Confessions of a quirky car nut...

"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike) 06/25/2015 at 09:40 • Filed to: FIAT, FIAT 126, 126, Trabant, import, canada

8

18

Consider this an introduction from me I guess!

A bit of backstory: I’m a 28 year old Bachelor of Education graduate who is still living at home and looking for a full-time job somewhere (I don’t want to risk a lease on an apartment as subbing is a somewhat random job - you never know for sure you’ll get income on any given day!). I never seem to have any luck because I either don’t hear back from the jobs I apply for, or (in two cases) I luck out into being one of the potential final candidates only to be blocked out by stupid bureaucratics or not being selected due to “lack of experience.” It’s very hard to get experience if you can’t get hired somewhere to gain said experience!

I’m trained for Junior High and High School, and I substitute teach fairly regularly, but, although I can do it, it doesn’t feel “right” to me. I’ve got a Bachelor of Arts with an Advanced Major in History and, coupling that with my love of cars, a full-time job at an automotive museum would be a dream job for me...I even have 5 years of prior museum experience that definitively cemented museum work as a job I thoroughly enjoy. Unfortunately, I live in middle-of-nowhere Nova Scotia, Canada where there are no Automotive museums at all, so I send off resume after resume to various jobs here and across the country, keeping a close eye out on the bigger auto museum websites in Canada in case any positions open up...I keep crossing my fingers and also any other crossable body part...

To that end...what keeps me going is great communities like you folks and the hope and dream of one day having my own “project / weekend / fun” car to tinker with and cruise around in during the summer and on weekends. I currently own a 2009 Hyundai Accent hatchback - the definition of an “econobox”, but my little base-model Accent hatchback with 5-spd, no power ANYTHING, no ABS and no Cruise Control has been a faithful companion carrying me to all my part-time jobs and sad-ending job interviews. It may be an econobox, but it’s a reliable, surprisingly fun econobox, all things considered :). Now, being a quirky car guy, my tastes are somewhat....eclectic. Don’t get me wrong, I love all cars, and I love supercars and muscle cars and J-tin and Euro rides and anything else as much as the next Jalop, but I’ve always had a thing for small, “honest”, simple cars. Your garages may have Miatas (always the answer, right?), BMWs, Skylines, Hellcats, Mercs, Golf Rs/Golf GTIs and every other type of Jalop ride, but I confess to falling for machines with...ahem...little less performance and street cred, or creature comforts that, in some cases, many of you would ask “WHY WOULD YOU EVER BUY THAT!?!?” For example, I would gladly own a Trabant. Yes, THAT Trabbant. Why? They’re unique. A 2-cyl, air-cooled, 2-stroke car from a country that no longer exists is a complete antithesis to any modern ride and would offer a unique experience. It’s also about what they historically represent. East German citizens were forced to lead terrible lives on the other side of the Iron Curtain, and the Trabants, Wartburgs and few others were all they had (albeit forced on them by the government, yes), but they were still their only method of 4-wheeled transportation. Driving a Trabant on the road, especially in a country were they are almost completely unknown would be a great opportunity to teach people about the car, but also about the history it was entangled in - a “living” monument to the Cold War. A Trabbie would also be simple to work on and they are quite rugged with their weird Duraplast bodies and mechanicals that can be fixed with a rubber band and a bent nail (and remember, they were being fixed back in the day with Communist-”quality” rubber bands and bent nails, and yet kept on going! :P) All of the above being said, the Trabant, although high on my list, isn’t my first preference.

THAT honor would go to the classic FIAT 500. I’m a big FIAT fan....have been for years (laugh all you want, I’ve heard the “Fix It Again Tony” joke 90 Zillion times by now! :P). Would love to own a new 500 Sport, but can’t afford one now. The classic 500 was at the top of my “project / weekend / fun” car short list for a long time, and it is still up there, but it has recently been surpassed on my personal list by a less popular alternative that doesn’t get near as much attention or credit...the FIAT 126. It has had help rising there from the kind and helpful Polish 126 forums I’ve joined (like !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and also from users here on Oppo/Jalopnik like !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (thanks mate!) The 126 is like the 500’s nerdy brother. Where the 500 was stylish, chique and popular, the 126 was the quiet, hard-working sibling with acne that most people ignored. There were two main 126 models, the Italian-built and Polish-built air-cooled 126s and the Polish-built 126 BIS with a water-cooled engine. The BIS is much rarer, and also much more prone to problems, so I want one of the air-cooled cars. The 126 is chunkier than the 500, so it has never been acclaimed for its looks. However, its looks were a product of the decade it was created in (the ‘70s) and I think it’s lines are handsome in their own way (the interesting indented lines down the side on earlier ST and FL models, for example) and the styling was certainly of-the-time. It’s a slightly larger car than the 500, but that means it has more space and therefore, more practicality as a usable classic. Other than the later classic FIAT 500R with a 600cc engine, the 126 also had a larger engine/more hp than the most 500s did, sharing the 500R’s 600cc engine and later gaining a 650cc unit with a MIND-BOGGLING 24hp and 32 ft-lbs of torque (I know, it’s hard to wrap your head around such astonishingly large numbers...cars with power figures like this are clearly just overly excessive! ;)) One of the big kickers for me, though is that it is based on the 500’s underpinnings, so, crucially, the experience would be similar. Air-cooled, rear-engined inline 2-cyl...manual choke, etc...another fun antithesis to modern cars (although the 126 does have a synchronized transmission, where the 500 never did [except the 500R], so that would make it much easier to daily-drive). By owning one, I like the idea of “giving a chance” to a little car that a lot of people have glossed over in lieu of other classics. Price is a big factor too. Whereas a decent classic 500 start near $7k CDN and can go as high $20k CDN, if not slightly more in some cases - a Polish-built 126p in pretty decent shape could be bought and shipped over here to Nova Scotia for $3k or even less! Research tells me that replacement parts are easily available and extremely cheap, even with shipping, and a lot of 500 parts suppliers that already exist in North America could be used as well as many parts are shared between the two cars, and many people upgrade their classic 500s with 126 engines for the extra hp/torque anyway!. We can make fun of the ...craftsmanship...of an Italian-designed car being built in Poland, but the fact that many are still on the road in Poland is a testament to the fact they are fairly rugged (well, if undercoated and rust-checked regularly at any rate! :P). I also love their simplicity because I aim to cut my gearhead teeth on doing mechanical work by trying to work on it on my own once I get one!

So...we’re all car people here. We all have our reasons and choices for our chosen rides and I’ve given you some of mine. For now, I’ll keep trying to find a job and a proper start to life on my own in my own place, and the thought of having that little Inline-2 thrumming along behind me as I putter down the road in a light blue FIAT 126 will continue to help keep me going...

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to posting more and commenting more in the future!

Leon711 > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/25/2015 at 09:48

2

I have owned two of the cars on your jalop list, a Miata and a GTI. I share your taste in cars too.

Welcome to Oppo, there’s no need to be ashamed of Hyundai.

Berang > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/25/2015 at 09:52

1

I say this sincerely, a Trabant is a better car than a Fiat 500 or 126.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/25/2015 at 09:52

1

Welcome from someone who also enjoys tiny low powered cars. Although my taste skews a bit more modern due to fear of breakdowns haha. We like all types here, the quirkier the better.

LongbowMkII > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/25/2015 at 10:09

0

anyone who wants to dive into a 126(or other classic underpowered hatch) gets a star from me

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. 06/25/2015 at 10:30

0

Love the Twingo! Wish they sold them on this side of the pond, especially the current-gen rear-engined ones...the quirkier the better! :D We will be getting the new-Twingo-based Smart over here, but it’s not the same...

Love your ride! :)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Leon711 06/25/2015 at 10:37

1

Yup...I’m not a Hyundai fanboi, but ‘Humdrum’ is a good little car. :)

I bought some used ‘98 Ford Escort rims (90’s-tastic...) for it as alloys are lighter than steelies and look better / get better gas mileage. They’re not in the best of shape and are somewhat outdated in style....but, they were very reasonable at the time and look OK on the car. Hated having the Ford logo centercaps on a Hyundai, so I 3D Modeled and 3D Printed replacement “Hyundai” center caps for them (in different colors as the local library where I worked at the time was low on filament, haha)! :P

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Berang 06/25/2015 at 10:38

0

Haha, do you have experience with all of them Berang? The Trabant is definitely not off my list, I just like the 500/126 a bit more I think! :)

What’s your reasoning?

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > LongbowMkII 06/25/2015 at 10:38

0

Thanks mate! :D

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/25/2015 at 10:49

1

Thanks man. Yeah I really wanted one of the newer ones, but I was already abusing my wallet buying this 5 year old one haha.

Had a look around a few of the rear engine ones at the dealer and they really are cool looking things. If I come into some money and they make an RS version I’ll be straight down to the dealer to throw cash at them.

Berang > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/25/2015 at 10:52

0

I don’t think there is a single measurable quality where the Trabant does not beat out the Fiat 500. More interior room, larger trunk, better handling, etc. The 500 is a bit slower, but the 126 is a bit faster. None are really meant for extended high speed running though, so it’s beside the point. The thing is if you want a practical vintage car the Trabant is just more practical.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Berang 06/25/2015 at 11:20

0

Yes, that’s definitely true. Thing is though, I’m not TOO worried about practicality :P

I would daily a 500 / 126 as much as I could (or the Trabbie if I got one), but I still have my Accent for anything where I end up needing more utility. A 500 / 126 would be fine for most normal errands and in a pinch, I could carry 3 other people if I HAD to, although at a much slower pace, lol. I liken it to Raph DDing his Baja Bug, lol.

As for high-speed running.....yeah, neither of them could ever be called fast, but I’m not too worried about that either. The marked speed limit around here is 100kph on the highway, but most people go 110-120kph until the cops ticket them (although they’ll usually allow 110), so I am used to being passed even in my Accent because I stick to the 100kph limit so I don’t risk possibly getting a ticket. The 126 tops out around 120kph, so although it takes awhile to get here, it should be ok at 90-100kph for a one or two-hour trip I would think - lots of current owners in Europe take loner motorway journeys than that and they’re fine. Plus, in my case if I didn’t want to take the 100kph highway (which is fairly straight and fairly flat other than a few rolling hills one or two much steeper hills), there’s always the 80kph coast road that heads to the city that would take longer and is less travelled...that one would probably be more fun anyway! ;)

greenagain > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/25/2015 at 11:35

1

For $3000 i say do it! Your comparison of the 500 to the 126 explains something for me from my past. when i was a young car loving boy in Canada my aunt who was Italian born married another Italian, whose parents owned a toy store (in Turin i think). When the aunt and uncle returned from a trip to the old country they brought me back a couple of dozen toy cars in various sizes, Italian race cars, and street cars, a few Alfas, Ferraris, etc. about 1/3 of them were 126’s. i guess they were slow sellers at the toy store too! Just park it in the winter or it will rot for sure.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > greenagain 06/25/2015 at 11:41

0

I intend to! The other plus side is that even building a large-sized shed could count as a garage for a 126! :P The 500 was always more popular....probably explains why they kept selling the 126 AND the 500 at the same time in the 500R’s final production year. The 126 seems to have been passed over in most places in terms of classic car status (aside from Poland, there is a huge following for them there).

Otherwise though, I would try to drive it as much as I could throughout the year! :D

thebigbossyboss > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/30/2015 at 10:25

0

I just spent a lot of time driving through NS where are you at? Sheet Harbour or some such :P

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > thebigbossyboss 06/30/2015 at 10:45

0

I hope you enjoyed your visit if you’re not fron around here! :) I live “at home” about 5 minutes outside of Mahone Bay on the road to Lunenburg until I find a full-time job somewhere :/ !

thebigbossyboss > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/30/2015 at 10:56

0

Sure did. We drove from Charlottetown to Halifax stayed two nights, then on highway 7 all the way to Highway 105 then to Sydney where we also stayed the night.

From there we drove round the cabot trail to Pleasant Bay, stayed overnight and onto mighty Truro via Inverness. We also stayed the night in Truro as it was raining and I didn’t want to go further.

This was part of a larger 5433 km trip originating in Ottawa but that was the Nova Scotia section. Gotta love Cape Breton, here is the view from the motel!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > thebigbossyboss 06/30/2015 at 11:06

0

Glad you enjoyed your travels! I haven’t been around the Cape Breton Highlands on the Cabot Trail in years, but it is a GORGEOUS trip....even being somebody who lives here, the scenery is breathtaking whenever I am back there! Truro’s not a bad place - did you visit anything while you were there? The Colchester Historeum Museum is quite a bit spot, and one of my good friends is curator there! :) I haven’t been to Ontario in a long time (i.e. we came up to Niagra Falls while on a trip to the States when I was a kid....long enough ago this was before passports were required, I would’ve been like....13 or so (I’m 28 now), but at some point I want to drive across the country...parents have done it twice now, and it would be quite the experience!

thebigbossyboss > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 06/30/2015 at 11:19

1

Ha! You are much like me. Before this trip I hadn’t been to Nova Scotia since I was about 13. In Truro and throughout the trip I was with my special lady friend whom I don’t see often and it was pouring rain, so we just got into the Holiday Inn and relaxed for the evening. It was already 5pm when we got there. I saw a lot of the province but there is always more to see.

I have now driven the transcanada from Horshoebay North Vancouver (where the ferry leaves to go to Vancouver Island) all the way to the North Sydney Ferry Terminal. Although around Winnipeg I wasn’t on the transcanada, but whose counting. I have driven all the mighty way across now.

Canada sure is really big.