Panda update

[Pat Pending]

One of the things that used to make me smile was that the "experts" who ridiculed the 127, drove Ford Fiestas......

[Geordie McBoyne]

In fact Ford used the 127 as the basis for the design of the Fiesta. Fiat was a very innovative company. The 128 was indeed one the first cars to employ the "end on" gearbox installation, much better than having the gears in the sump. Didn't the 128 appear before the 127? Actually, it could be argued that British Leyland Cars was the first with the end on gearbox. In automatic versions of the 1800/2200 "Land Crab" the Borg Warner auto box was attached to the end of the engine. Manual cars retained the gears in the sump.
Also, the Fiat 128 was the first car to have a bonded in windscreen glass. Helps to stiffen the body shell.

Geordie McBoyne.

[Murphyv310]

Hi.
Indeed Fiat are innovative. In fact the Italians were and are to the forefront of automotive history and development. Fiat again were the first with a DOHC 16 valve engine in 1912 http://www.autobytel.com/car-ownership/t...ft-104200/

One long term Fiat nut I know always told me that there is so much car snobbery in the UK Fiat don't advertise some models, the current Panda being one. Sales went up in 2016 with an increase of 22% for the Panda in Europe and is now the 11th best selling car in the EU. http://www.best-selling-cars.com/eur...turers-brands/

[Refugee]

The Simca 1100 I had was not that different and dated from the early 1970s.
It had the final drive in the same casting that formed the clutch housing with its own oil supply. The gearbox just bolted onto the clutch housing and was easy to remove and fit.
Unlike the Maxi with the gearbox and final drive in the sump the clutch involved taking at least one drive shaft and hub off on the Simca and the later Horizon. The rust and electrics were awful. All Chrysla engines of the period were well known for there distinctive tappet noise.

[Murphyv310]

Hi.
I had a brand new Simca 1100 in 1974 from British Relay, only had it 5 months before I left. Nippy car pulled far far better than the Escort 1100, rotten gearchange and the engine had awful tappet noise after a couple of thousand miles. Suspension was softer than the Ford but in the 5 months I had it there was no rust and it never gave any trouble.

[Refugee]

Mine was a 1976 model and was about 5 years old. By then the tappet noise could be heard about 5 minutes before one went past. I was often asked if it was diesel. They used to start falling to bits after about 40,000 miles. The jacking points were the first things to rust off followed by the front wings and the petrol flap. The Ford KA was not the first fuel flap ruster that was the Simca and the MK3 Cortina jointly.
Deep puddles used to wipe the exhaust off due to there being just one big box mounted cross wise.
They were fine for a couple of years and that was about it apart from the clunky gear shift and the tappet noise obviously.

[Murphyv310]

Hi.
Reading through the thread I see comments about rust on the old 500. We seem to have dismissed the worst ever ruster known to the motoring world. It was British and nearly bankrupted its maker Vauxhall, it was the Victor F 1957 to 1962, the annoying thing was Vauxhall did little to improve the car and many didn't buy another Vauxhall even though it's replacement the FB was a good car.

Sad to think that Vauxhall could be a manufacturer of the past just like Rover, I wonder if those fire hazard Zafira's have made things worse for them.

[Pat Pending]

Never mind the rust on the "F" Victor, what about the number of injured kneecaps on the corner of that infernal windscreen!

The accolade for the worst rust box in recent times to my mind was the Lancia Delta

Andy.

[Murphyv310]

Yes the Delta was pretty horrendous, I've been told though that on coastal areas, the Victor F was so bad that chassis welding was needed before the car was two years old.

[Murphyv310]

Hi.
Believe it or not its now 3 months till MFL (my Rover 75 V6) was passed onto it's new owner and the Panda arrived.
So far I have little to complain about with the Panda, the dealer Parks in Irvine a Fiat agent less so though.
The car had a dealer service stamp in the book for 19,000 miles and I got it at 19,076 miles, the "service" was done last October. On purchase I brought to the attention of the salesman there was a light score on the sill and the front discs didn't look too good. The car was due an MOT in March so he said they would attend to the discs at the MOT, a door seal would be replaced too.
When I picked up the car the score was repaired perfectly, I was to return to get the seal done when it came in, so a week later I did and I asked if the MOT could be brought forward and the discs done. This was arranged and when I picked up the car I was told that the discs were within spec and the MOT was passed with no advisories.
I was far from happy and checked the thickness of the discs with the micrometer they were only just within spec but badly scored. After a few calls I got nowhere and as the year warranty I had that didn't include service parts I decided to change them myself. The job on the Panda is easy and straightforward, new discs and pads were £53 with a 10% discount I have. Now another thing was the validity of the service. I whipped out the air filter and no way had that been replaced in October, so since then I have serviced the car with new oil, filters and plugs.
I got five weeks out of this tank of fuel.
I've just filled up the Panda to the brim and have recorded over 53mpg on this brim to brim (fuel right at neck) fuel up. Average now over 47Mpg on three fuel up's, well pleased
So this goes to prove that the service wasn't done, the oil that came out was certainly a testament to that.
Isn't it a pity that it's often the dealers that give a car a bad reputation, the dealers in my view were the big problem with the old rear engined Skoda's and to an extent with the 75.
All in all though the Panda is doing what I ask of it, no it's not a 75 but I was fully aware it never would be, to get into a car with no difficulty for me and Anne is a big big bonus.
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