Fiat 128 3P

Silvera

I came across a nice example of a Fiat 128 3P at the recent Autojumble at Toughers near Naas, Co. Kildare.

Silvera

...and speaking of Fiats....

I came across a N.I based Fiat enthusiast who recently restored this nice 127 Sport.
His site can be found via google.

Blue850

That 127 is in Donegal now and I must be mad cos I just turned down first refusal on a restored and waxoiled Irish reg 127 Sport.

MercMad

That 3P is lovely !

Those cars were just incredible to drive !

I recall coming back from the Killarney Rally aboy 20 years ago, a passenger in an RS2000 and we were flat out with over 120MPH on the clock and this little 3P overtook us !!!

When tuned they were a flyer, well able to rev to about 9,000 !

TigerTim

A friend has restored a 3P in Tralee which he uses regularly for shows , classic car runs etc. He is currently restoring a second one. Rust was a serious killer.

T.

Alfasudcrazy

MercMad wrote: »

That 3P is lovely !

Those cars were just incredible to drive !

I recall coming back from the Killarney Rally aboy 20 years ago, a passenger in an RS2000 and we were flat out with over 120MPH on the clock and this little 3P overtook us !!!

When tuned they were a flyer, well able to rev to about 9,000 !

Yes the little 3p was great. I bought a 1977 white one just like in the pic in 1980. It was a big step up from my 1970 Mk I escort. I had that one till 1984 when i got a mint 1979 SS in Wicklow and had that until 1988. There was a lovely exhaust note too.

I hope it was not me that overtook you back then? :eek:

Here is road test and a fuzzy pic of my last 3p.

(to veiw road test - click 'save image as' and enlarge to read on your pc.)

Rovi

You made me go check that wasn't my old car!

It wasn't; this was mine (circa 1981):


I loved that car; followed the Circuit of Ireland in it (when it really was a circuit of Ireland!) and took it to the British Grand Prix in Brands Hatch.
Ah, happy memories.

manta mad

that car looks very familier 339 BZE ,
maybe its the number?

jaysus i liked them when i was growing up & the 131 mirafiori,

god where are they all gone now!!!!

manta mad

just rembered theirs one of them in longford town ,

anytime im passing through i see it driving in the town.

dave2pvd

manta mad wrote: »

that car looks very familier 339 BZE ,
maybe its the number?

jaysus i liked them when i was growing up & the 131 mirafiori,

god where are they all gone now!!!!

Funny, my Dad had a 128 3P back in the day. His next car? A 131 Sport. Great cars. But the next car was best of all: Alfa Giulietta 2.0

Blue850

There was a yellow Irish reg 3P for sale in the autotrader earlier this year, can't remember the reg, but it was identical to the 2 above. I think it was at the Terenure show as well

Motormouth

Yeah, mate of mine bought that car. Mite be for sale actually, as he is building a Ritmo for historic racing......
Loads of 3p and Coupes were raced and rallycrossed to death in Mondello over the years and the others appear to have rusted away unfortunately. I borught a 128 SL Coupe in from the Uk a few years ago, and it has now been built into a beautiful historic racecar. Pics of it here:
http://www.conconnolly.com/gallery.php?subaction=showfull&id=1187033022&archive=&start_from=&ucat=2&

carchaeologist

TigerTim wrote: »

A friend has restored a 3P in Tralee which he uses regularly for shows , classic car runs etc. He is currently restoring a second one. Rust was a serious killer.

T.

Is that a green,original irish reg one,iv seen it around the town alright, its a real nice little car,looks absolutly mint,70s fiats look fantastic.

carlosfandango

Hey Motormouth, do you remember the white one? Fond memories indeed!

Motormouth

Do I what? Great great car. Thought of it as soon as I saw the first post on this thread!!
There's one on the 'Bay at the moment in cork..... It's got Carlosfandango's name all over it

Blue850

Nice one in UK too, pricey though

carlosfandango

Thanks motormouth but as I'm sure you know a 3p ain't on the priority list at the moment. Bloody great cars though!

Great introduction to classics (I think it's fair to say that it was mine) even though when I bought that one it was just another car 'cos it was relatively new! I use to take the jets out of the carbs on a Friday after work before teatime. I had a jar of petrol in the shed with spare jets in it and I'd swap them in. The tank was full of rust/dirt and it would start to run like a pig as the week progressed. Even though I had two inline fuel filters, the muck would get through...
Following teatime and with clean jets in place I would put the Ramones on the tape player in the car and scream off up the road looking very serious and purposeful (even though I probably had nowhere in particular to go!)
Ahh, happier & simpler days... I must see if I can find a pic!

carchaeologist

Ha ha, i love those kinds of stories! If fiat built their cars bodywork as well as they built their engines there would be a hell of alot more of them with us today.Does anyone remember the hot rod 127s that used to race in tipperary raceway back in the early to mid 90s, they seemed to run at 10000 rpm when they were racing, it always amazed me how they did it.

Motormouth

Go on, post some pics of it, make us feel old!! that was back in the college days!! Post DT175 and pre 124 Spider!!!
127s in Tipperary? Yeah, have a video of them somewhere! I have a 1300 137 that I race in Historics at Mondello!

carchaeologist

Nice, 127s are fantastic little motors,again they seem to have disappeared completly off the road too though i saw a nice little sport at the killarney show last easter.U should post a pic of your race car in the today i saw a classic and took a pic thread, i for one would like to see it:)

Blue850

My brother ran a 127 1300GT in 1999-2000, great little yoke and the stories. overtaking Integrales, getting it impounded by the law and getting it back cos we knew the tow truck driver who lifted it:D,

Motormouth

Yeah, fantastic little car. Mine is a little breathless against the V8s etc but goes round corners like it's on rails and is fantastic in the wet!!:cool:

carlosfandango

Indeed Motormouth, it was my second car after the corolla K30. I was only able to carry one passenger at a time on the DT so needed the four wheels to progress socially!
There were no such things as digital cameras, or mobile phones with cameras (or mobile phones at all!) back then so a pic of it might be hard to come by. I'll have a root around my Dad's to see if something turns up.
I had my own share of 127s. A green one that I bought for the missus (for her 21st - nearly 20 years ago!). I drove a ****e brown one that nothing worked on but went like a bomb (paid £20 for it at the time) and an orange one, which was a heap.
Back then it really was the only thing that I could afford so it wasn't necessarily my love of fiats that drew me to them, however as time went on I fell in love with all Italian modes of transport.
I even drove two different Lancia Y10s! I had a standard delta (brown metallic with beta wheels) and eventually I was seduced by the Integrale. A car I nearly killed myself and a few mates in on the Spawell roundabout. I never drove it again. That experience changed my driving forever.
Many Italian motors followed and today the only thing that still remains in the garage is the 124, don't think I could ever sell it. Roll on the summer...

carchaeologist

I saw a lovely black irish reg 127 sport driving through castleisland yesterday, didnt have time to get my camera out though!

cantdecide

An uncle of mine has a 3P which he is hhaveing restored but it's bloody great jsut as it is, actually. Navy with UK reg.

beanderb4

ah, that 3p sounded beautiful Carlos. Did'nt it take on a bus at one time!!

However driving around in the old 127 knocking down snowmen in the snow was even better craig!


Memories;-))

carlosfandango

Hey beanderb4!
Don't quite remember the bus incident, but clearly remember the "pole inside the snowman" impact...
Hope all your classics are doing well? Mr Farrell is doing some 124 work for me at the moment..

DaveCol

Had a good dice with a 127 Sport one day when I was in my 1275GT. The GT left plenty of cars sitting but the 127 was able to keep up

Motormouth

Carlos,
you omitted to mention that the green one you bought for your Missus was a sought after 127 Special.....or the fact that you took it back off her, stripped it and went autotesting in it. Had a root around for pics of your 3P from back in the day, no joy. Probably just as well in hindsight; those mullets didn't really suit us anyway!!!

carlosfandango

EEEKK!
Totally forgot that! Yep, there are a few stories there... Let's not mention the Ritmo debacle..
What I wouldn't do to have that mullet back, if you look at my head upside down now, you can kind of get a glimpse of the way I used to look 20 years ago!
The green 127 performed well, shame the driver wasn't up to much..