Help me Oppo...I must be broken!

"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike) 08/25/2017 at 09:20 • Filed to: Piaggio Ape

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I am definitely importing a 126 for myself in the next year or two......but the Piaggio Ape is also growing on me! Am I going to have to import one of those too? :O

Ape 50 panel van!

I like the styling of the Ape 50 more, but a top speed of 45kph in semi-rural Nova Scotian areas isn’t going to cut it. The Ape TM would be a better option! The TM can be had with the bike-like handlebar controls, or you can get it with a steering wheel and car-like gearshift...the latter being my preference. The latter also gives you far more space for a passenger who is too stupid to know riding in your Ape is a bad idea! :P

Ape TM panel van!

I mean, look at it...it’s one cylinder of funky Italian quirkiness! TMs have a top speed of 65kph, so in a land of 80kph speed limits, it would be vaguely adequate here, ish. :P

I imagine some tuning could be done to get a bit more speed though...

Weird vehicles ftw! :P

pip bip - choose Corrour > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 09:27

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dashcam videos!

lots of dash cam videos!

Roadster Man > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 09:29

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Trikes are only RAD in a few forms, and you have clearly found one of them.

The other RAD form is this fucking deathtrap:

But tuning a whacky Italian one-cylinder? Hmmmmm.

duurtlang > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 09:43

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A short search delivered ‘sport’ exhausts and whatnot for those little things. I doubt you can boost power easily though, you might need to swap in some kind of low displacement motorcycle engine for a real power increase.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Roadster Man 08/25/2017 at 09:48

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There is quite the scene for tuning Apes in Italy in places, so you’d be surprised! (Not that I want to tune one like THIS, just that I know there are performance parts available for them, haha!)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > duurtlang 08/25/2017 at 09:54

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Yeah....for any REAL power increase, a motorbike engine would be needed. If I were to ever get one though, I would want to keep the original character of it, so I would prefer to keep the stock engine. I was thinking something like a bored cylinder kit, and exhaust to give it a bit more pep and a slightly higher top speed (The Ape TM is something like 218cc). Most roads around here 80kph max, so if I could get enough of a power boost so it could reliably get to 70ish-80ish, I’d be fine with that. :)

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 10:04

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There’s an easy solution to the 45kph problem if you don’t intend to use the bed :)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction 08/25/2017 at 10:09

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A little more involved mechanically and monetarily than I am capable of :P

Roadster Man > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 10:09

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That

is

AWESOME!

Reminds me of the Honda Ruckus scene, but Italian and a billion times cooler.

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 10:15

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You’d also need to cut a hole in the footwell so you could see the road while doing wheelies all day. Probably not the best idea :)

Nibby > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 10:20

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The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 10:20

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This may not be 126, but it’s still an old Fiat.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Roadster Man 08/25/2017 at 10:25

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Pop over to Google and do an image search for tuned Piaggio Ape :P

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction 08/25/2017 at 10:26

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Meh, why would I need a hole in the footwell? If I’m doing wheelies all day, it’s not like the front wheel is on the ground for me to bother steering :P

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock 08/25/2017 at 10:29

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Coolness! Yup, I’ve seen this one on Kijiji before....I think it’s been up for quite awhile...? I wouldn’t mind having it! :)

This is on Kijiji for a similar price as well....much want!

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-classic-cars/city-of-toronto/fiat-125p-1-3-liter-4-cylinder-engine-1971-year-230k-km-70h/1249834287?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 10:31

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Use cutting brakes :)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction 08/25/2017 at 10:41

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Hmmm....

duurtlang > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 10:43

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You should win the lottery soon though. We’ll ship you containers full of obscure (on your end) stuff. Borsuq could handle the former soviet stuff like the 126P, but here in the ‘west’ you can get loads of old Fiats, Twingos and whatnot for very little money. Apes too, although I don’t know how much they cost.

edit: https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=248528221

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > duurtlang 08/25/2017 at 11:01

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Eh, $3400 CAD for that Ape...not too bad. I imagine I could get some other regular cars for cheaper though in decent shape. :)

duurtlang > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 11:23

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You sure can.

Like a Twingo. https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=249318896

Or a Fiat Seicento Sporting https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=247992497

Or, moving up to subcompact

a Citroën Saxo https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=248182614

or the almost identical Peugeot 106 https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=247567783

Lancia Ypsilon https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=247165201

Seat Ibiza https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=248102115

And last but not least:

Daihatsu Move https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=248309529

All of these can be bought in decent condition for <€1k.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > duurtlang 08/25/2017 at 11:52

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Really...? Less than $1000 Euro? $1000 Euro is only $1500 CAD, so that’s very reasonable, excluding shipping, etc!

I quite like Seicentos and CInquecentos as well as the 126, so I would not mind a Seicento Sporting one bit! My favorite color combo for those was the dark gray or black with orange highlights! :D

I really like the generation of Ypsilon as well, especially in that weird orangey-yellow-gold color! They are just a Punto underneath as well, and Puntos are supposed to be relatively reliable from what I’ve heard...?

My only worry is the kms are getting quite high on some of those... :(

duurtlang > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 12:01

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My search filter was minimum €500, sorted ascending. Which is why most of my examples are €500. I just selected the first one that looked somewhat decent and had pictures actually showing the car.

If you’re worried about kms you can be a bit more critical than I was. Still though, I wouldn’t worry too much about kms on a car that cheap and 15+ years old. Condition/maintenance is way more important. Especially those little cars are often used as city cars, meaning that the kms they’ve driven were frequently stop and go kms. But that’s not true for every single example. Which is why I would prefer to look at condition and not kms.

You can search for cars (in English) here. https://www.mobile.de/?lang=en

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > duurtlang 08/25/2017 at 12:06

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I will take a look! :D

duurtlang > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 12:23

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Some examples. More expensive than €500, but still below €1k and low kms. In the right color, but without the alloys sadly

€750 https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=246508712

€900 (many new parts plus extra set winter wheels) https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id=249165558

An orange Lancia Ypsilon is hard to find though. Those Lancias have always been rare and are especially so now, after many years. The orange paint wasn’t exactly the most popular either. I found them both in Italy (obviously) and in the Netherlands (curiously).

€600

https://www.autoscout24.de/angebote/lancia-y-1-1-elefantino-benzin-gelb-cae6ff54-039b-4559-e053-e350040a774a?cldtidx=6

shop-teacher > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 14:59

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You cannot come to Oppo for help not buying weird vehicles. The only possible results are:

A) You buy the weird/unreliable/silly/dumb thing

B) You but something even weirder/more unreliable/sillier/dumber

What I’m trying to say is, you should definitely import an Ape.

In other news, this just popped up on my local CL. If it was a 150 I would’ve called off work and gone cash in hand today.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > shop-teacher 08/25/2017 at 15:58

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Damn! My fav modern scooter (other than the Fly 150, and 150 Vespas anyway! :P) although that Super 8 is before the current uglier facelift where they tried to sortof ‘naked-ize/Ruckus-ize’ them...

If it was a 150, that would’ve been awesome! Wish there were more around here...no Kymco scooter dealers :(

shop-teacher > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 16:32

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That is too bad. I bought my Super 8 because it was a really good deal. I figured I’d flip it in a year or so and get something different ... but it’s really grown on me. The thing fits me so well, has plenty of power for around town, and I have really gotten to like the way it looks. I’m thinking of putting some dual sport tires on it next year, if I can find some in the right size. I am learning that the Super 8's have a weird tire size.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > shop-teacher 08/25/2017 at 18:31

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That’s why I like em! My research told me they were cheap, but pretty reliable, and I liked the styling :)

shop-teacher > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 19:22

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You’re research was correct. It was you who suggested I look at Kymcos, and I’m pretty happy you did. Now if I can only get the hole in the exhaust sealed! The Coke can blew out. I ordered a permatex exhaust patch kit for $8, so I’ll give that a whirl.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > shop-teacher 08/25/2017 at 21:22

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:)

Sorry about your exhaust patch hopefully the kit works! Glad I managed to help somebody make a respectable choice! :D

shop-teacher > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/25/2017 at 23:38

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You did! I’ll be sure to keep you posted on the results.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > shop-teacher 08/26/2017 at 02:19

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Yay, thanks! Can’t sleep, 3:20am here, so replying makes sense :P

shop-teacher > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/26/2017 at 06:32

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5:20 am here, woke up to go to the bathroom, now awake, so yeah :P