Arriving In Style: 1975 Fiat 128 vs 1997 Subaru Sambar

Happy Friday, Autopians! To end this short week, we’re taking a look at two title-less, non-street-legal vehicles. Why? Because I desperately want to drive one of them a few blocks to a specific place, and I wanted to give you something else equivalent to choose, if you aren’t of the same mind as me.

Not many of you went along with my choice yesterday; the rare and sketchy Sterling lost by a two-to-one margin to its Nissan rival. I get it; a British car from a dying brand, even with some Japanese engineering thrown in, is a hard sell.

But I couldn’t resist it, personally. I attended the Portland All-British Field Meet for many years, and never once saw a Sterling there. I kept hoping. I would happily have driven this one through the gates myself, and would have enjoyed the reactions of the crowd.

Speaking of arriving to car shows: the big Galpin Auto Show is this Sunday, for those of you in the Los Angeles area. I won’t be there, because I’m three thousand miles away, and hosting a party at my house this weekend. But if I were able to go, and had some disposable funds, I would want to stop in Eagle Rock and pick up one of today’s contestants to drive to the show. I’d have to trailer it most of the way there, then drive it the last couple of blocks, because it’s very much not street legal. But it would be one hell of a fun way to arrive. Now, I know my tastes don’t often align with most of yours, so I found another option for you to do the same thing, if you so choose. Let’s check them out.

1975 Fiat 128 race car – $5,000

Engine/drivetrain: 1.5-liter overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD

Location: Eagle Rock, CA

Odometer reading: unknown

Operational status: Runs and drives great, but not street-legal

What did my dad and Enzo Ferrari have in common? Both of them chose the humble Fiat 128 as their daily driver for a time. This boxy little Italian economy car won my dad over for its clever engineering, good handling, and good value. I don’t know Enzo’s motivation, but I like to imagine it was similar.

The 128 set the blueprint for nearly all modern FWD cars, with a transverse engine driving the front wheels through a transaxle sitting next to it. The 128 used a Lampredi-designed four-cylinder, displacing either 1.1 or 1.3 liters, but this one has a 1.5 liter from a later Fiat X1/9 sports car, along with its five-speed gearbox. It’s only a little more power, but in a lightweight car like the 128, a little goes a long way.

This 128 is completely race-prepared; the interior is gone, a roll cage and fuel cell have been installed, and I’m sure it no longer has any muffler of any sort. I bet that little Lampredi four sounds great at seven thousand RPM or so. The seller says it runs great and is ready to race, so I’m sure it could cover a few blocks of the San Fernando Valley without any trouble at all.

I mean, come on! How much fun would it be to show up to Galpin in a race-prepared, Alitalia-liveried Fiat? Sure, it would be illegal as hell, but I’m only talking about a few blocks. Hell, for the first Autopian gathering a couple years ago, we pushed David’s Nash Metropolitan that far on the street. Galpin show or not, I really want this thing, but I would want to find another wrecked or rusty 128 for the parts needed to put it back on the street.

1997 Subaru Sambar – $4,900

Engine/drivetrain: 658 cc overhead-cam inline four, five-speed manual, 4WD

Location: Gardena, CA

Odometer reading: 44,000 kilometers

Operational status: Runs and drives, not yet titled or registered in US

But maybe race-prepared Italian economy cars don’t do it for you, for whatever reason. All right, how about a kei truck? Everybody likes kei trucks. They’ve united car enthusiasts all over in a fight against the man, and they’re just so darn cute that they’re almost impossible to hate. And this Subaru Sambar ups the cool factor by sporting those awesome stripes.

Kei vehicle rules in Japan place a limit not only on overall dimensions, but also engine displacement and power. The Sambar’s four-cylinder engine clocks in just below the 660 cubic centimeter limit, but well below the typical 64 horsepower limit. I mean, it’s a truck; it doesn’t need a screaming high-output engine. It has a five-speed manual, and push-button 4WD. These little things can go all sorts of places, which is what makes them so popular with farmers and ranchers.

This one doesn’t have a dump bed like some kei trucks do, but you can fold down the bed sides as well as the tailgate, for a completely flat loading surface, so you can slide stuff off in any direction you need to. It’s fresh off the boat from Japan, with no title yet, but it does come with all the necessary import paperwork and a bill of sale. Kei truck legality in California is a little murky; I found some sources that said they’re allowed on roads with speed limits under 55 MPH, and others that say they’re not allowed at all. You pays your money, you takes your chances, I guess.

These little things are such a neat idea that it’s really disappointing there’s so much legal dispute around them. I can think of a bunch of scenarios where a tiny, lightweight 4WD truck with just enough speed and power for a country road could be useful. Drive to the garden center, pick up trees, drive it right into the backyard where you’re going to plant the trees. Oh wait – I just did that with my full-size pickup. Huh. Guess I don’t need one after all.

Seriously, though, if you’re at all able to swing by Galpin Ford on Sunday, do so. It promises to be a great time. Beau is a legit car guy, and has a spectacular collection of cars to browse through. And of course, all the usual Autopian suspects will be there as well. Except me, of course, but maybe next year. See you back here on Monday!

(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)