Oh! This thread brings back the memories of our 12 year ownership of 1967 white Fiat 1100 D . Frankly, I would not say that it was a very encouraging experience in terms of reliability, but I cannot deny that we did a lot of highway trips on this car. This car would breakdown, sweat, rattle, damage its silencer, drain the battery even after thousand repairs to its dynamo every now & then, but refused to die!
But I must say that as a car made in 1967, it had features which were not incorporated in cars produced in the same time-frame (read amby). It had a auto-switch off turn signal, integrated speedo/fuel/temp console with light/ turn signals. It had a windshield washer too (which didn't work on our car), nice gear stick on the steering wheel which did not needed you to be a body builder to shift gears (again: read reverse gear!). The car had bench seats on the front too, which could be slided, though not as easily as modern cars. The engine was 1089 CC which probably pumped out 48 BHP (against the 39 BHP later in the padimini). It had drum brakes on all 4, but braking was practically better (...again read: better than Amby).
I learnt driving on this car, when I was 11 (yes, you read it right-11).
Given with the co-efficient of problems, you will have to learn to repair it in most cases, not only to save money, but also to save your skin; when it would stall at the highways on nights!
Some things that I would like to recall:
Pros:
1. I would rate the engine & gear box among the top things in this car. The pull of the engine & the gear shifts were nice. Sounded good too!
2. Had bigger wheels as compared to the puny Maruti's; which had replaced the word car by the 90s. This was a real boon on the highways.
3. With some elementary knowledge & practice, you could easily open the carb, clean it & retune the engine & carry out many such DIY repairs on the car.
4. Good brakes as of that era.
5. Was the easiest thing to repair in the world, after changing your living room bulbs. Any tom,dick or harry would do it!
5. Really Strong body sheet metal.
cons:
1. Needed a lot in terms of ground clearance, which was I guess 128mm. It meant frequent visits to FNG for repairs to the silencer muffler.
2. If anything we had to spend money on routinely except petrol was the dynamo repair. This was the most unreliable aspect of my car resulting in drained battery.
3. With some luggage in the boot & passengers in the rear, the car would sling at the rear & front would be pointing towards the horizon. This looked like a perfect vehicle for a space launch.
4. No handbrakes!
5. Too many niggles throughout made it unreliable. IMO, This is the most disgraceful thing that a vehicle can be termed as.
However, being our first car, it always had & will have a soft corner in my heart. Despite all this, it carried us to many places, sometimes trouble free, sometimes with a whole lot of them.
We sold it for a pittance after keeping it along with the ride in my signature for about 2 years. & I think I was lucky to dispose it off in a graceful way as the purchaser drove it out of my garage & not push it! Also, the car, Premiers & FIATs went out of sight even on the roads very abruptly once the emission norms came in.
I have a grudge against the manufacturer, PAL. They had enjoyed a great run for more than 2 decades, but they failed to do any value addition to this car after it ended its relations with FIAT. The car looked the same, exactly and nothing was done to give it a new lease of life during its 25-30 years of run. At the end what happened was easier predicted than any other thing. Died a disgraceful death. As a company which sold lakhs of cars, to die this way it unacceptable. Without giving out a try.
I will search if I have any pictures of my Fiat 1100D in the family albums, since there was no digital photography in those days.
Thanks,
Saket