" I arrive in Germany. Volkswagen Research Centre. It was January 1970. In the center of a huge room was a 128 completely disassembled and sectioned, piece by piece. I ask for explanations and they candidly answer that they will never be able to make a car with such refined mechanics at such a low price. For this the Golf will have to be smaller. In short, the 128 was their reference car " Giorgetto Giugiaro
Me too (sort of). My first car was a pushrod hand-me-down 1965 Fiat 1100D (got in 1969 in 10th grade and just getting my license). My second was a brand new '71 128 (1,116cc 80mm bore x 55.5mm stroke). Drove that for 11 years and 198,000 miles before I hit a curb at high speed and couldn't salvage it. Even today (at 70), and after many cars, I still dream of both, but especially of the 128.
When I was young, my older sisters shared a bright yellow version of this car. It brings back memories. I can only imagine how many clutch cables this car has seen in its nearly 50 years.
The braided copper grounding strap between the engine block and the body was corroded at the connection. With that circuit now open, the parasitic currents flowed through the clutch cable to the body causing electrolysis in the cable. Clean up the connection between the braided cable and the body and the problem goes away. Trust me on that one.
My father had the exact same car, same colour interior, same version of steering wheel, same ugly American-spec bumpers, except that it was blue and a station wagon. Such nostalgia!
In the early 80's I had a 1978 128 4 door. My father painted it red on the top and beige on the lower half. It looked great. New York City roads took a toll on the suspension and I lost my front control arm during a turn right in the middle of an intersection. The car was so light I got a couple of neighborhood guys to just pick it up and park it. I wish i never got rid of it. So much fun.
5:44 That suspension works amazingly! I still drive the copy of this car - Zastava Skala 55, which is the last production year, 2008 and i assure you the suspension is great, but not this great. Those Zastava "copies" had Fiat engine in the beginning, when it was called Zastava 101 and those Fiat engines are know to be the best by far, it could push the car over 160 kmh (100 mph) and later models with Zastava 55 engines could only do 135 kmh (84 mph). Fiat engine was also had higher quality and lower fuel consumption. What i didnt expect is that exhaust sound that is known with Zastava model, i dinnt know its also with the original Fiat (that buzzing sound above 2500 rpm like there is a crack in the exhaust).
When I was a child during the end of communism era in Poland, I remember a lot of cars looking like this Fiat. But it was not Fiat - It was Zastava (produced in Yugoslawia). At that time it was very demanded by people.
I hade a 74 128 4 door In the dark red color way back in the late 70s to the mid 80s in the Chicago area. It was great in the snow with an excellent heater but only if you could get it started. It has allot of interior room with a large trunk. But like all Fiats is rusted away.. Now I have san 81 Brava and sn 84 X1/9 with an 88 Yugo GVX to round out the bunch.
That is a great looking original car, I would love to have it. I had a 1973 128 2 door in 1977 when I was 16. My brother purchased it new and drove it to college. I still have the window sticker. Great little car, handled great. Not a rocket ship which may have been a good thing for a 16 year old. Sold it a year later for a 72 Nova with a V8
I I had the engine rebuilt and drove mine until around 1984. The Minnesota (salty) winters disintegrated/dissolved it until it was no longer safe to drive.
When these were being sold in the US, I loved the look of them This one the 124, the little rear engine one the 650 coupe and spyder, the Strada. I bought a 124 in 1974, but it was not a good car at all. By the time it had 28,000 miles on it I had replaced the high/low beam switch. It had a two- piece driveshaft with a center carrier bearing that needed to be replaced and at that 28,000 mile mark, it blew a head gasket. so, I sold it. What was once the local Fiat dealer is now a hearing center.
Beautifully original car. The exhaust is clearly not original though. This is understandable, but a concours car would have tried to replicate the original a bit more closely. A future project perhaps?
@@roby72s che sia una Versione per il mercato USA - Nord America è ovvio..... Il fatto di essere restaurato vuol dire che ha subito Lavori di Conservazione..... l'auto effettivamente sembra uscita tre Concessionario
Is this for sale? This was one of my favorite cars. I'd like Fiat to bring this back, but don't add any new technology to it. Just keep it the way it was, or they can upgrade the parts for more reliability. I think I got 31 mpg in the city.
The Fiat 500 has a very similar feel to it. It is heavier, but has about 30 more HP. Rear seat room and egress not as good, but plenty of room up front. The 128 was really a packaging miracle. The engine also loved to rev.
Yes! Especially on acceleration! Looks like it's pigeon toed and top heavy and gonna flip over on a turn. But amazingly, on turns, the outside front wheel stuck out, and the transverse rear leave springs also stuck out. On turns, the seemingly stodgy 128 turned into a Puma cat wearing Converse sneakers. The 128's handling was just crazy. Its big-bore/short-stroke engine sounded like an F1 car (or a Honda CBX). On turns it felt like it was on rails. On an upcoming bend, you add +10-20mph to the posted speed, and instead of hitting the brakes, you turn, downshift and gas it hard, pulling yourself back into the turn with 4 wheel slides! Even a trip to the local grocery store felt like a super fun, rally car adventure experience. Drove it for 11 years and 198,000 miles screaming at 4,000 rpm at just 65 mph (wish it had a 5th gear). Really miss that crazy 128!
Complimenti alla driver che guida con cambio manuale, FIAT 128 versione USA! 😝 comunque guidare un auto senza targhe in California é possibile? In Italia ti arrestano subito😂 Ciao bellissimo restauro
Good thing it is in California, because they were rusting on the way over, I think. You hardly ever saw a Fiat with a good body where I live. Seemed that nothing could save them.
Very nice car, but I have two comments, the steering wheel is cracked and a chrome strip is missing at the bottom of the grille. My car is a Fiat 128 1100 from 1975, it is red and has 71000km. It’s very good, but not so nice as yours!
" I arrive in Germany. Volkswagen Research Centre. It was January 1970. In the center of a huge room was a 128 completely disassembled and sectioned, piece by piece. I ask for explanations and they candidly answer that they will never be able to make a car with such refined mechanics at such a low price. For this the Golf will have to be smaller.
In short, the 128 was their reference car "
Giorgetto Giugiaro
I owned a Fiat 128 in Arlington, Virginia, in the early 1970s and loved it. Great car!
I had the same one in 1974, the same color - but without those ugly front and rear bumpers. (just a European model)
This was my very first car. Same everything. Brings back alot of memories.
Me too (sort of). My first car was a pushrod hand-me-down 1965 Fiat 1100D (got in 1969 in 10th grade and just getting my license). My second was a brand new '71 128 (1,116cc 80mm bore x 55.5mm stroke). Drove that for 11 years and 198,000 miles before I hit a curb at high speed and couldn't salvage it. Even today (at 70), and after many cars, I still dream of both, but especially of the 128.
I wish that I still had mine.
WE hade a green one got to know my mechanic fun to drive but lived in the shop
When I was young, my older sisters shared a bright yellow version of this car. It brings back memories. I can only imagine how many clutch cables this car has seen in its nearly 50 years.
😂
The braided copper grounding strap between the engine block and the body was corroded at the connection. With that circuit now open, the parasitic currents flowed through the clutch cable to the body causing electrolysis in the cable. Clean up the connection between the braided cable and the body and the problem goes away. Trust me on that one.
My father had the exact same car, same colour interior, same version of steering wheel, same ugly American-spec bumpers, except that it was blue and a station wagon. Such nostalgia!
In the early 80's I had a 1978 128 4 door. My father painted it red on the top and beige on the lower half. It looked great. New York City roads took a toll on the suspension and I lost my front control arm during a turn right in the middle of an intersection. The car was so light I got a couple of neighborhood guys to just pick it up and park it. I wish i never got rid of it. So much fun.
#1 best seller in Egypt , you can still see them running around , my first car and miss it so much!
I have a Fiat Bertone X1/9, which uses the same drivetrain as this 128. Until now, I really didn't realize how different these cars were.
5:44 That suspension works amazingly! I still drive the copy of this car - Zastava Skala 55, which is the last production year, 2008 and i assure you the suspension is great, but not this great. Those Zastava "copies" had Fiat engine in the beginning, when it was called Zastava 101 and those Fiat engines are know to be the best by far, it could push the car over 160 kmh (100 mph) and later models with Zastava 55 engines could only do 135 kmh (84 mph). Fiat engine was also had higher quality and lower fuel consumption. What i didnt expect is that exhaust sound that is known with Zastava model, i dinnt know its also with the original Fiat (that buzzing sound above 2500 rpm like there is a crack in the exhaust).
When I was a child during the end of communism era in Poland, I remember a lot of cars looking like this Fiat. But it was not Fiat - It was Zastava (produced in Yugoslawia). At that time it was very demanded by people.
Yes, I remember those!
I hade a 74 128 4 door In the dark red color way back in the late 70s to the mid 80s in the Chicago area. It was great in the snow with an excellent heater but only if you could get it started. It has allot of interior room with a large trunk. But like all Fiats is rusted away.. Now I have san 81 Brava and sn 84 X1/9 with an 88 Yugo GVX to round out the bunch.
Muy bello FIAT 128 maravilla italiana. Un placer ver esa hermosa maquina en la carretera todavia🤩😍🥰🤗🤗🤗👌👍👍
Supercool car! I LOVE 128s
That is a great looking original car, I would love to have it. I had a 1973 128 2 door in 1977 when I was 16. My brother purchased it new and drove it to college. I still have the window sticker. Great little car, handled great. Not a rocket ship which may have been a good thing for a 16 year old. Sold it a year later for a 72 Nova with a V8
I I had the engine rebuilt and drove mine until around 1984. The Minnesota (salty) winters disintegrated/dissolved it until it was no longer safe to drive.
My Day had a 128 Familiare, bring Back memories,after he died ,i get IT, and drove IT until The accident happend,after that car was unable to fix. 😢
When these were being sold in the US, I loved the look of them This one the 124, the little rear engine one the 650 coupe and spyder, the Strada. I bought a 124 in 1974, but it was not a good car at all. By the time it had 28,000 miles on it I had replaced the high/low beam switch. It had a two- piece driveshaft with a center carrier bearing that needed to be replaced and at that 28,000 mile mark, it blew a head gasket. so, I sold it. What was once the local Fiat dealer is now a hearing center.
Family had a 1977 Fiat 128 2-door back in the day. Same colour as yours...
My first Company Car in 1970
Bravo . From morocco
Nicely kept unit!😀
I used to own one of these Fiat 128s. Same colors throughout.
Perfect Italian style car....✌️👍
Believe it or not, I got my drivers license in a Fiat 128 in Sept 1977. It was my grandmothers car, and it was a deep navy blue
The one we had was , it had tan seats, dark blue paint job, same radio, license plate #426 jcd
Perfect car👍
Esta muy lindo y suena muy lindo el motor
FIAT needs to put the 128 back into production
Beautifully original car. The exhaust is clearly not original though. This is understandable, but a concours car would have tried to replicate the original a bit more closely. A future project perhaps?
Bel Video
devo dire che questo 128 èmolto bello e ben Restaurato sembra nuovo....... nello Specifico è un modello destinato agli USA.
No, non e' restaurato, ma tutto originals.
@@roby72s che sia una Versione per il mercato USA - Nord America è ovvio..... Il fatto di essere restaurato vuol dire che ha subito Lavori di Conservazione..... l'auto effettivamente sembra uscita tre Concessionario
Is this for sale? This was one of my favorite cars. I'd like Fiat to bring this back, but don't add any new technology to it. Just keep it the way it was, or they can upgrade the parts for more reliability. I think I got 31 mpg in the city.
This should not be a dream but a reality.
And I can’t help but feel that it would be exactly the car most people would want.
Wake up Fiat ! 😢
The Fiat 500 has a very similar feel to it. It is heavier, but has about 30 more HP. Rear seat room and egress not as good, but plenty of room up front. The 128 was really a packaging miracle. The engine also loved to rev.
Hola de que pais es?
Wanted to buy one .. my dad said "NO" . Purchased 124 instead 😅
Frankly, the 124 is more fun to drive.
I owned one myself, but your father was right .
124 was way better.
I owned one exactly like it with A/C. Great car until I wrecked it. 😢
Positive camber like crazy lol
Yes! Especially on acceleration! Looks like it's pigeon toed and top heavy and gonna flip over on a turn. But amazingly, on turns, the outside front wheel stuck out, and the transverse rear leave springs also stuck out. On turns, the seemingly stodgy 128 turned into a Puma cat wearing Converse sneakers. The 128's handling was just crazy. Its big-bore/short-stroke engine sounded like an F1 car (or a Honda CBX). On turns it felt like it was on rails. On an upcoming bend, you add +10-20mph to the posted speed, and instead of hitting the brakes, you turn, downshift and gas it hard, pulling yourself back into the turn with 4 wheel slides! Even a trip to the local grocery store felt like a super fun, rally car adventure experience. Drove it for 11 years and 198,000 miles screaming at 4,000 rpm at just 65 mph (wish it had a 5th gear). Really miss that crazy 128!
Complimenti alla driver che guida con cambio manuale, FIAT 128 versione USA! 😝 comunque guidare un auto senza targhe in California é possibile? In Italia ti arrestano subito😂 Ciao bellissimo restauro
👍👍👍👍👍
Okay, how much?
How much.
Good thing it is in California, because they were rusting on the way over, I think. You hardly ever saw a Fiat with a good body where I live. Seemed that nothing could save them.
Very nice car, but I have two comments, the steering wheel is cracked and a chrome strip is missing at the bottom of the grille. My car is a Fiat 128 1100 from 1975, it is red and has 71000km. It’s very good, but not so nice as yours!
Nice car. But the bumpers😢
Che bei paraurti, sembra una macchinina a scontro! Che strani gli americani! Però quello che la guida almeno sa usare il cambio meccanico!
Que parachoques más horrorosos
Ho dimenticato FIAT vuol dire: Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino! Che adesso non esiste più ce Stellantis😝
Infatti nn si sa se e un 1300.
Monta un bialbero forse 1600cc
con le modifiche per gli u.s. fa proprio schifo!
Ma che paraurti monta!!
My dad.had a orange128. My 2. Always a smell of petrol off it ...