Mark Price wrote:
>
> My vote would also go to the Fiat 128. The little shoebox car. It would blow
> a head gasket anytime the outside temperature was either higher, or lower
> than about 70 degrees.
For those not intimately familiar with this younger cousin of the 124
(btw, the late `60s 124 Spyder coupe was one of the prettiest cars of
its day, to my mind--_very_ Italian styling), the head was very
curiously designed, roughly v-shaped in section, with one _very_ thin
edge. If one weren't exceedingly careful in removing the head, the
entire flange would break off straight through all the head bolt holes
on that side.
It also had an exceptionally strange transaxle, with a very odd internal
shift lever arrangement, which, after even minimal wear, allowed one of
the shift forks to flop out of engagement with its synchro.
I will say about Fiat--they grudgingly admitted that the body design on
the 128 and the 131 encouraged premature rusting, and a great many were
scrapped as a result of a class-action suit, something that GM, to my
knowledge, never did with the Vega. (!)
To my mind, the Vega probably should have occupied the 128's slot, and
the 128 should have shared top spot with the Yugo, since the Yugo was,
essentially, a 128 in Yugoslavian peasant attire.
Cheers, all.
--
Michael D. Porter
Roswell, NM
mailto: mporter@zianet.com
`70 GT6+ (being refurbished, slowly)
`71 GT6 Mk. III (organ donor)
`72 GT6 Mk. III (daily driver)
`64 TR4 (awaiting intensive care)
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