Everything considered, the 125 is the best Fiat ever made. It was made before Fiat’s quality went to shit, it’s modern enough to be fun to drive, looks great and was and is much more affordable to buy and keep it running than the thirsty big 130. Its Polish cousin’s grille looks better though.
Help, mine got stolen by the Red Army
If something kills it, it’s emissions. The Niva is imported in so small numbers that it is exempt from most safety regulations.
Moreover, even though Hungary was in the Eastern Bloc, it is now member of the EU. There’s no news yet on ending selling the Niva here. I’d be surprised if it had happened because it’s the only Lada that sells in a relatively large number.
The EU market surely will have a manual as the majority of current-gens are manual. Not sure with the I6 but 4 cylinders and diesels will get one.
Both the diesel and the ‘holy grail’ are on sale. Well, not in North America but you can get both here in the EU.
It should have been named Thunderbird. Thunder means electricity and modern SUV-coupes serve a similar role in a manufacturer’s lineup as personal luxury cars of the 70s.
Oh, I had one, that was originally my dad’s. Well, it was a little bit smaller, but still. That said, I have to find my old Matchboxes next time I visit my parents.
The Trabants are unibody, air-cooled (so no radiator) and the engine is transverse. So it’s pretty different underneath.
Yeah, it was pretty easy. But I am cheating as I live in an ex-eastern bloc country. I’ve seen plenty of these while growing up.
My secret Polish car-kink is an FSO Warszawa. It’s basically a license built GAZ Pobeda but without the uncomfortable Stalinist-Hungarian State Protection Authority associations.
If you choose a W123, do yourself a favour and buy a 230 E. Everyone loves the diesels but this is the engine to have. It has ok fuel economy (cca 8-9l/100km) and not as slow as the diesels. Mind, the Turbodiesels are pretty rare in Europe and the NA 300 D is 80 or 88 hp depending on the model year, the others are…
How the Alfa 75 made it to Ukraine? Probably as a grey import in the early 90s. After the fall of the communist regimes, everybody imported used western cars, Ukranians no exception. The real question is that how the Skoda made it there. The Soviet Union didn’t import cars, not even from the Eastern Bloc. I don’t…
I mean they are the same car but they can't be more different.
Chevy Firenza Can-Am: a small Vauxhall coupe with the Camaro Z28's V8, built for South Africa.
The average European motorway speed limit is 130 kph which is around your 80 mph, then there’s Germany with no speed limit. The average new car makes here around 140-150 hp and it’s more than enough to drive at that speeds. But really, depending on the size of your car 70-110 hp should be enough to be safe on a…
Dunno, the new 3 is pretty interesting. A compact sedan/hatch, that is aviable with a supercharged compression-ignited petrol engine and AWD with a manual. They also kept simple, reliable NA engines that are pretty much dead at other brands in the EU. They are slowly becoming my favourite automaker and it’s coming…
Modern diesels tend to be better coupled to a manual. You can keep the engine in its powerband while autos usually shift at low rpm-s because of EU emission rules. And as this car’s main market is the EU, I doubt they changed the software for the US’s bit leaner emission requirements.
FCA also seriously needs to invest into Fiat if they want to stay relevant in Europe. Altough that may will be solved with the Peugeot merger with PSA’s small car platform.
TL,DR: The Mini is a fun and well appointed car, the 500 is cheap but cheerful, the Beetle is none of them.
