Fiat 126 BIS What you know

13 pounds to fill up only means that it has a tiny fuel tank, a miles per gallon figure would be relevant.

If you like it then keep using it. My experience was that they are horrible. Good points: economical, low insurance and tax, can be parked in a phone box. Bad points: fold like cardboard in an accident, engines explode all over the place, dangerously underpowered, flaky electrics, mean owners, bits fall off.

mrcheerful

I want one - to take the body off and turn into a tiny baja buggy kind of thing :o)

Si

Well, I've only ever driven a air-cooled 126 so I can't comment on the engine part. It was pretty horrible, but fun at the same time, I drove a friends regularly out in Greece. Only slightly more comfy than a sit-on lawnmower and not much quieter. Vile gearchange too, but really good fun to drive, especially charging around town in and surprisingly chuckable once you got the hang of it - never brake, full throttle everywhere :-)

I don't think the car changed much dynamically with the BIS, just looks a bit better inside and has a watercooled engine.

I'd rather have a Fiat 500 with a 126 engine if I had to have one.

Mike

The message from "Mike P" contains these words:

I took my driving test in one - wouldn't do the hill-start the bloke asked me to do, just couldn't hack it with two fatties in it up a steep hill. Reversed round the corner behind us (counted as the reverse round corner) and took a run at it.

I know that on mine, the brakes locked on the way bringing it home. The head gasket went the next day

It is sat outside rotting away till I get some warm weather to look at it.

Oh and the stearing bit (the name escapes me but you need a reamer) cost a bloody fortune....

Tim

which took it all of 24 hours I expect!

In news:c529fb$tqs$ snipped-for-privacy@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk,

decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

I'd have one, just for comedy value...

buy it, and Bling it up to the max!

Lowered, 16"s [1], chromaflair paint, blacked out windows, twin exhaust drainpipes, great big stereo install, playstation 2, dvd, lexus style back lights, "Impreza" bonnet vent [2], turbo [3]...

Ooooh, I'm almost tempted

[1] don't think you could get 17"s on a 126, never mind 20's.. [2] useless, but hey, it's useless on a 1.2 Nova and that never stopped anyone [3] with a mega noisy, pointless dumpvalve, naturally

The message from "Pete M" contains these words:

And the auxilliary generator on the trailer to power it all.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@zetnet.co.uk, Guy King decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

I was thinking you could fill the front of it with batteries and subs and stuff, to counteract the immense power created by the BIS engine :-)

The message from "Pete M" contains these words:

Subs? Why take lunch, it'll break down long before then.