First of all a word of caution; this isn't on general sale today, I only know about it because I'm a subscriber and get my copy a few days early, so be careful!

The Club have been working behind the scenes with the magazine to make sure the article is as accurate as it can be (still one or two minor glitches in there) so it is pretty good, even if we say so ourselves!

Features Mario's car in the pictures, looking good, even for a LE.....

Should be on sale in the next few days, just look for the Speed Red LE in the lower left hand corner of the cover to confirm you are buying the correct issue; March 2012 issue.

Oh, and no, due to copyright we cannot and will not allow scans of the article to appear on the forum. If you want to read about the car in all its glory buy the magazine!

The magazine is well worth the money, heck there's even a full article on "Oil" which should cheer up Bockers!

Can't wait get a copy.

The *only* downside of the article is that under "owner's profile" they've put a blurb about Mario with a picture of a monkey!

My Dad got this in the post this morning too. I had a quick read over lunch and I think this is probably the best Coupe article written so far. It's over 4 pages and is a pretty comprehensive and very complimentary write up of the car, with details of the club and specialists too. Also Mario's car looks fabulous in the pictures, so it gets a thumbs up from me.

James

It should be; we did most of it!

Still the odd mistake in it, but on the whole far better than the "engine out for everything" articles!

The magazine itself also has a great feature on explaining ABS systems, as well as a load of other informative stuff. To be honest, I think I've read most magazines on the market today and this plus Car Mechanics are the only two I subscribe to. Highly recommended.

The Survival Guide from Car Mechanics May 2008 was quite good too.

What i want to know is why if it is recognised as a classic, why the crap selling prices??

That's the big question.

Next question; Why do they sell for more overseas? It seems the UK is the cheapest place to buy one. It's great if you plan to buy but not if you plan to selling.

Oh, where can I get this mag please?

Most supermarkets and newsagents but not for a day or two yet.....

My version seems to be different.

They have Mario with a goat instead, in your version Klaas

I read this last night (I also have a subscription) - excellent article featuring a lovely example of the most sought after top-of-the range Coupe.

I expect Marco will be salivating when he sees the picture of Mario the GWAR .

I had to smile when I saw proccys name in the the list of 'technical experts' - he can't even change a wheel !

Well done the Club on producing a great article, and further raising the profile of these classics !

My March issue of Practical Classics landed on the door mat on Saturday and I was surprised to see a Coupe on the cover.

When I saw it was a buyers guide I was worried as sometimes they are not very well researched and seem to carry on old stereotypes, however, having read it I was impressed.

Well done to the 7 FCCUK membered who made it a balanced and positive write up, I think it also highlighted what an excellent resource this forum is for owners and prospective owners (I'd never have taken the plunge without the buyers guide on here).

I'm now struggling not to put my Coupe in the classified ads next month, as I can imagine it'll stir up a lot of interest!

MARCH issue?

Surely there must be some kind of legislation against releasing magazines well over a month before the month they're supposed to represent. It's bad enough getting Top Gear a month in advance, but a March issue in the third week of Jan is mad

Other than that, great news about the Coupe article - I'll have to go and buy a copy

I got this Saturday Morning too. Its the only car mag I subscribe to, mostly because the buyers guide is full of things that I might potentially own one day - its rooted somewhere near the real world. No £100k concourse d' elegance winners in PC, instead a feature about restoring an XR4i. Which looked lovely, BTW.

The reasons it gave for why you should own a coupe = my reasons for owning one. It's not expensive really, particularly bearing in mind the performance, it looks like nothing else on the road and you can seat 4 people in it and get some stuff in the boot. The ultimate modern classic.

Has it hit the shelves yet i might pop out and get a copy tonight

It hadn't yesterday lunchtime. I'll check again today.

Website still showing feb(!) issue on its homepage...

http://www.practicalclassics.co.uk/

See look what you started now Stan!

Had a read of this last night as the father in law did me a copy.

It's very good, a few glitches as you say (peeling dashboards??), but a great article to raise the profile of the car. That's exactly the kind of publicity the car needs now, appealing to classic car enthusiasts who will look after them.

The LE looks good too Mario!

Where did you lot buy it. I have been into two asda's, a tesco and 2 local newsagents.

Hope so!

Very good article, got mine from Tesco this afternoon.

Found one at a BP station, good article.

Car looks great.

Peeling dash?

Great article, have just got an issue.

Re-read this thread

Got my copy today. Anyone notice the suspect F40 replica in the for sale section?

Cheers for the comments guys
Still waiting for my copy to arrive!
Although ive already had a preview

Peeling Dash... i think they mean the center console

I just got mine from the supermarket today.

Mario, your car looks brilliant!
Fantastic depth to the article, particularly if you compare the Coupe buyer's guide to the Wedge/Embarrasor one 2 pages on....

The Coupe must now officially be "Classic" I guess

Can someone buy me a copy and keep for me till I return from abroad? Obviously I will pay for it!

Yeah but the question is how much.

I'm picking mine up today so I'll grab 2 if needed?

PMSL

Thanks, appreciated.

Superb article. And it's nice to finally have some justification on what we've always known: that it's in the classic category. The petrolhead gang at work have had the article rammed down their throats

The the car looks amazing Mario by the way - I could even almost forgive you for those abarth centre caps! Well done to all those involved.

The only thing that messed up the whole artical was them putting a photo of Mario on it , was a good day out at the photo shoot and the guy taking the photos did a very good job on Marios coupe and made it look amazing . Very good artical with good input from the club to get all the info right , well worth the £4.20 for the magazine .

We actually just about wrote the article!

Seriously, comparing the original with what was actually published is like comparing a Fiat 126 BIS with a Fiat Coupé, they both have the same family but little else in common!

Phew - thank god for that

Great effort guys. Well Done.

Picked mine up this afternoon. Really nice article; well done to all who contributed (should have chosen one with a better colour though ).

I was scared though when I turned the page and saw a Princess (not Kate, an Austin)

was ok, could have mentioned a bit more about performance and handling.

whoever suggested it was cheap top maintain must have been having a laugh...

at least it was recognised in a classic car mag, its a start to embedding the status.

Cracking effort guys, I'll be getting my copy today.

Bought my copy yesterday. Gotta say, very disappointed by the 'page 7 fella'.

Bought and read today. Nice article, covered all the main points.

Car didn't look bad either.

Got my copy. Good read 😃

Bought a copy today, well written article and a cracking photo car in the best LE colour A shame they had use the word "cheap" on the cover

The Daily Male

No mention of the CHOD as an engine killer though.
And a bit more about performance would have wet the appetite of perspective owners.
Still a nice article that will raise the prices profile.

This was mentioned in the article we sent to them. It must have been edited out for some reason.

I'm not sure the performance and handling is a big consideration for your average Practical Classics reader. When I was looking for my second coupe none of the other stuff I considered had handling or performance anything like a 20v, let alone a turbo. That's not what I'm looking for from it, and not what PC are drawing attention to.

I'd expect that anyone who decides to look for one based on that article will be after OEM or very close to, and certainly not a 300+ job.

Also, they *are* cheap, and will be staying that way for the foreseeable future. Might as well accept it. Good straight cars will hold their money, but probably no more, provided you keep on top of maintenance.

And in other news... the Quantum kit owner's club are complaining on their forum that:



No need to head over there and argue; I've done it. You may recall I have a quantum with a 20vt engine...

"Surely, the average home mechanic would be much better off with a Quantum than one of those?"

Yeah because the 'average home mechanic' doesn't know an EBV from a DV probably, leave alone know what ABS is, power steering,... Err...

I bought one. Best Coupe article I've read.

Not a big deal in any way I notice the 0-60 on
the 20vt is 6.5 in the article and 6.3 in the price
guide at the back. Maybe Fiat used two stigs to release
their offical stats, one fat and one thin and this had
lead to 2 sets of figures just about everwhere (i digress).

Excellent pics too. Total respect to the red LE .

We provided the figures *but* we stressed we were giving them the official Fiat figures which are 0-62 not 0-60 but they used them anyway, which is a possible reason for discrepancy.

Good article, enjoyed it.

Mario, the car looks mint, good pics.

Excellent article!

Bought a copy yesterday, really good article and a great reference for us newbies too (if we cant get to a computer and access the forum that is ;))

Hadn't been on the forum in ages due to too much working-saw Mr President's car on the cover and just bought it.

Great ad for th car, for the club and great review in total-shame they never really go down to discussing the passion of driving them!

See someone has already jumped on with an add for blue20vt in the for sale section-smart.

As the ice goes away-its given me the buzz to finish off the rest of my coop's work and get her back out enjoying the roads again!

Well done all!

MM

The new issue is out now, for subscribers anyway give it a day or two for it to hit the shelves, but this month's buyer's guide is the VW Sirocco (the 80's one) and it's nowhere near as good as ours!



Again, it's a great magazine, highly recommended for the practical hints and tips loaded within it so if anyone hasn't yet bought the copy with the coupé in it these next two days could be your last chance......

We saw it on saturday in a petrol station. So out now.

Hi from a newbie to the forums. I don not have a coupe, but am very interested in getting one sometime soon.

I see that the March issue of Practical Classics has an article about the Fiat Coupe in it, as I've seen mentioned on these forums also. Unfortunately all my local newsagents seem to already have the April issue on the shelves, even though it is not even March yet.

Has anyone got a spare copy of the March issue, or able to send me a scan of the relevant article?

Welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately we don't allow scans of the article due to copyright issues but perhaps someone has a spare copy, or ebay?

Of course you can buy back issues direct from the publisher

No scans... makes perfect sense to me. I though that might be the case as soon as I posted it.

I'll find a copy somewhere. Can't imagine it is as thorough as the buying guide on this site though!

It's close.....we wrote the bulk of it!

looking for a copy to sounds like a intresting read !!!

just ordered one...a few months late but looking forward to reading it.

Copy of the mag coming through EBay, if anyone still wants a copy? Not mine, just being helpful Click Here

Got a copy of it for £4 off ebay and the Aug 2012 GTV buyers guide too

It's a good read....

Just bought one off the bay