Hey all,

I'm just at work and my mind has started to wander!

I'm just interested to find out why all you forum goers joined FCCUK?

I'd had my first Yellow 16vt Coupe for 3 weeks back in 2007 (I'd never heard of this place) and my big ends decided to go on the A1 and the engine seized!
It was a long dark rainy night, I was stranded on the hard shoulder in the pouring rain. I'd left my side lights along with my hazards initially as it was dark and visibility was poor.
After about 15 minutes another Coupe pulled on to the hard shoulder, he told me he'd spotted the familiar side lights from the other side of the dual carriageway and found a flyover 3 miles further up to turn around.
He gave me a FCCUK card, tried to help me with the car and told me not to give up if it was the worst case scenario (engine seized)

Later that evening after being rescued by the RAC, I joined FCCUK and got the warmest welcome.

I then found out the forum member who stopped was 'Roly'.

The garage I bought the car off then replaced my engine free of charge (within a 30 day warranty!) after being encouraged to not give up on the car.

...and here I am today!

That's brilliant, Dan, who says the days of gallantry are ended

To anyone who might raise an eyebrow at the back-end styling, here is an example of individuality saving the day.

The chances of you even being passed by another coop were slim enough, and these days even less. Up here they're like hen's gnashers.

lol
It was the front end that got him noticed Simon

er... I was attempting to be sociable.

For me the forum is a vital resource - parts/info, also quite entertaining.
One forum member has today encouraged me to not give up.
A friend of mine is lurking on here also, he has a VR6!

So who was driving the green one seen in Penzance? Whoever it was has cost me a bloody fortune......who says money can`t buy happiness.

You mean he wasn't facing the other way? Knew I must have missed something...

The rear view mirror!

I joined the forum in 2011.
I had always liked the Fiat Coupe, but this was mostly borne from pictures, reviews in magazines and online car sites, as I had hardly ever seen one in the flesh. Apart from it's performance and value for money, one of the major attractions was the fact that it could actually take Mrs Lego and the Kids as well. I had looked mostly on autotrader and ebay a few times but could never find one near enough, or one that looked good enough when I searched. I never got much enthusiasm for a Coop from Mrs Lego or the kids and was starting to think that I should give up on ever getting one.
Then one day out the Blue,(a Sprinty) there was one parked right outside my shop, and it sat there all day. Of course I started thinking that it was a sign and told the un-enthusiastic ones at home, who remained unconvinced and sited the "back end" as a reason not to buy.
Despite this I was still enthusiastic and lo and behold, another coupe was parked across the road from the shop the next week. That was it, I was convinced, I started looking seriously and found the FCCUK website, which filled me with confidence that whatever I bought there was going help at hand to keep it going. Two days later I spotted a Coupe Advert on the Forum. It was an LE , a model that I'd never actually seen for real. I PM'd Luke the owner right away, checked it's history via FCCUK's forum posts, and a couple of weeks later - having never been in a Fiat Coupe, let alone driven one - I flew down to to Stansted to pick the Coop up from Luke. Beaming all the way back, I got home about 8.30pm having missed all coverage of a Royal Wedding that apparently happened that day.
So Myself and "all the family" have been happily married to a Fiat Coupe ever since.
Thank you FCCUK
_________________________

A big boy did it and ran away, and I got the blame.

For me it started by seeing a red LE (I remember the red 20VT on the door pillar - I did not know it was a LE at that time) on the motorway. I had heard about them and at the time remember thinking mega insurance and thought of them as some sort of cheap hyper-car. I loved how it looked though, and the promise of speed captivated me.

Back in 2003/4 I moved to Spain for work, I was trawling eBay (UK eBay from Spain) and saw a inky black LHD 1.8 for sale in London. My parents wanted to visit; so I hatched a plan. Fancy driving this car over Dad if I buy it? "Okay son" …. so they did. From London to La Manga they drove that little car, didn't miss a beat and I was made up upon their arrival - to see my parents of course!

Here it is…with my Dad and daughter



Anyway, moving onto 2009 I was back in the UK and I wanted a project, after doing a couple of 'Lexi' that's my term for two Lexus GS300's

Here they are..



I again thought of the Fiat Coupe. At this point I knew I needed to know more and hence forth this place appeared in Google, a quick look around, I knew it was ideal. What I liked was the fact that people were friendly, loved their coupe's passionately and there was tons of information. Also, upon posting, I noticed that people were fast to respond. I like that, I'm a let's get things moving sort of guy.

Things got out of hand, once I knew that a specialist was just up the road from me (what are the chances of that!) that guy being Mr Joe CountryCruising - he lived in small village called Bromyard; the capital of in-breeding in the UK

and things did get out of hand…I'll explain with pictures…I owned all of what you see?!?!



and I currently own these! OMG!



This place has made ownership all that more fun

Haha patch you have serious issues!

(in the nicest possible sense of course )

Good stuff!

Phil ...."the capital of in-breeding in the UK"?

That happens only in Malvern mate

Malvern's like the Birmingham of this type of thing…

Patch, your crono is pure sex

Patch! Tell me i am wrong but i think you have forgoten one mate.

Ummmmm, Yes, I have the yellow one Hahahahaha! I'll add it…

OMG!

Thats the one Phil. It had a little boot spoiler i think,and i thought it was bought in Hertfordshire.

I got the Crono from Hertfordshire. The yellow came from Joe I think? Anyways, we better get this thread back on track….

You're up Joe

Interesting thread, it's nice to remember why sometimes.

I got roped into Coupes after being taken for a test drive at a show in 2007 where I was attending in one of my old Barchettas. John Bailey is who I blame for my Coupe troubles since!

The offending Barchetta at the time :



After said show, my first foray into Coupe ownership, with this Sprinty 20vt :



Which was an absolute dog, but insightful all the same

This led to another Sprinty 20vt :



This at least ran healthily on all 5 cylinders!

Then, I discovered they went quite well on track, which led to an upgrade to this Porto 20vt. This stayed with me for 3 years, during which it was a regular at many shows in the South. It was in this ownership that I discovered this forum, and indeed, the same fellow in Bromyard that Phil mentions! I also enjoyed the rapid response this forum gave, it was virtually a live helpdesk!



In this time, I still kept a toe in with Barchettas :



I then decided I'd like a Coupe as a daily drive, so, I tried :

A Blitz Blue 16v na :



A Steel Grey 16vt :



Which turned into Hitlers cat :



Before settling for Custard, a 20v VIS. Probably my favourite Coupe I've owned!



Now, I am a one coupe guy, in my Scotts Green 20vt lovingly built, modified and paid for by Dave_T, and subsequently wrecked with my own DIY loud track wheels



Oh, and a not forgetting a Barchetta project to keep it in Fiat company :



And this excludes any donor cars I've purchased from insurance writeoffs etc.

Without the camaraderie, help and advice from this forum, I think my collection would have stopped some time ago

And with that, I'm off for a lie down

this was, still is and the best coupe forum... simples really.

shame i don't visit as much....
still got my coop, sitting in the garage !

Have to say some of those photos really are why I got into the Coupe, they just look... Mmmmm! Despite having driven more than 500 Coupes (a world record???) I remember very well my first drive in my own Coupe, there was no hesitation in passing over the money! This week I have been tuning a Skyline R33, Mini Cooper S, Focus RS, and they are all really great cars, but there is just something about a Coupe...

Taz, you are a quiet old sole these days! What could stir your interest my old pal?!

My start into coupes started in1998 when I had to fly to Glasgow for 3 days of work driving to Dumfries stranrar,Perth ,inverness,peterhead & Edinburgh (lots of miles)
I went to budget rentals to pick up my mondeo only to be told that they had non left the guy on the counter asked me if I was on my own as he had a small fiat that I could have. I thought omg a fiat I said I'd have a look. The rest as they say is history I had 3 days in a Scott's green turbo that only had 1k miles on it I grinned like a Cheshire cat for 3 days on those Scottish A roads I really didn't want to give it back.
On returning home I started to look into coupes & purchased my 1st a year or so later 3 year old broom NA. We kept that for 3 years & joined the forum then we had a year out of coupe ownership then we both missed a coupe so I purchased another this time a Scott's green turbo then a Porto NA briefly then a Vinci Le & now an electric blue vis. The forum has helped me with knowledge,parts,experts plus buying & selling my coupes.

That's a cool way to have discovered a Coop.

I joined for selfish reasons.

1 cheaper insurance "cos I'm in a club"
2 access to guides and advice on how to fix stuff
3 somewhere to while away hours ( literally) talking nonsense about cars. Well lets face it, the mrs won't listen!
4 to offer advice and help others fix the same problem I had last week !

For me the coupe has been a interesting relationship. My first foray into sporty cars in my early 30's, the mid life crisis in my late 30s !!!

Always wanted a car with more than 4 cylinders because that in itself is something exotic in a world of in line 4s. The coupe just fits the bill in so many ways.

Guilt, I kept asking questions before becoming a member and realised I needed to put something back in. It's my first and only foray into a forum and judging by not only experiences but many others on here it excels in all the right areas of expertise, welcome and firm management.

I got into coupe dreams first on a day trip to Monaco when we took our lad and a school mate to Provence. They made us drive around Monte Carlo that many times to goggle at the dollar-mobiles and film-stars that were smoothing up the steps to the casino. Each time round we passed a broomy and it caught our eyes although initially I wasn't convinced by the rear end styling.

It must have stayed in my mind because a year or so later when my Honda Accord was stolen from outside the house (the convent next door actually ) it was never traced so I started the mind-boggling search for a replacement.

That's when I saw my first broomy 16vt and HAD to have it - never looked back

I owned a mondeo 2 years ago after owning a vectra v6 but found it low on power. So had a look on Auto trader and came across a fiat coupe for sale it was a sprint blue one 1998 I hadn't seen on before and liked the look of it so went to see it and fell in love with it and made an impulse buy.
Wish I had researched more before hand though.
Soon after buying it i came across my first problem with the oil cooler so I did a bit of research and came across this site and found answers to my problems. Thank you.
I have been able to replace many parts from brake pads, discs, wishbones to drop links, gaskets to exhaust and many more parts.
I was also able to do small tuning jobs and body work kits etc all down to this site.
For the small yearly subscription fees it has saved me lots on labour charges and thought me how to do most jobs on my car, it's full of solutions from experienced members past and present to keep our cars alive.
Long live the coupe and this site

I got bored with the reliable dependability of my Lexus LS400 after about three years of faultless service. The logical next step was a small "unreliable" Fiat. After much trawling the interwebs looking for a nice broom yellow one, I stumbled across a very beat up unloved scotty and bought it as a project.

I knew literally nothing about the Coupé, other than I loved the styling. I didn't even have a clue about the performance until I drove mine. I needed as much information as i could get, as quickly as possible.

So, imagine my surprise when i stumbled across a cycling forum with a wealth of knowledge about my new toy... I just had to join.

Must admit I have a few other pool cars now, all humdrum diseaseals !

I love my audi A6 and Merc.... but the coop is oddly enough too hardcore nowadays...

nuts I know...

I may in the new year refine the suspension & tame the handling to be more softer.

I still love the timeless looks... never dated at all.

I do toy with the idea of a few bits here & there, or possibly a 4wd conversion to tame the delivery...

but then the S63 AMG mre keeps on tugging at my old bones

I am always hovering about, it's a nice place to be mate.

Will chat to you soon pal, in the meantime, take care all

A good friend of mine bought his, having seen it advertised at work in a large insurance office, were he was a IT consultant. It came with piles of history and references to the Fiat forum.
My friend in turn, insisted his mates drove it (on their own!) because we all took the p out of the colour, etc, plus we thought he must be having a mid life crisis!

Anyway, as you can guess, the power, engine, turbo & dump valve noises made a certain impression and less mickey taking was conveyed .
He quietly went on, replacing the clutch, the cambelt, CHOD and various other serviceable items, spending all in all, rather a lot of cash.
Unknown to me, he also took it to Flea for a map/tune.

Subsequently, he would lend it to me for the week or weekend when he was away, as I guess he thought I would a) have to buy it off him if I wrecked it, b) have to buy it off of him if he offered to sell it!

I only used it around our local lanes after dark and have to say it was quite a hoot!

Then when my friend needed to buy a car for his daughter to learn to drive in, he decided the fiat had to go.

Thinking it might be a bit of fun, one evening after rugby training and too many sherberts, I offered to buy it for the price he bought it for and he strangely snapped my hand off!!!
He assured me everything which need doing, had been done.
(I now know this is an impossible statement to make!)

As I already had two cars at the time, the prospect of a third old banger was not exactly well received at home, but as luck would have it, my 200k Audi decided to have its oil pump go and I thought I'd need to get a replacement set of wheels pretty quick.

So, the day after, fully sober, I said I was serious and the deal was done.
The Porto came into my custody and Paul strongly recommended the forum as away of solving inevitable issues. I therefore I paid up pretty much straight away and have found the forum a fantastic place for keeping the moral going, even if my wheels weren't!!!

Nothing special from me. I bought the coupe,i found the forum.
The rest is history.