Fiat 128 Coupe and 3P (1971 - 1978)

Introduction

The Fiat 128 Sport Coupe continued its maker's tradition for spinning out appealing sporting coupes from cooking family saloons. It was pretty and like its saloon cousin, was great to drive, eve if the steering and gearchange were heavier than rear-wheel drive rivals. In 1975, it had a light facelift with a shuffle of the rear panels to add a hatchback to become the 128 3P (for ‘tre porte’) or three-door.

It was a car similar in concept to the Volkswagen Scirocco, launched a year earlier. Though they have long had a cult following, most in the UK have long since lost the battle against corrosion, though you can still find fair numbers in Italy and Greece. There’s decent performance from the overhead-cam 1300, and entertaining handling too.