A Fiat Uno. It is classic enough

If we use the legal 25 annual period as a classic, then we are already in a classic with an 1992 car. But in the 1990s a lot of plastic and electronics came on board. Emotionally, that is not so good. But with a car from 1985? With that you get away as a classic enthusiast. Take a Fiat Uno now.

The Uno, successor to the 127

Fiat introduced the 1971 in 127. And that became such a sales success that even the always enthusiastic Italians were surprised. So the people from Turin did extra hard for the successor. The Uno was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro's ItalDesign. And a billion euros was invested in the preparation of the process. They even robotized a whole piece of the production of the Uno. The Unos were made in Italy from 1983 to 1995 while production in other countries would take place for almost 20 years until the last Uno was built in 2013 in Brazil.

In Italy, the Uno was sold from 1994 as Innocenti Mille and from November 1995 to November 1997 (from the Polish production) as Innocenti Mille Clip. In Brazil, an entry-level version was sold from 1990 to 2013 as the Fiat Mille. . And with that approach, the factories in Mirafiori and Rivalta made 2.200 Unos daily. And where did they all go?

A lot of Unos

Fiat supplied Unos with engines of 900 cc, 1,1 or 1,3 liters. The 900 cc is just another push rod block, the other four-cylinder have overhead camshafts with timing belt drive. With the 900 block, such an Uno was a city drentelaartje. With the 1116 cc 55 hp engine it was a pretty smooth cart. That 1100, with its single Weber or Solex carburetor, was an extremely short-stroke block with a bore and stroke of 80 x 55,5 mm. In contrast to what you expect from a short stroke, that four-cylinder engine already delivered its torque at a low speed.

With a measured top speed of over 140 km / h, such a small Italian was and still is not an obstacle in traffic. The four or five box (the five is clearly an overdrive) was not an example of precision. Especially when the oil was still cold, quite a bit of force had to be used to switch. The switching roads are nice and short.

A pretty nice handling

The Uno with front independent suspension with McPherson legs and a semi-independent suspension system behind. The short wheelbase ensures a somewhat boggy ride over speed bumps. That problem has been addressed by keeping the suspension and damping fairly flexible. All in all, such a Fiat Uno is quite a nice driving car. With its unencumbered rack and pinion system, the small Fiat sends nice and light. The operation of the lighting and so happens just like early Citroën BXsen with a few satellites that, just like a BX, require quite some getting used to. Also as with the BX: the Uno has a single windscreen wiper.

From dirt cheap to quite expensive

The Unos were never made to be cherished as future classics. The range is therefore not huge. But the prices remain pleasantly low. Think about the € 1.000 for a just standard copy with some traces of use. The prices for the Fiat Uno Turbos are very different. For such a fun box from around 1990, just about ten mille up to the 15.000 euro can be asked if he is ZGAN. And if that is asking too much?