Put Up Or Shut Up Challenge: Fiat 131S Mirafiori Climatizzata
Nobody rescued the low-mile ’66 Coronet from its date with The Crusher (though as far as I know it’s still alive), but now we’ve got a new Put Up Or Shut Up Challenge!
When was the last time you saw a car with “Climatizzata” badges? Not many 131 s were sold in North America (the later ones were badged as Bravas), and this is a complete, rust-free example of that rare Italian steed. Its history? Ran when parked.
OK, a semi-orphaned Malaise Era Italian car that’s been sitting for years sounds challenging. But just look at what it could be!
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
More by Murilee Martin
Comments
Join the conversation
Price or location?
I bought a 131s Mirafiori with 12k miles on it (I think a '74?). It was champagne yellow (sounds terrible but looked quite good), 2 dr. auto with yes Climatizzata. It also had this brown vinyl upholstery that really looked like leather (it fooled several people). I bought it from a Sales Mgr. at a Pontiac/Buick dealership. He was selling it for his brother who used the Fiat as a 2nd car (their fist car being a Benz) The 131s was roomy, got decent gas mileage and also handled fairly well. It was one car that loved tune-ups. It was truly a Jekyll and Hyde experience. It would be running like crap but after the tune-up - fantastico! what a difference! The engine loved to rev. I also liked the upright seating position. The outward vision to this day was amongst the best I've ever experienced. Very much like the BMW 2002 I got later on. It was actually quite reliable, not bullet proof but pretty good. I sold it when it had 75 k miles. Other than normal wear & tear items (tires, plugs, belts etc.) I only replaced a water pump and a A/C hose. One other thing. I had the catalytic converter removed by a less than scrupulous muffler shop. That was a magical day in the car's history. It ran much better, and got much better gas mileage to boot.