131mirafiori forum

(http://i.ebayimg.com/15/!BYcp+JgBmk~$(KGrHgoH-DkEjlLly2R-BKhoM5ZC(w~~_12.JPG) (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1977-FIAT-132-BLUE_W0QQitemZ170372387477)

It doesn't look clever, but how many are left to argue with?  It's near my work, if so could pop over

there is one for Kev! go on go on go on, save her Kev

I'm on the case NIck - Spotted this at 6pm last night - Spoke with the seller yesterday and he's doing some more pics. He's had a few calls about the car itself which surprised him because he genuinely felt that the engine might be the only part of interest. He said that when he was taking in these cars to scrap 15 years ago they were worse than this car.

Original owner was a dealer and then an "old boy" for years. It starts, drives and stops apparently but I have a feeling that it will be too much work for me. The car would not start originally but he put in fresh petrol and away it went. A very quiet engine apparently.

Trevidash - If you can pop around and deliver a verdict and more pics that would be appreciated.  :)

In fact, Ebay UK is a particularly rich source of Fiats from my favourite era at the moment, 127, 128, 131, 132 & a Strada, all at the same time! ;)

Best of luck Kevin if you do buy it & restore the 132 it will be more "your" car than the others because of the personal touch, thats what i think anyhow, my celica is being stored away from home at the moment & its killing me!

50 quid? i'd pay that much just for tinted glass on that one.
lines on the bodywork are straight, seems it never had an serious accident in it's life. all the trim is there, bumpers, grille... looks restorable although it could be hiding a lot of rust in bottom of doors, sills etc.

hi  , if kev doesent save it i will its identical to 1 my father had,nice 1

Bid away for it jack1 - I'd be just as pleased to see it come to Ireland. I notice that you have a Triumph Acclaim - I do remember these cars being launched in Ireland and I noticed an article on them in one the classic cars mags last Sunday - Maybe their time is coming!  ;)

IT's now listed on e-bay and price is now up to 185.00uk sterling.The sellers phone number is listed on the advert.There is another 5days to go before the auction ends.Will be intresting to see what the final bid will be ::).Eugene

Assuming it is a manual the engine and box are worth about ?200 or so so it is still cheap. If it makes much more than that I would say then the buyer will try to restore it. If it sticks about ?200-?250 then I would guess it will be broken for spares. But who knows?

Somebody buy this car to restore and not to break it up as breaking a very restorable is the greatest SIN of any car lover  ::) ::) can we start a campaign to save these cars from the FIAT murderers :o

click on the pic ;D   ....it's a manual

I'll pop over and see it tomorrow.  It's bound to be a patchwork quilt, but with ticket back in 2005 it can't be as dead a loss as many.  Hang on, what am I saying.  There aren't 'many'  :'(

How do you know it is very restorable? You would have to see the car personally to know that.

cant seem to find it on ebay, anyone got the link or ebay number?

ok Nick,e-bay item number170372387477.Contact Graham on 0044 7831 505459.Car is in bushey Hertfordshire.Eugene

Thanks eugene, ebay seems to have changed it usually list cars in the left column but not for fiat 132, i hope it gets restored & not broken up, kevin if interested i could do the welding on the body for you but we are very far away, going to try & do that for a living no work anywhere else, i have a ta22 coming tomorrow so fingers crossed for more after that.

True I have not seen the car but look at what Yagmur can do as some folk get hung up on the FINANCIAL end of it as the car wont be WORTH what they put into it. You have just priced the car in parts fueling the concept of murdering the car for a 50 or maybe a 100 pound profit and we wonder where all the 131's went.....

They were and still are one of the classiest and most comfortable cars on the road and i would definately have it if it was closer to me no question  It cant be as bad as the one in Ireland is at1000euros according to reports

 :(
click on the pic, as I said above...


Ok I went over this afternoon.  I remember Graham the yard owner from my short trousers days.  He said he's had two calls from the guys on here requesting more photos.  I'd like the car myself...  Has been outside for a lot of its life, last ten years confirmed by the parking permits.  So, anyhow here are more pics

http://193.118.14.76/jason/132/

vid clip of engine run-up, in case browsers muck about:
http://193.118.14.76/jason/132/MVI_3921.AVI

Cheers
Jason

anybody get pics yet?   you must of been downloading as i asked and i must say great selection, do you have an opion yourself on the car?

no way this car should be scrapped!
if you guys overseas think this is to be broken for parts or scrapped, you're nuts! i've salvaged and driven for years much worse cars than this one. please someone save it!

if not, save the doorcards for me  ;D

Lads that 132 is rotten not worth the effort, it would empty your wallet fast if you were paying someone to try & weld it, but if you had access to new panels & completley stripped & spent 3 years welding it in your spare time then go for it.

sadly  sid131 now i've  seen  the  pics  i think i would have to agree ,i will now stop the bidding  and  let  someone  braver have a go,shame

Hi Jason - Thanks for the pics - That is a proper set of pictures - Taken by a man that knows Italian cars!! :-)

Engine sounds sweet but the car is not for me either, although I'd be pleased if it turned up in my drive as it is.  :)

we're not talking about value of a car in monetary terms. 132's are getting very hard to come by and i personally wouldn't mind getting my hands on this one if it wasn't RHD and if transport cost to Serbia wouldn't be over 500e.
btw, last week i bought two front wings, two rear wings, all 4 doors, both sills and a bootlid for 132, all new old stock parts, for 200e. for me it's a bargain

Looks like it could be saved to me. But Sid is right a lot of work would be needed. You would either have to be prepared to spend a lot or do the work yourself.

Djape looks like you got a great deal on those panels. I would have expected to pay much more than 200 Euro for all that ;D

A few friends had a gold one in the mid 80's of these it seemed to be  sold to each one in turn in the same village and allways manage 120mph with four or more people in the car coming back from disco's  :P every weekend
 

My take on the car, make of this what you will.  I'm no expert and don't pretend to be.


Structure from front to back:

Inside the engine bay was all together, wing rails there and good, not blown through at bulkhead - original factory seams like an Alfasud owner hasn't seen for decades.  The rust on the inner wing (O/S) under and around battery tray mount into corner was more surface rust and not totally rotted out as the photo implies - it may need new metal here but not a lot from what I could see. N/S pretty good, original factory seams.  No evidence of smash damage to corners and rails.

Front valence shot. Rails need inspection but if it was bad and weak you'd be seeing through it from the engine bay by now and the car would be sitting pi$$ed. Top suspension arms don't look great though, and I would expect new metal here to the inner wing.

Front wings pretty good really, all tops and front corners are solid without bubbling around lights or the rear corner.  Plastic front arch liners are still there. Arches just need local work.  The usual rot at bottom corners.

Screen surround bottom were original and had a bubble or two but looking underneath it's good. Roof to A-pillar join has a needs work but it's localised.  Screen top to roof good, roof rails ok with some local work.

A, B, C pillars good, top to bottom.

Underneath!  Outer sills plated in past in places many years ago, this and the thin tidy(-ish) lip welds indicate original sills and not covers. Inner sills seemed good at door shuts and when given a squeeze, but I didn't lift carpets.  Floors rails look ok but will need work no doubt. Floors need replacing - it's a patchwork quilt from years of plated repairs along the length of the tub, but appears confined to the outer edge 6 inches and the expectedly hopeless areas around the jacking points. Inner arch flitches look ok but bound to be rough as the sill ends are all plated. Can't really offer any better with putting it on a ramp, but I've seen 12 year old Fiestas heading this way...

Rear arches saveable, the usual rot at bottom corners.

Inside the boot, all upper and lower corners good.  The strut towers are exceptional and solid - Lancia Beta owners would love towers like this.  I didn't lift the seat squab but I reckon it would be the same.  Rear panel all good as was valence. Rot at lower rear quarters just like any old Cortina would have.

Panels: Bonnet front seams rotted from corners across lip, best replaced.  Boot lid lip inner rust but saveable and not blown through to upper skin.  Doors as you would expect - tops need local, but window frames look good.  Skins shot at bottom, as expected, but door frames as a whole appear saveable.  All panels and doors appear to be factory.


Interior:  All there, grubby, rear squab seams split but saveable, front seats good, side bolsters ok if lumpy.  Nothing seemed broken, not even the glove box lid !

Window glass all good.

Engine fired and ran sweetly and revved up and down very well and quickly, no oil leaks noted, not smoky.  Didn't get it properly warm of course, but oil cap clean, didn?t hear any piston slap, knocks or grumbling bearings.  Top-end sounded happy.  Clutch operated, quiet gearbox bearings at idle, as was release bearing.  Hoses, etc made it look like it's had decent servicing the past, but been sitting out in the open in recent years, unused.  If it's done more than 53k then it's not much more.


I was pushed for time, so treat this as a quick inspection from someone burned in the past at MOT time :D
Of course it's a rot box, but I think the car could be saved as the bulkhead area; A/B-pillars and D-post are solid enough.  I saw (and owned) worse cars twenty years ago.  Floors and sills need replacing but that's straightforward stuff, box sections and strut towers are not.

Oh my god!!! i have to say. If you guys say that is rotten car come visit in Finland  ;D Almost every old car in here looks liket that. It looks much more worse than it is. I can tell that on straight hand. Little sandblasting and good as new of course some paint can be aplied.

My 131 was much more badly looking underneath but its now passed MOT and pleasant driving  :)

Mayby you guys are use to little more better ones in there somewhere that is really good car just a little job done. Of course there is allways some suprises on under everything what photos dont show but still.

@TreviDash
that's the most comprehensive and honest overview of a second hand car i've read so far!
you really know your fiat's. thanks for the effort and the time

@Castrol
couldn't agree with you more!

seems to me thet our british and irish friends are getting a bit spoiled. what's the fun of having an oldtimer if you don't get your hands dirty? increases driving pleasure tenfold to know that you saved it from the scrappers personally! and believe me, nobody will turn a head if you drve a new fiat, but just imagine yourself taking a drive down your local main street in a pristine 132!

that particular 132 seems to be sufering from all the usual 132 faults except that interior is in much better condition than average. expect that front partition between pasanger compartment and front wheels will be having some rust damage also. all in all, good basis for restoration. not too much of a challenge in my oppinion. just a good honest bodywok patch up and a brakes and suspension overhaul.
we can't all be lucky as our friend from germany with his black 132 belini... that car just needed a new paint as far as i can tell. hardly deserving a restoration title!

I don't want to be held responsible if the sand blaster reduces it to dust though!  ;)

Don't get me wrong, it's a rotten mess - but weren't they all by 1988, not 2009?  I've seen just as bad BMC/BL bilge get restored, and most of them do not have much value when finished, either. 

How would we feel if it was caged and painted ready for 2-Litre Bangers on Bank holiday Monday?

?320 now, with 3 days left...  someone's not going to get much profit if they just want to part it out though...

would feel bad about it. only way you could redeem yourslef would be if you take everything usefull off it first. interior door panels, electric window motors  and roofliner for me  ;D

perhaps.... an idea!
it starts up boring but just read it:
couple months ago i got a chance to buy a 1991 lada samara with 30k kms on the clock that stood idle in the street for 5 years for scrap iron money. not very exciting. however, i posted it on a serbian lada club which i'm a member of and asked samara owners would they be interested in spare parts. even before i bought the car i had a large number of reserved (pre sold) parts. when numbers added up i bought it. on a nice sunny sunday some 15 people came to my yard and over a beer and barbicue dismembered samara in 4 hrs. everybody took what they needed and threw in as much cash as they thought it was worth.
complete front subframe with suspension and brakes 40e
engine 50e
interior 50e
gearbox 30e
complete rear suspension 30e
etc...
i ended up with 400e in my pocket and an emty samara shell that i sold of to scrappers for 20e. everybody happy. next time there's a lada club gathering drinks will be on me.

perhaps you could do something simmilar with that 132? buy it, take off everything that's usable and unnecesary for bangers racing and sell it here. there's a lot of people here that own 132's besides 131's and i'm sure they'd be interested in some bits and pieces. you could end up with a banger racer car for free

you already have one custmer - me

There are lots of people out there and of course they value things differently.

Perhaps there are bidders who think even ?600-?800 is cheap for a good engine, gearbox and diff?

Some people may think because it is a rare Fiat if they buy it for ?800 spend a few hundred on it they could sell it for ?2000 or more and make a little profit. Who knows.

There is also the fact that as they don't come up for sale often there may be 2 or 3 people out there who are really desperate for one and are prepared to pay a decent amount of money for one. Even one that requires a lot of work to bring it back to its former glory.

A lot of people on here spend a lot of time and money to restore cars to a good standard and keep them for many years to come. But out there, there are also those who would just get it MOT'd as cheaply as possible and use it for a year to have some fun.

Each to their own. If you buy it it's yours and you can do what you want with it.

Dave how many roadworthy 132 are left in the UK do you think?

I know James Nicholson has 2 or 3. A man up in scotland has a couple of nice ones. One good early one is in the North East of England. I have two but they are not currently roadworthy (although they are both solid cars). One thing is for sure, you dont see them running around very often!

So if I said half a dozen that are Taxed & Tested, that wouldn't be unlikely?

820uk sterling the auction ended at.I watched it for the last 10min until it ended and with 4min to go three bids came in together and with 10 seconds to go the final bid came in.It is amazing the intrest that was for this car,as recently a 2000tcsupermirafioricame up for auction and not even 1 bid was for the car.This e-bay place can be very strange sometimes.Eugene

?820 and 41 bids !    :o
 

I would say that the yard owner is smiling, someone wanted a 132 badly, i wonder who bought it?

i just hope it ain't some company selling spares.

At that price I think the buyer will want it for restoration. However, will it get done? Who knows? I wonder if the buyer has actually seen the car? The seller described the bodywork as "good for one of these" but, we all have diffent opinions of 'good'!

Of course ebay helpfully does not let you know who bought the item ::) but, if you check the sellers feedback in a week or so providing the buyer left feedback you can find out who bought it.

One thing I can say it was not me ;D

you'd be suprised...
if i managed to squeze 400e out of lada samara in serbia, who knows how much is 132 worth in bits, given the prices at EU, and especially UK market? last year i watched a tv program, think it was on bbc prime, perfectly restorable maserati 3200gt broken up for parts by a UK company. i think it's called uk spares?
since i've been a member of this forum, i've been looking for some of 132 bits and pieces and some of prices really blew me away. 150e for a set of door cards, 40e for a pair of taillights... i also see that 2 liter engine goes for around 200e. at those prices that 132 is worth at least 2.000e in bits.
the other side of that story is that if you know where to look you can find parts at prices that are much more down to earth, as i have found in last couple weeks. all NOS parts:
taillights - 7e/piece
headlights - 5e/piece
grille - 12e
bumpers - 15e/piece
all 4 wings + 4 doors + boot bonnet 200e
shocks - 15e/piece
and used parts that in my part of the world come up at:
gearbox - 20e
engine - 50e
rear axle - 30e
doors - 20e wiyh everything still attached (glass, electric motors etc.)


btw, what would you say if i told you that new sills for 2dr 131 are something like 15e/piece in belgrade? yesterday i bought rear arch repair panels for my 131 at 11e/piece. same price for 2dr ones

and they also have front wings for 131, new, at 37e/piece. only two left ones in stock at the moment though

Well, whenever I try and sell anything nobody wants it! I guess I'm trying to sell the wrong things ::)

You are right about the difference in prices though. Sometimes you have a lucky escape not buying something as it turns up again later much cheaper!

djape1977,you could open up your own parts sales for 131s.Competition for Yagmur ::) ::).Eugene

problem at this time is that serbia is still out of EU and selling anything from serbia includes hi tax and customs rates and shipping costs. however, at the rate i'm gathering parts, untill serbia does get to eu, i'll have a largest stock of old fiat parts in se europe

Hope whoever bought it will restore it It would be lovley restored in that colour

I am genuinely gobsmacked.   I offered the guy ?250 but at the time it was at ?185 so he refused, due to the two calls from fellas on here as it happens.  He was was confused at the interest it got from me, I know that much
 
He picked it up from the St Albans owner (I took photo of V5C) and gave nothing for it.  I think I'll pop down there with a smile and ask for some winnings off that  ;D

You can't shill a car to that much - so who wanted it that badly??

No doubt it will go back on, once the buyer sees it.