Visiting a Fiat dealer in Italy...

[kev131]

The magic seems to have been sucked out of the marque.

Whatever was lost in the mid to late eighties when Fiats were bland and so "samey", nothing compares with the current loss of identity. This Punto Abarth was the only model to carry an element of Italian brio. Judge the rest for yourselves. The separate Alfa section in this Super Size Fiat dealership in Sicily was the only section that felt Italian.

[mirafioriman]

Agreed

But I'm afraid New cars are of very little interest to me anyway.

[barry]

Totally agree with you and Dave

It is a shame the what is now the Fiat group from 60s to 80s they made some innovitive and classic styles with some niche cars as well now they all look the same and have to bring american ( no offence to our american friends on here) cars to european show rooms for me it's a sad time for the group as a whole.

[Rob 131]

Not totally in agreement with this one  . The dealership looks quite nice. I had a Fiat Punto Evo 1.4 16V Hire Car in Italy in 2010 and including some long trips I found it to be a characterful and spirited car  .

Many Manufactures these days follow Customer Clinics and therefore cars tend to be much the same.

Not sure about the Thema (a car I really liked in the 80's and 90's). Aren't they badged as comething else??? Chysler? Whatever there are quite a few here.

How is the Fiat Group doing Globally Sales wise and overall profitability.

[simon131]

I don't like to see any sort of 'badge engineering' myself but it's a certainty if companies are to survive in these lean times.  I find it strange though that cars like the UK marketed Chrysler 300C are badged as Lancia Thema in Italy, when the Lancia Delta and Ypsilon are badged as Chrysler here. All very confusing - but in truth I think the well informed car buyer these days is not so easily fooled - at least, I hope they're not!

Like you Dave I too am quite 'disinterested' in 'modern cars', at least for the time being - and the pics above only go to reinforce that. I think the late 60's to mid 80's was a great time for the motor industry, even when factoring in the 'petrol crisis' of the early 70's. The variety of cars available was huge - it's a shame that we don't have the same 'exciting' choice today.

[Rob 131]

Simon

The period that you cited was certainly the time that interests me most. Maybe this was because that time most of us on this Forum were young and impressionable.

I still maintain that Alfa and Fiat make the effort with their modern cars to be different. Just look at the success of the Fiat 500.

On a personal note I am still deliberating between a used Alfa 159 and a Audi A6.