought Stradas were UK only and all the rest of us had Ritmos?

They were called the 'Strada' in America too (yes, believe it or not, they sold them in America, briefly mind you).

Blue850

US spec Ritmo/Strada converted to electric power!!

Max_Damage

^ Probably more reliable than it's petrol cousins.

Gotta love the ad for the Ritmo though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAI9490QmeQ

cnocbui

cantdecide wrote: »

My first car was a 93 Tipo. What a great car it was too. Did it shift, no? What are you looking for it?

Have you seen the Stilo abarth on done deal?

It shifted eventually. Someone from Denmark bought it and came to collect it from the midwest and then drove it back. I got €1200 for it but had offered it locally for €1000. It was in great running order and got to Denmark - 1000 miles+ - without any problems.

No, I hadn't seen the Stilo.

This was it:

Max_Damage

Why the hell would someone come from Denmark to here to buy a Fiat Tipo?

Gary ITR

Max_Damage wrote: »

Why the hell would someone come from Denmark to here to buy a Fiat Tipo?

It's a Sedicivalvole (16v) basically their GT version. A very rare car now

Max_Damage

Onkle wrote: »

It's a Sedicivalvole (16v) basically their GT version. A very rare car now

Ah I see.

spooky donkey

A mates dad used to have 2 ritmos in his drive. One for driving and one for parts. But he always had them and swore by them. I never really liked them.

kev1.3s

I don't care what anybody here thinks I'd love a ritmo abarth especially the 105 tc, I mean come on It was "designed by robots"!!

unkel

I remember that ad! Absolute class, still looks fresh 30 years later. "Handbuilt by robots" is still a good slogan

Just doing a quick google and apparanly Vangelis himself added the electronic effects to the Rossini opera.

carchaeologist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fXV6KzhBbM
For some reson the video wont appear here in the youtube tags.

macplaxton

Then there's the BL Ambassador

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU-tuY0Z7nQ

Gary ITR

I would love an Abarth, Fiats don't float my boat at all but I do lust after an Abarth

rotorhead

Onkle wrote: »

I would love an Abarth, Fiats don't float my boat at all but I do lust after an Abarth

Whats not to like about Fiats ?

Gary ITR

They aren't my cup of tea

dazcush

Max_Damage wrote: »

The one I saw two years ago was a Mk2 by the way.

The last time I saw a Mk1 was around 1998/1999. Haven't seen one in the flesh at all in the 21st century!

Hi, sorry for dragging this thread back up to the top. My parents actually have a 1979/80 (V Reg anyway) Fiat Strada sitting in their garage for the last 20 years. It was my mother's car when we lived in England, but then we moved back here in '88 so it got put into storage for a year or two, then brought into the country around 1990 but she had a new car by then so it went into the garage where it has stayed (unregistered) ever since.

Can't say that I remember the last time we actually tried starting it, possibly 10 or more years ago. I do remember that the steering is a beast, you'd want shoulders the size of Hulk Hogan to actually maneuvre it around simple corners.

Anyway, I know they'd sell it to any interested party. So if anyone actually is interested, drop me an email or pm. I'll try and take a few pics over the weekend and post them, just so you know I'm not mucking about.

cheers

Darrell

2.8trooper

put the pics up i have a feeling it will sell and dont apologise for posting in something your interested in every thread deserves a resurection now and again:D

Tigger

dazcush wrote: »

Hi, sorry for dragging this thread back up to the top. My parents actually have a 1979/80 (V Reg anyway) Fiat Strada sitting in their garage for the last 20 years. It was my mother's car when we lived in England, but then we moved back here in '88 so it got put into storage for a year or two, then brought into the country around 1990 but she had a new car by then so it went into the garage where it has stayed (unregistered) ever since.

Can't say that I remember the last time we actually tried starting it, possibly 10 or more years ago. I do remember that the steering is a beast, you'd want shoulders the size of Hulk Hogan to actually maneuvre it around simple corners.

Anyway, I know they'd sell it to any interested party. So if anyone actually is interested, drop me an email or pm. I'll try and take a few pics over the weekend and post them, just so you know I'm not mucking about.

cheers

Darrell

i have a mate that'll be interested
pm me with pics and iu'll get him to ring you

Erren Music

Max_Damage wrote: »

Yeah but com'on man, my folks had a Ritmo back in the day, and they said it was single handedly the worst car they ever had. Apart from it falling apart with rust, it was reluctant start in the mornings, the electrics were terrible, and in the end the gearbox went apparently.

Anan1 wrote: »

I thought Stradas were UK only and all the rest of us had Ritmos?

I had 2 of these over 20 years ago, the red one was an irish 1985 ritmo model had the most rust I had ever seen on a car but did 60mph in 2nd gear (4 speed) and was a huge amount of fun. The blue one a strada (UK) blew up after a month of being redlined everywhere in 1st and 2nd gear and it was in very good condition.

Had a mirafiori 131 coupe 1986 ish, with rear headrests that were fixed in position at the wrong angle. Hoot of a car.

Anyone got an X19 here. I wanted one in the 80's, to flare the rear arches and stick a mental engine and mechanicals into it.

dergside

My first car was a 1982 Fiat Ritmo 105TC and even in the day they were a rare enough beast. I think I read somewhere recently that there are only a number in the teens left on the road in the UK, as per DVLA records. I bought it in 1988 - reg was 105 OZU. I worked for a bank and had a staff insurance scheme that went only on engine size so an XR3 or a Mk1 Golf GTI or the 105TC cost the same to insure as a 1.6 Escort Saloon. Would have loved the GTI at the time but my budget only strected to 1.6's that had seen action in ditches, walls, etc.

The Strada was the name used by Fiat for the car in the UK. It was Ritmo everywhere else in Europe. There was a mk1 130TC but that wasn't sold in Ireland. There were a small number of mk2 130TC's sold here iirc.

The 105 was a hoot, those Twin Cam engines were a treat to the ears. The main problems with them were electrical (surprise!) and they had a habit of cracking their front chassis legs. That was a bit of a job to put right without having to disassemble the whole front of the car. Oh, yeah, a lot of them used to pop out of gear too, mostly second iirc. Really enjoyed owning it for the short time I had it and it made a change from the Fiesta's and Micra's that my pals had as their first cars.

dergside

Erren Music wrote: »

Anyone got an X19 here. I wanted one in the 80's, to flare the rear arches and stick a mental engine and mechanicals into it.

My brother ran one in the '80's (670 RZH) that he still has tucked away somewhere and bought another since I believe. Also has a Mirafiori Sport tucked away too. Not sure if they are running just now but I believe they are reasonably sound and will probably be subject to a resto in the coming years.

The X1/9 was great fun to drive, could be lethal though if you overcooked it. Could be provoked in to swapping ends if you backed off in a hurry mid corner. A lot ended up backways in the scenery in the day I think.

2.8trooper

in the hope of not offending anyone there was a big bloke who used to track day or race one years ago in the wicklow aera a red one it was a 105tc also a mate of mine used to work on it i think the owners name was jack from memory was lots of money spent on it even though it looked like scrap

flat6

I had one in the late 80s - a Strada Abarth 130TC - KZS 130.

Gunmetal gray - looked great from a distance!

Very nice to drive also, also as I recall the brakes were poor (although not as bad as the Golf GTIs I had previously) - I fitted Tarox discs and pads which helped a little!

It rotted away of course - I was racing a Ritmo in Mondello at the time and that was enough trouble! - I kept the Scorpion badge though!

Saw it a number of years back in a very sorry state - I'm sure it's long since scrapped.

An even rarer variant was the 125TC, anyone seen one of those?

Best,

Warren

unkel

KZS 130 - nice reg

Blue850

unkel wrote: »

KZS 130 - nice reg

ZB 130 or 130 ZB was another 130TC , road registered but always a rally car