Hello everybody finally after 27 years I have bought a Fiat Coupe.

I have been wanting one ever since I was cleaning cars at my dad's garage when I was 15 years old and I am now 42 - yes a long time I know. I did actually attend a Fiat coupe meeting once at Epsom Downs but this may have been 20 years ago so hello if any of you were there or remember it (long shot)

I have purchased a beautiful 1998 Red LE and will collect her first week in November when I return back to the UK. With only 47K on the clock and 2 owners from new, I have confidence in the purchase and the current owner is a real gentleman and is keeping her on trickle-charge for me until I get there. She looks shiny and clean and has had 2 owners from new and has been looked after by Anthony at Autosportivo - who I have already contacted to say hello and let him know I intend to use him for all works. I will spare no expense to keep this beautiful Italian machine as pristine as I can. Anthony knows the car very well and approved of the sale.

My plan is to use her as a 2nd car and not my daily driver - apart from when the excitement builds up I may take her to work once a week, other than that its going to be poodling to the shops and Sunday morning pleasure driving

Couple of advisories if you'd be so kind....

RELIABILITY - Would it be too extreme to drive her to Spain at some point, I may consider moving there - nothing certain yet. Just wondering if this journey is advisable in a coupe or should I take it easy on her lol? She has been recently serviced and the cam belt has been done. I would be happy to do this again if there were ever a reason to do so and when I asked the seller he said perhaps just get the hoses replaced - I am more than happy to do whatever is needed to ensure she is as strong as possible - I don't want to be frightened to take her out and don't just want to leave her sitting to keep mileage low as this will naturally happen due to being a 2nd car anyway so if there is a job which is advisable but can wait - I will likely have it done anyway so any other advisors to keep her as strong as possible?

INTERIOR: The interior looks very clean although I think I would still have the leather re-trimmed as its a real head turning element, anyone know if Surrey Trimming are good for this?

HANDLING: I want to retain standard spec as much as possible but I am hearing there are a couple of subtle tweaks to help the front wheels handle that turbo surge

POWER: On that note, what's a guy supposed to do to fight this urge of a stage 1-remap. I know she will feel very quick anyway but what harm could a stage 1 remap do if she's with Anthony anyway? I really dont want an unmanageable car with wheels spinning and hitting the rev limiter like these extreme clips on Youtube where the power is just evaporating into thin air and everyone is looking at you. Im guessing 1st gear may already be edgy with 220BHP through the front wheels? Would a stage-1 remap make wheelspin in 1st gear unavoidable? Perhaps wheelspin occurs in 1st gear even as standard?

SOUND: I am looking into the possibility of a serious sound system, and have been in contact with Jay at Apex in Bedford (It makes sense to have somebody near to Anthony). The sound is a big subject for me because I record sound for a living so I am very particular about what I want; which is tonal balance, clarity, reference sound (not overly colored) with precision and not thumping subwoofers, but definitely a presence. Helix/Brax look like GREAT speakers/systems and since jigsawing an MDF parcel shelf and installing Kenwood speakers in my XR2 things have really come a long way The DSP / calibration options available really appeal to me and then I asked Jay if there is some new clever way to select tracks without needing to hold the phone in your hand and he mentioned DAP Player... I know nothing about this. That said the original stereo with remote looks very authentic too so im a little torn here guys. I think there is going to be an element of listening to the engine too Brax speakers seem to need custom drilling etc so not too sure I want this kind of alteration in my nice interior, again any pointers Much appreciated. Ultimately I just can't wait for that first drive

Really excited to hear from you all

Best Wishes

Lloyd

Congrats LE83 on becoming a proud owner, after so many years of yearning for a Coupe.

We look forward to pictures of your new car as soon as you take collection and start to enjoy her!

Coupes like to be used, so with a good service history and after you have put some miles on her and sorted out any first niggles - I am sure she will be more then capable of a trip to spain for you. Many of the regular commentators here have taken their coops on EU adventures- and mainly they handle them very well. Mine has been to europe several times and did so without any issues. Like any old car - your going to want to make sure the basics are all good. No electrical gremlins. New tyres/hoses or the existing ones are all ok and in good order.

Re power - I'd get used to the car to start with, then you can consider any upgrades you want to make. If everything is working fine on the car- you wont find a 20vt slow to start with at all.

Re Interior - part of the LE's feature was the interior leather- the recaros a real step up from standard seats. So be careful if your thinking of making any changes. Its part of what made the LE's, LE's.

Others will know more ICE - I still have my original radio in place and it does me fine - but there are a lot of choices out there for new tech stereo systems that fit in the original dash space.

Good luck with your new car!

Regards

MM

Hi LE83 and welcome to the forum

The LE register (which you can find as a sub-section at the top of this forum) has been updated to reflect your ownership

Thanks for the warm welcome and the replies.

Regarding the interior - I TOTALLY concur regarding the interior - it needs to stay original, it is my favorite striking element of the LE's. However would a direct-replacement of the black leather bolster sections be considered sacrilege if it is a like-for-like match job, otherwise touching up only gets her looking better

Sorry to bring chatGPT into this but below is a before / after diagram (I won't post any pics of the actual vehicle until I own her) but for now I am trying to make a plan to get her looking as neat a possible, bearing in mind she looks absolutely perfect for her age.

Here's a crazy idea - would Fiat themselves make new authentic sections for the seats?? ££££££

Ok I couldn't manage to log into the "how to post pictures": thread as I don't appear to have sufficient privileges to do so - so my images are a little blurry but you see the difference (or already knew it anyway)

LE83 do you also own LE009, can you confirm?

This is because you have to be a paid-up Club member to access the Howto forum.


But you seem to have found the way to do it anyway

How do I join? Is it the donate link at the top??

Hi Edinburgh - no 009 is the one I have purchased but not yet collected. Should be with me on the weekend of the 7th November - my first and only Coupe

Ah, I have been under another impression, might have something to do with your forum name!

No; but a fair question, I generally use a laptop where the front page has several links to joining the Club, however I note that on a phone there only appears to be "one", tucked down at the very bottom of the front page.

edit: no, there is one other link, just above the Donate button....I have to rotate into landscape mode for this to appear.

Paid and confirmed, will wait until I’m hopefully added

Hi and welcome

LE83, you have a PM (flashing white envelope, top RHS)

Driving in Spain would be no issue for the coupe. Depends where in Spain you would be going as well. Get the ferry from UK to either Bilbao or Santander and then set off from there. Very likely motorways will be used for most of the journey and their motorways are quiet in comparison to the UK (and the drivers know how to use the correct lanes) with only 2 lanes. I've driven from Bilbao to south Spain (Mojacar) and back twice, both times with our daughter, wife and dog on board and it is 8-9 hour drive with a single stop for petrol, albeit, I've been doing this in a 500x not a coupe but the same principal applies.

Welcome too

Thanks for the reply very exciting prospect to take her to Spain

Any thoughts regarding the ICE / handling / power ?

Insurance sorted / Flight home tomorrow / going straight from the airport to collect my Fiat Coupe LE NO.009

Finally - this is the one https://www.carandclassic.com/l/C2138917

I will let you all know how it is & post pictures.

Finally after 27 years

Safe journey

Thanks mate I am excited

The feeling of picking up a new acquisition is unbeatable. LE009 is such a lovely example. Congratulations!

Brilliant news.

Your car looks wonderful

Paul

Great news ,i bet you really carn't wait after a fair time wanting one, and it looks superb in the photos. Are you keeping it in a garage to protect it?.

Thanks for the replies, such a meaningful car to me for so long.

Actually I am working on the garage situation as I think I have the option to store her in a garage inside the film studio where I have some space and it’s five minutes away

Is there any advice regarding salt-prevention or any procedure I can have carried out to help along the way?

Next Wednesday I have a leather man coming to work on the seats to get them as pristine as possible