Fiat Strada (1978 – 1988) Review

The Fiat Strada - Ritmo in Europe - was a late entrant to the Volkswagen Golf sector. But the eventual replacement for the 128 was a welcome one at that - for no other reason than Fiat really decided to go to town with the styling after years of sober-suited design. And its oddball styling and vivacious driving experience were certainly opinion dividing at its launch in 1978.

But for most enthusiasts, its memorable TV advertising campaign trumpeting the Strada as ‘handbuilt by Robots’ will be the car's defining feature. The Strada‘s interior was a perfect example of form over function, while build quality was lax at best. 1982’s Super Strada was an improvement, while the facelift models (which lost the appealing styling details) of ‘83 were better still. Prices are still low despite utter rarity.