Welcome back! We’re working our way through the alphabet of unusual and sometimes undesirable cars, and we’ve made our way to the letter F. One of today’s choices had Enzo Ferrari’s seal of approval; the other might be the world’s newest automotive orphan. Either way, you’d have to really love them to want them.
On Friday, we looked at an over-the-top boutique brand, and a joint-venture coupe from the heyday of sport compacts. A lot of you worried that the rust on that Eagle Talon is far more advanced than it looks in the photos, a fear I share. I’d imagine that thing has one or two more good winters in it until you’re shopping for a rust-free bodyshell in the desert to swap that drivetrain into. But that didn’t stop the Talon from taking a comfortable win.
I like the Talon, but not for that price. For three grand, sure, it would be fun until the tin-worm kills it. But I think I’d have a lot more fun with the Excalibur. It is absolutely not a car to be taken seriously, and that makes it wonderful. Expensive, yes, but worth it.
Yeah, I know, today’s cars are expensive too. I’ll throw some more cheap ones in as we go along. Today, though, we’re spending a bit more of your fake internet money. They’re both terrible ideas, but they both have good stories to tell. Here we go.
1977 Fiat 128 – $17,995
Engine/drivetrain: 1.1-liter overhead cam inline 4, four-speed manual, FWD
Location: Wilmington, DE
Odometer reading: 24,000 miles
Operational status: I get the feeling it has been sitting for a while
If you know my writing from Opposite Lock, or the old Drivetribe days, you already know about my affection for the Fiat 128. I grew up with one of these boxy little wonders, and I have wanted one of my own ever since. Sadly, they’re rust-prone and can be mechanically fragile if not treated well, so finding a good one now, more than forty years after the last one was sold in America, is not easy. That’s why this super-clean example for sale just two hours north of me caught my eye.
If you’re one of the many car enthusiasts who resent the fact that so many cars are front-wheel-drive, you have this car, and an Italian engineer named Dante Giacosta, to blame. Fiat wasn’t the first to use a transverse engine and FWD – that was BMC with the Mini – but it was the first to place a transverse engine and a separate transaxle side-by-side. Its engine is a short-stroke, high-revving four-cylinder, designed by that master of Italian engines, Aurelio Lampredi. As far as I know, all 128s were four-speed manuals, and geared pretty short – highway cruising is a noisy affair. This one hasn’t seen many highway miles, or many miles at all, for that matter; its odometer sits just shy of 24,000. I think it has been sitting for a while. The seller says the fuel system was just replaced, and it’s sitting in a garage on jackstands, which makes me think they’re in the process of reviving it.
At such low mileage, you’d expect it to be a time capsule, and it is. Fiat built almost three million 128s, and this is probably one of the nicest ones left that isn’t a special version like the Rally or the 3P. It’s a little dirty inside, but everything is intact, and looks like it would clean up well. It comes with service manuals and a bunch of parts to get you started, including the all-important timing belt; it’s a 30,000 mile change interval on these.
More importantly, and absolutely miraculously, it is one hundred percent rust-free. My dad’s 128 had significant rust on it after two Chicago winters. This one, looking like it just rolled off the ship back in the Carter years, is astonishing. It’s a lot of money; this car retailed for $2,998 in 1977, which would be $15,785 today, meaning it’s priced more than new even counting for inflation. But where are you going to find another one in this condition? Believe me when I say that if I had eighteen grand to blow, I would buy this car in a heartbeat, and I don’t care who thinks I’m weird for that.
2023 Fisker Ocean One – $18,995
Motor/drivetrain: Two 349 kw AC electric motors, single-speed gear reduction, AWD
Location: Woodinville, WA
Odometer reading: 13,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
But I get that Italian economy cars from the 1970s aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, so I also wanted to show you something a bit more modern. Fisker is, of course, no more, having gone bankrupt last year, making this Ocean possibly an even riskier proposition than the Fiat. This electric SUV was produced for only two years, by Magna Steyr in Austria, and the availability of future service and repair for it is very much in question.
And that’s a shame, because it’s kind of a neat car. I’ve seen two Oceans locally (three, if you count the Atlantic – sorry, I couldn’t resist), both in this blue, one glossy and one sort of a satin finish. They’re good-looking cars, and decent performers, from what I understand. It has two motors and all-wheel-drive and has a 360 mile range – plenty for pretty much anything except cross-country trips. This one is for sale up near Seattle, and has only 13,000 miles on it.
This is the One model, which is the fancy version. It has power everything, cameras everywhere, and all sorts of driving aids – and a big-ass touchscreen to control it all. That’s not my preferred way of doing things, and I know I’m not the only one, but that’s how this car does it, for better or worse. At least the seats look comfortable.
It’s in good condition, which you would expect for a car so new, but it looks like half the photos in the ad were taken before it was detailed. I’m not sure why the seller would do that, unless they were just in a hurry to get the ad up, and then added more photos later. I think, if you’re looking for a nice electric SUV to drive daily, this probably isn’t the car for you, but if you are an enthusiast who wants to get into something that is going to be a classic simply because of the story behind it, this might be an interesting choice.
So really what we have here are two collector’s items: one historically important economy car of which very few examples survive, and one artifact from a failed startup in the early years of the EV revolution. You wouldn’t want to rely on either one for daily transportation, but they’re both just going to get more rare as time goes on. I already know which one I would choose; how about you?
Freshman year of college, I got to drive a friend’s early-70s 124 sedan, and it was a delight and far better than my ’68 Datsun 510 wagon.
I thought the 128s looked cool, but second year, my roommate had a ’75 VW Rabbit/Golf and it felt like it was a far better car than the how I thought the 128 would be.
That minimally interesting (to me) history aside, I would take my chances with the Fisker. Safe, luxurious and I would be with “Okay. That was fun while it lasted.”
And seriously, a new timing belt every 30K miles? That would be every third oil change in my Accord. And never, how do you feel about never, on my 510’s timing chain. I’m about 35K away on the Accord.
I had a ’01 Jetta TDI and did the first belt change at 60K. And then they extended the interval to 100K, and I did the second belt at 160K.
All this makes me wish I had bought something with a non-interference engine in a way, but I have been pretty happy with my choices along the way.
My used ’84 Tercel and ’90 Saab 9000 Turbo both had more than a few miles put on them during my ownership and treated me well.
Back when I owned them, I didn’t know about valve/piston interference, and I couldn’t tell you whether that was an issue with them.
I don’t think ignorance is bliss. But I am thankful neither one of them bit me.
That’s a crack-pipe price, but I’ll still take the Fiat.
Both are priced at least 5 times what they are actually worth. 10 times what I would consider paying for either. Hard pass.
If I were going to pay 18 grand for a Fiat 128, it would have to be an early car with chrome bumpers, not a big-bumper car with an air pump. I’m a Fiat fan, but I picked the Ocean.
I’ve wanted a 128 since I was a kid and there was one sitting in the parking lot next to my school.
I’ve never wanted any model of Fisker.
I feel like the condemned man being asked my preferred method of execution. This is just too bad a decision no matter which one you pick. So I had to neither. However in the game if the price was reduced to less than half on both I’d go Fiat because no matter how cheap that Ocean was you’d always be underwater. I bet you could get decent money parting out the Fiat.
There was a time when you could have probably bought an entire FIAT factory for $18K. Judging by how Stellantis is doing, that time may come again.
The price of the Fiat has to be either a misprint or a “absolutely honey, I will sell the Fiat” price. And I would still cheerfully pay it for a car I can fix with a couple wrenches and a hammer that has excellent parts availability over a car that is, at best, a science experiment with all but zero support.
An unbelievably hard choice. $18,000 is nuts for a ’78 Fiat. But at the end of the day, it would actually be easier to find parts for it. I would rather have an old, cute car than a new toaster from a defunct company.
I’ll take the 128…that looks like a fun little car, I’ve never been averse to the classic Fiats. Plus it’s stick, low miles and in decent shape. The other one is an EV, so easy choice…that Fisker can “F” off into the “Ocean” ha ha
Nope but under 10k for a ocean maybe.
The Italian designer was Dante Giacosa, without the “t”.
Nope.
I’ll pass on both but find a nice Geo Storm for tomorrow’s choice.
This was a surprisingly difficult choice. The Fisker is a smart and reasonably-sized little SUV, but I’m in an analog mood today. We’ll take the lil Fiat.
Tomorrow … GMC vs Genesis? Ginetta vs Galpin?
For roughly the same price, I can have a 48 year old tiny car that may not even be operable from a dead brand, or a fairly new working EV with less moving parts from a dead brand.
I’m not sure how long it would last, but I’ll take the Fisker. Maybe I get a few years out of it, maybe it’s rock solid for a decade. But it sure won’t need the constant care the Fiat will, at least not up front.
Uh, Fiat is not exactly dead.
I looked, and you are right. I thought Stellantis killed the brand here in the US, but its only mostly dead. The 500X is Fiat’s only remaining model sold in the United States.
It doesn’t matter whether Fiat still sells cars in the US or not, you can’t buy parts for classic Fiats from Fiat dealers anyway. You can barely buy parts for modern Fiats from them. But there is excellent support for them from third parties.
Teh moving parts of the Fisker are not what you need to worry about. It just deciding to not wake up one morning because it’s electrons get in a snit is what you need to worry about.
I find it amusing that people think EVs are “simpler” because they have fewer moving parts.
If the EVs were built in the KISS method dead brand EVs might not be the electric chair they are
No car can be made with the KISS principle today, nobody beyond a few people who post on web blogs would buy it.
And it’s not really possible anyway – in theory, an electric drivetrain is “simple”, because it has few moving parts. But the not-moving parts are anything BUT simple. And as we all know, software is the bugbear of the automotive world.
$18k for that Fiat? No.
Also, the claim that it is 100% rust free is disputable because the RADIO is covered in rust!
$18,000 for a run-of-the-mill Fiat older than I am?! Are you high?
For that money, I’ll take the Fisker, which will probably run comfortably for a few more years before some unobtainable part makes it junk.
I’ll go with the Fisker Ocean. I like the design and am willing to take up the hobby of finding and paying for the the parts/service to keep it running.
I don’t know how F could be anything other than Ford Flex, this article is highly disappointing 😉
He had to make it an interesting comparison. Put a Flex in this competition and of course it would win.
I’ll take Tony’s big brother, please.
Don’t care that the Fisker is one electronic glitch from being immobile. I’d rather own it and just look at it (or sit in it) than pay $18K for that Fiat.