General Buying fiat 126

[IgorToko]

Hello all,

I'm new in the forum & just posted and intro post about myself.

I'm an engineer in my 20s living in Sweden and fell in love with the fiat 126 on my recent trip to Italy.

I'm looking into buying one and have started researching. I've been mostly looking at the Polish 126p version. My budget is preferably not very high since I'm saving up money for other stuff, but I'm willing to spend up to 2000 euros approx. I'm from Ukraine originally, so I understand most eastern-european languages fairly well, so I've been researching on the polish websites, where prices seem a bit lower than the Italian ones. I'm planning to use the car occasionally on weekends when it's nice weather (I don't need it as a daily driver). I'm into mechanics and have a small workshop at home that I use for miniature gasoline engine building (I cast & machine my engines, very small, about 10 cm in total size) so i wouldn't mind getting my hands dirty with the car.

I have a few questions that id like answered:

1. Can I get a decent model for below 2000 or even 1500 if I travel to eastern Europe?

2. I know they tend to rust, but how much rust is too much? I plan to drive the car for maybe 5-10 years occasionally, but I don't want a museum car. Can I still use the car even if it has rust & when does it become dangerous?

3. What are the most reliable models to buy on a low budget? I know that early models are a lot pricier than the later ones. Is it worth to get one from the late 90s or is quality on those worse? My thought is that later model may be cheaper and less rusted than the early ones?

Thanks everyone for your time, I may come up with some more questions later.

/Igor

 

[IgorToko]

For example, I saw this one in Slovakia for 1200 euro:

https://auto.bazos.sk/inzerat/163544564/fiat-126p.php

I don't love the color, wheels & seats but the car seems quite well mechanically to me, what should I check for?

 

[348azeus]

My suggestion would be to wait a little and save some money. Get one with good bodywork as that is the most expensive to repair. I prefer the air cooled cars as they are simple and reliable with a massive spare parts availability. I have a 1977 chrome bumper model which I'm looking to sell but its slightly above your budget.

 

[andy288]

My suggestion would be to wait a little and save some money. Get one with good bodywork as that is the most expensive to repair. I prefer the air cooled cars as they are simple and reliable with a massive spare parts availability. I have a 1977 chrome bumper model which I'm looking to sell but its slightly above your budget.

Did you sell your 126?

 

[348azeus]

Hi
I’ve still got the car. I have a friend who’s interested but he’s asking me to hold it for a while whilst he does some work on his house but Imnot convinced his wife will approve. Just to be clear it’s a lid Italian model. I brought it back to the uk just over a month ago. I have not registered in in the UK yet in case I was going to take it back abroad or to another European country. Here are a few photos.

 

[the green vanper]

Hello,

they were several generations of the 126s.

The Italian ones will differ from the licensed ones produced in Poland, even those from the the very beginning. Then, when the license expired (and the economical / political situation turned worse), the Polish communist government decided they will rename it to FSM 126 and keep the production going. It came mostly along with the first facelifting. The car got bigger (= more efficient) drum brakes, an alternator instead of a generator, plastic bumpers as it was easier to get plastic than steel, new dash and lots of smaller improvements. As far as I remember the heating was also slightly improved. Finally FIAT bought the Polish factories and renamed it again to FIAT 126p. The final edition was even named 'Maluch' (which could translate to 'Shortie'), which was it's popular name.

From my point of view (I grew with them, we even brought one to Algeria in the 80's), the most important decision would be to choose the Italian or the Polish version. It's hard to get parts to the Italian models in eastern Europe, but parts are still quite easily accessible for the Polish models.

As stated earlier by @348azeus, the bodywork is the most problematic thing, especially in cars coming from central Europe, as the Italian ones should be in a slightly better state due to a different (=more favourable) climate and roads not being salted in winter. The engine is quite easy to rebuild if you're an engineer.

I don't know if you know otomoto:

Fiat 126 - Samochody Osobowe - Otomoto.pl

Samochody Osobowe Fiat 126 - Przeglądaj oferty nowych i używanych pojazdów na sprzedaż w Otomoto.pl.

www.otomoto.pl

I'd also check if such an old car can be registered while being imported to Sweden and which regulations should it meet. Not every model was equipped with seatbelts and headrests on the back seats (the earlier ones didn't have headrests on the front seats, too). And I'm not even speaking about any ecological stuff. As far as I remember the factory got a special permission not to install the catalytic converter for two more years when it was already obligatory. And in fact that was the cause they stopped the production... The cost of implementing the catalytic converter was too high, especially when the Cinquecento was already produced in the same factory.

Check also what would be a better solution: pay a little more and have a driveable car that you could drive to Sweden (or rather to Gdańsk, then to the ferry and then back home) or get a cheaper car and rent a tow truck. Paying a company for delivering one to Sweden will cost a fortune.

This one looks quite nice and is more or less within your budget:

Używany Fiat 126 - 9 800 PLN68 532 km - Otomoto

OTOMOTO - nowe i używane samochody i motocykle w Polska

www.otomoto.pl