Fiat 126p - Our Holiday Car

[Slotty]

So I finally managed to persuade my wife to get one, this was every Family's first car in Poland in 80's and we owned about 4 of them, really easy to fix, 650cc engine with massive 26bhp and RWD...:) The fun we had in these when I was a teenager

 

We go to my homeland at least twice a year and always struggled with getting around, well we were always able to use our Families cars but that's not the same. We went to Poland in March and while visting my Dad with my wife I found out that my neighbour who owned one decided to sell it so we gave it a go.

 

Paid massive £60.00 for the car, £80.00 for Fully Comp insurance and £20 tax duty thingy:

 

 

 

We bought this car on our last day before heading back to the UK...Left it with my dad and wife's cousin to check the car and give is the estimate on how much it will cost to get this sorted............

[Slotty]

Two weeks later car's paper work was sorted and this was taken the the garage for full inspection...The engine was OK but leaking, gearbox OK but leaking, whole supsenssion needed replacing, whole body and floor was full of rust...

 

Basically whole body needed sorting out and only thing that was OK to keep was wheels and windows...

 

Estimated costs to fix everything inc all labour and paintwork was too much for us so we decided to....FIND ANOTHER ONE

 

 

This one costed us £500 but whole body is rust free and there are only few little bits to sort out...so this will cost us much less and 90% of the car inc the paint work will be original after it's all sorted

 

The work is underway:

 

 

Whole engine rebuild

 

Then off to the body shop to get few bits sorted

 

Full respray but keeping the same colour

 

I have also putchased these little FSO beauties as original wheels is these are 12" and steelies, we will keep them for winter and car will sit on these during the summer:

 

 

These are 13" wheels from Polonez FSO or Fiat 125p.

 

More photos and updates will follow as and when I get these. Wife's cousin is sorting everything out for us while we here but we are heading to Poland soon and car will be ready for us when we there.

 

First thing I will do is properly detail the car and will upload some photos when done

 

The red one we originally bought will be sold at some point but I don't want to worry about this until Green one is sorted.

 

That's all for now. I hope you like it

 

Also, before you all ask...No, we are not going to fit any superbike engine to this car....This has been done and there are lots of Videos on YouTube but we want to keep this standard......Well at least for now

 

Matty

Edited 15 May, 2017 by Slotty

[mdk1]

Great little car Matty, must be fun to nip around.

[Slotty]

2 minutes ago, mdk1 said:

Great little car Matty, must be fun to nip around.

Thank you. It's great fun...!!  Can't wait to drive it in June

[Liger1956]

This thread brings back memories of the White Fiat 126 that my wife, then girlfriend, owned when I  met her.

It was the only car that I have seen that had started to go rusty in the middle of the roof. It also had 'cruise control' in that a lever between the front seats clamped the throttle cable and therefore maintained a constant speed  (sort of as any incline would slow it down especially two up)

 

She was coming the see me at my parents one day and when she turned into our housing estate and selected second gear the whole drive train locked up. I manged to remove the bolts holding one half shafts to the hub and push it back to the house. After consulting the Haynes manual, which in those days showed you how to dismantle a gearbox my Dad and I set about the car. The fault turned out to be a loose 6mm sets crew in the 1st gear selector.  When she selected second gear the first gear selector had come loose and not taken the gearbox out of first! A trip the the local Fiat dealers in Lincoln for a couple of new gears to replace those that had lost a tooth and the car was as good as new.

 

I wish you well in your venture.

Richard

[Slotty]

Thank you Richard.

 

The car is now off to the body shop and everything should be done within 2/3 weeks.

 

This car also brings back lots of good memories hence why I bought it

[Slotty]

So little update after spending few days in Poland...

 

The red one is now sold...Well it was given to my family member for free as we didn't need it.

 

Whole engine is now rebuilt and runs sweet as honey...!!!

New Suspension fitted

New Tyres fitted and wheels balanced

Whole body repaired and full respray done.

 

Now all that's left is to put it all back together, polish the car, wheels need laser aligment, alloys to replace standard wheel which will be used as winters

 

The car looks so much better in real and photos don't do it justice:

 

 

Alloys and Tyres:

 

Can't wait until August...!!!! Planning two week holiday in Poland and car will be done and ready for me..!!!!

 

Edited 22 June, 2017 by Slotty

[group1rs]

Love it 

[TriggerFish]

A friend bought one of these from Poland with a view to selling it in the UK (I think he paid ~£4k?!). It ended up going back to Germany, ironically.

 

I drove it for a bit, and once you've got used to it, I reckon it could be great fun. Compared to most other things I've driven, it was just terrifying at first with heavy steering and initially dead brakes! (That's including a few Austin 7s and a 1970's Cooper S - I'd rank this as the scariest out of those compared to modern cars.)

 

Is the plan to use it as a car for the holidays to Poland then, or will it make its way to the UK?

[Slotty]

I don't think it will ever make the UK. It's too much to bring over and I won't drive it here as it will take me probably a week. The max speed is astonishing 55mph

 

We just want something cool to drive around during our holidays in Poland. 

 

I can't wait to drive it...!!!