Fiat Ritmo 125 TC

[kev131]

This car has been for sale for approx 2 years now... at this price ...and seems to be beyond what the market will bear...

It is an absolute beauty though - Would love it in my garage...

http://www.subito.it/auto/ritmo-125-tc-abarth-bari-19067355.htm

[mirafioriman]

Lovely car and my favourite Strada

A very big price though!

[djape1977]

a question:
if i told you that i had for sale a 1983 ritmo/strada 130tc restored to the standard of my 131 (work in progres but definately rustfree) with collotti limited slip diff installed, freshly rebuilt and tuned engine producing 165bhp at the wheels (dyno sheet to prove), new brakes, coilover shocks, freshly retrimmed interior etc, what do you think a fair price would be?

[kev131]

I have no idea Djape - Sorry - Especially without pictures. If I have any handle on classic Fiat values it's on original cars rather than modified ones.

I also think that there is more demand for original cars ...which can depress the value of modded ones ..unless you are lucky enough to find someone looking for the specific car that is for sale......

Having said that I think that twin cam Ritmo/Strada values are rising in the same way that 131 Sport/Racing values are but they are some way behind the 131 at the moment...

[djape1977]

car is same on the outside as it originally was, even standard pirelly alloys are in the boot. inside everything is original too. under the bonnet also. no obvious mods untill you get under the car or if were to take a peek inside gearbox and engine. forged domed pistons, forged conrods, adjustable camgears, alu head gasket, bigger valves, berilium valve seats and valve guides...











with original rims on

[mirafiori76]

Pedja,

Does it run on LPG? Such a tuned engine running on gas?

[djape1977]

sure, why not? LPG is actually quite tuning friendly. it's less prone to self-detonation than gasoline so it acts as if it was very high octane gasoline. dyno test was done with car running on LPG. it also runs on petrol just fine so it's in fact bi-fuel car, running 90% of time on LPG and petrol system is there pretty much just for occasions when LPG runs out. with LPG price being 50% of that of gasoline, it saves quite a bit of cash with this thirsty engine

[mirafiori76]

I understand. But LPG means higher temperatures in the engine. Especially when running higher revs. Chance of burning holes in pistons and braking valves. Also the valves will stretch quicker then normal. Petrol cools the valves, LPG doesn't.
Finally, you will lose some bhp's because of lesser density.

[Tas131]

I understand. But LPG means higher temperatures in the engine. Especially when running higher revs. Chance of burning holes in pistons and braking valves. Also the valves will stretch quicker then normal. Petrol cools the valves, LPG doesn't.
Finally, you will lose some bhp's because of lesser density.

Garbage. I've been running LPG in my car for 4 years with none of these issues.

[mirafiori76]

Garbage Moderator???

Can i ask you a question, Tas131? Are you a certified mechanic?

[djape1977]

my question still remains: what do you think this car is worth? now you have more info than you usually get in ads on the net.


@mirafiori76 - to speak in defense of Tas131:
i'm sure that he didn't mean to offend you.
i heard a lot of nonsense about LPG and have been asked many simmilar questions, and heard many "boogyman" stories over the years, especially from people in western europe and north america. i call such stories trash-talk and personally believe that they're result of propaganda war being waged by goverments and oil companies against alternative fuels. in my country, goverment takes the percentage of price of any fuel sold, around 60%. cheaper the fuel, less they get to fund their overpaid asses, luxurious cars and representation expenses...
i don't need to explain motivation of oil companies.

[djape1977]

after running LPG in my cars for years and with about half of all cars running on LPG in my corner of this blue world of ours, i had nor have i heard of such problems. valve seats do not get worn too quickly, pistons don't get holes in them, LPG enters the engine at temperature just above freezing so it cools the engine more than petrol...
a good friend of mine has lancia kappa 16v turbo tuned to 245bhp with bigger turbo and chip tuning, running on LPG for 3 years now nad he experienced no problems so far. that's about as far as tuning fiat twincam goes and it works fine...

by the way, LPG is one of green fuels since emmisions are limited to CO2 and water vapor. no other nasty stuff in exaust gases. this spring my lada, on it's annual MOT, running on LPG had euro3 emmision of CO2

[mirafiori76]

Pedja,

I had a 131 2000 TC Super with all of the mentioned problems. Now i have a Mercedes 2.8 with the same problems. That's why i asked. Could be i am just unfortunate.
Anyway, the strada/Ritmo looks great. I think 7 or 8000 euro's is a fair price for this one. But not here in Holland. There are just too many of them.
 

[djape1977]

there must have been something wrong with the instalation or setup of LPG.
i have reved the nuts off fiat TC in my lada for years and haven't experienced problems of that kind. tried pretty much everything i wanted on that car and engine, it was a kind of a "mule" car for my experiments. K&N filter and LPG, high compression (14bar measured cold, no idea what compression ratio) pistons, high temp thermostat, low temp thermostat, mild cams, long duration cams, high lift cams, running lean, running rich mixture...
extremely easy to tune, just turn the knob to increase or decrease fuel flow.
there usually is about 5-10% power loss but with this 130tc carbs have never been jetted for increased power of the engine so it now has much more power on LPG than on petrol.

by the way, i'm not certified car mechanic either, i'm a locksmith. unfortunately i have found that people who really know their way around engines are usually not mechanics. i could tell you horror stories about inept mechanics for days...

[jack1]

This car has been for sale for approx 2 years now... at this price ...and seems to be beyond what the market will bear...

It is an absolute beauty though - Would love it in my garage...

http://www.subito.it/auto/ritmo-125-tc-abarth-bari-19067355.htm

i agree but have to say my favourite ritmo model of all time