Back for it's second bout, the heavy lightweight from Italy, the Fiat 128
(thanks for the pic Oldsaw)
Hailing from the country of fine wine, cheese, and eating... The Gallic Contender, the Renault 5, also known as the LeCar here in the US. Featuring engines from 850ccs to 1400 driving the front wheels, It was the first car to have molded plastic bumpers that mounted flush with the body. Availible in a 3 or 5 door hatchback, it was definatly a step forwards from your typical economy car.
FIGHT!
I'll take the Renault.
Make mine this one:
I knew somebody would bring up the R5... not really sure it qualifies as a true Renault 5
Are there any Renault 5s left? I mean, except for the Turbos, haven't they all rusted into oblivion?
The Renault 5? If I remember correctly, in that "wonderfully" perverse French way, it was one of.....if not THE only small, FWD hatchback to have an engine mounted front to back instead of side to side (I can never seem to remember which way describes longitudinal and which transverse).
The Fiat would get my vote if for no other reason than the "typical" French car parts network makes the Fiat parts situation look stellar.
How about a 'Lectric Leopard?
Fiat for me!!!
Fiat easy.
Damn.... Tough one.
but then again I spent 2 hours scouring the PNW for 128's in the last 2 days
I think I still vote Fiat but it pains me to do so.
This is a serious question?
integraguy wrote: The Renault 5? If I remember correctly, in that "wonderfully" perverse French way, it was one of.....if not THE only small, FWD hatchback to have an engine mounted front to back instead of side to side (I can never seem to remember which way describes longitudinal and which transverse).
The Renault just moved the rear engine layout forward so the transmission is behind the bumper.
like this
R5's also have the worlds most amazing sliding ragtop.
I'll vote for the Frog car.
EvanB wrote: How about a 'Lectric Leopard?
I've recently worked on one of these.
I vote for neither.
The Fiat is likely a better car overall, and more likely to win the vote by a landslide, but I desperately miss flyweight '80s 3 doors.
Renault for me, three lugs and all.
stroker wrote: This is a serious question?
Yeah... this is worse than trying to chose between a Mustang II and a Monza...
I think I have to abstain from this vote... either choice would equal a bullet in the head.
Ian F wrote:stroker wrote: This is a serious question?Yeah... this is worse than trying to chose between a Mustang II and a Monza... I think I have to abstain from this vote... either choice would equal a bullet in the head.
How is this worse then the Mustang II vs Monza? The Fiat is an awesome little car.
And the Renault is an awesomer little car.
Ian F wrote:stroker wrote: This is a serious question?Yeah... this is worse than trying to chose between a Mustang II and a Monza... I think I have to abstain from this vote... either choice would equal a bullet in the head.
We have this choice now.. once upon a time, people really did cross shop these cars
128 by far.
Even though they used to race the Renault, the Fiat is a better car by far. We never got the good verions of the Renault here in the US, which is a shame as they did make some. My brother had a Renault at one point, the only car I can compare it to is a friend's Citroen DS in it's ability to run more than a mile a week! 
It really was THAT bad. Build quality was atrocious. The engine was a nice little engine though and somewhat rugged...it just fell apart when it ran!
128, the blue one in the first picture.
mad_machine wrote:Ian F wrote:We have this choice now.. once upon a time, people really did cross shop these carsstroker wrote: This is a serious question?Yeah... this is worse than trying to chose between a Mustang II and a Monza... I think I have to abstain from this vote... either choice would equal a bullet in the head.
Ok. Fine.
If we take the R5 version out of the equation, then Fiat.
Of course, I now have a real morbid curiosity about what bit of automotive turdage you'll find for the next challenge against the "winner" of this pair. 
The R5 is very good for saving mermaids, but I would still go with the Fiat.
Fiat for me.
The 128 is the car that almost all modern FWD platforms were copied from. When VW designed the first golf they went out and bought 128's, tore some apart to learn from and used the others as benchmarks to compare against. It was European car of the year when introduced and praised throughout its entire production run as an excellent handling drivers car.
The 5 was less revolutionary but also a very good handling car that dominated showroom stock "C" when it was introduced. It was sold through AMC dealers and marketed as an ugly alternative to the rabbit. Kind of funny. AMC calling something else ugly.
The Renault was the first production car to have plastic bumpers and at the time was thought to a lesser car because of it. The lack of big chrome planks across the front of it was seen as a sign of cheapness and weakness.
Here. Have Rowan Atkinson racing a 5 with a bunch of other 5's. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT71iETt9Zw
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