I saw a repeat of the Top Gear police car episode the other day. Whilst watching it I thought, this makes the Coupe look silly and crap! If it had been one of those 'buy a certain type of car for under X amount' challenges (it could have been different 90's Coupes) that would have been so much better.

When I first got my Coop, someone called it a boy racer car. Apart from the usual 'looks like a Ferrari' comments, what do you think is the overall public opinion of the Coop? Modern classic? Or old Fiat?

i have NEVER had the term boy racer applied to a coupe!

my older coupes always turned heads, little boys asked there mums if its a super car, people glance over from there euro box and look at me envoys

i think the black one is going to get a different reaction, any may well apper to the younger croud, I do think that its going to attract more people trying to have a go at the traffic lights

i think the over all persecution of a coupe is a)its a alfa b)it looks expensive c)wow that thing relay moves

I think that the reputation of the coop has suffered a little lately and it does seem to be a bit more of a boy racers car. This is obviously due to their price at the moment.

I think it's up to all of us to try and change that perception by respecting, caring and loving our coupes.
To be honest, I think it is beautiful and it's the coop's rarity that I love the most so a few boy racers aren't going to spoil my enjoyment of this future classic.



(I feel like 'Land of Hope and Glory' should have playing in the background during that little homily!)

I was really surprised, after all, mine has only got the LE side skirts on!

Someone once asked me how much it cost to make my car look like that. I replied that's what it looked like when it rolled out of the factory.

Most people I've met don't really know what it is. I've never had any negative comments.

No one's actually called my car a boy racers car (except my mum and she thinks all cars are stupid anyway!) but you do get a lot of chavs in corsa's and the like having a go at lights.

Most people I have met don't seem to know what the coupe is either.

When I first bought mine a bloke out walking his dog felt moved to comment on how much he liked it! Suppose I don't look like a boy racer (my burberry cap was in the dry cleaners), but the first time since I owned a classic beetle that someone has commented.

Driving home on Friday a boy in an E46 M3 was ogling the coupe (obviously envious that I'd spent 10% of the cash and got a 10 times better looking car). I gave him a cheesy grin and thumbs up, booted it to give him a 5-cyl warble and got a straight 6 howl and a big smile back.

at work i get a few "hairdressers car" comments and the usual "it's only a fiat" and "its always breaking down". i used to defend it all the time to the point people think the only thing they can wind me up about is my car. there are a few others who've had very high-powered cossies and the like who respect it, and know that virtually the only time it's off the road is when i choose it to be.

as for boy racers, i dont get that comment since a quick blat with a colleague with a "sorted" (in his words) civic type r - once i'd killed him very easily he's been remarkably quiet since.....

i look back at the car-park and see all the mundaneo's and vauxhall/volvo boxes, and she stands out like a regal queen amongst dirty chavs...i love her, and i don't give a fccuk what other people think......

I've only ever had good reaction to it.
No-one really knows what they are.
And the ones that do really know their qualities.

It attracts attention by "boy racers" at lights etc. But thats easy to deal with

People just dont believe that mines now 10 or 11 years old.

Up here in my neck of the woods, the coop is quite rare.
It does turn heads. Some who know me think it cost me a small fortune.

All in all up here any way, I do tend to get favourable
comments & glances

I will say however, now & again when i go to fill her up with fuel, if there is a boy racer with a silly wee car
looking like its just crashed through the ripspeed section in Hellfrauds filling up as well, more often than not I get totally ignored.
I have to admit though due to my wicked sense of humor, I tend to stand there with a stupid grin on my face

I have teenage kids, both of them think it's "smart" but they don't know anything about it at all, when they see a Subaru or the likes, they think that looks "smarter"! I then mention that the coop is probably faster than the old Jap thing they are drooling over and I'm talking crap!
I don't really care what people think of it, even in my LE's sorry looking state (it's seen better days and is a work in progress) it still looks fantastic, stands out without the need for tea tray spoilers or stupidly loud graphics and exhausts. It's a work of art, I think the transition between the car Bangle designed and the car that left the factory gates was ideal, Bangles original final drawings of the coop were great, but the final "watered down" version of the concept is subtle, stylish, fabulous looking from almost all angles and the fact that is really still doesn't look old out on the road speaks volumes.

It's only when I tell people it's a Fiat that I get any negative comments, until that point, most people are fascinated by it.

Let the riff raff have their fun in the coop, it's fallen to a price now where any chav can afford one, when they kill them or can't afford to run them, they will either be scrapped or fall into the hands of those of us who love the car, there is no harm in letting the numbers dwindle a bit, it happens to all classics before they hit full classic status.

It's without doubt Fiats best effort to date, there have been other real classic Fiats, but I still think the coop pips them, even the 500, that will be a classic, but not as we know it, and not as much of a classic as the coop, Strada Abarth, original 500, 124 coupe etc.

We know what we have, let them stay a mystery.

Gareth

Best looking car for the money, without a doubt.

Just a shame they are getting sold on ebay for as less as £350.

That is going to cause issues to the image.

All my mates loved it, i felt like a hero driving it, when listening to prodigy's new album, track number 2.

im going to get another, but im spending 3k or more this time boys...

i was also able to have my childhood dream, of driving the whitsands road, (cliff face) in a sports car of my choice.

and it felt, sounded, went, amazing.

Respect to coop's....the love is still there.

friends and fo... did think it was 10k, when i first got it sooo.

Cant beat yellow though, it looks a world beater.....

just a shame mine wasnt to be...

As some of you have said most people dont know what it is and just stand there staring at it, once you say its a Fiat they look at you and say 'A Fiat? wow what a nice looking motor!
I only get neg comments like 'fart in a tin , fix it again tomorrow or did the AA bring you in today from the guys at work. I just laugh as these guys all drive crap motors -how can you take the pi** when they own things like a Saxo , clio , old rav 4 , civic , megane , corsa , yaris and they are all basic bottom of the range standard models!
Outside of work i get nothing but super comments on what a smart looking car, thats maybe because mine is Speed Red not pink.

I wouldnt say grabs the attention of only younger crowd. I've had an elderly couple follow me into Tesco's just to ask what it was and comment how nice it looked.

Respect

I was parking outside my house one day, and a boy of about 8 or 9 years old said "WOW nice car!" Made my day that did!

I've got a GPX600 and a C-Max too. Use a C4 Grand Picasso on business. My customers and my PA call it 'the posh car'. Little do they know it was purchased locally 16 months back off Ebay fully-sorted for just £1200.

One girl i know said when ui pulled up in the carpark to use shop,she said wow is that your sports car?you have to take me out in this.
I always get looks as i change gear[dv and genral good sound of a coupe with induction and full sytem eshast]
People see my bright yellow car rolling up the road and in my area i have the only coupe so people love it,puts s mile on my face to know that everyone looks at my car and refers to it as a sports car,all the scoobeys in my area do my head in so im glad people rate my coupe and put it up there with the other best cars in the area.
I have found that more girls look at my coupe that 0ne of the 50 scoobys driving round my niebourhood.
If you took the fiat badge off the bonnit,people would think look at that sports car aint it nice,it is only when some peoplke know its a fiat it sometimes put them off,they are shallow tho,if they did more research they would realise how much of great car it is for a even greater price.

More than one person has even remarked that I must have put the Fiat badges on for a giggle. I rewarded this 'informed response' with a higher profit margin.

Without doubt the attention my Coop gets is nothing but good.
I always let the wife know my little story when ive been out in it.
She also now loves it! never before has she liked cars let me tell you!.

There is nothing else you can buy for the price of a decent Coop that can make you feel as "special" while your driving or looking back at her when u park up than these.

I didnt get too many comments when i first bought her but now its everytime i go out nearly.
Window down other day slowed down for speed bump, lad shouted NICE CAR!
middle aged woman day after in fuel station was looking at the coop as i was filling up her 2 kids were looking at it.
She said " Your loking at that car arnt you?... Its nice isnt it" i just smiled.
Day after Wifes aunties nephew and his pal came over to have a look and wanted me to take him out in it.
~He thought it was a Ferrari or Maserati until informed. still loved it mind. Especially when i gave it a quick Blast.
The look you get from the younger ladies is very amusing Although that could be just me

i was at pertol station in scruffy clothes[working on mates coupe],anyway i know the guy in the petrol station and he is a bit of a twat.
I went to pay for fuel and i was only putting £5 pound in,number 2 i said,he laughed at me and said you must have the wrong pump mate.Of course i had by now clocked what he was getting at[someone lkie me cant have a car like that]i said numbher 2,he said laughing what that sports car,i laughed and said yes mate thats the one. and his jaw dropped.
I have had dealings with him in past,last time he seen my driving was in my diesel old pug 106 and i just love it when you can feel the jealouse in the air.
You know what i mean,maybe he thought i should be putting more that a £5 in a car like that?Was only going down the road tho.

lol nice 1 jim

After what it cost's to keep a coupe in good health £5's about all I can afford to put it her too!

£5 wouldn't have got me from the petrol station to home in my 16VT, what a thirsty little tike she was! Still, got me nearly home very quickly!

Gareth

As i`ve said many times before,getting the thumbs up from kids when I drive by just makes my day,they know a cool car when they see one .

I keep meaning to take my mate (who`s had an E46 M3 and now has an Audi S3) a run in the Coop to see what he thinks of the attention it get. I can`t imagine getting the same amount of appreciation from kids in his type of cars,no matter how good I know they are .

Baz

Genrally i look at coupe,even before i owned one and i think that is one fresh looking car.
Get in and i think yea this is a sports car,stylish car.
Dont get the same feelouing when i get in my mates scooby or other mates evo.I think instead this dash is made of some cheap plastic

When I first saw the coupe at the 1998 Tour de France I thought it was fantastic and thought I wish I could have a car like that! Some years later I bought my first coupe and found the Forum. Onhear I heard people talk about Evos and Subaru Imprezzas, I thought I must find out what an Imprezza is like. I have to say I was disappointed, big time. The reaction of my son's school mates is that it is super cool and everyone I meet is impressed by the car. It is a car that needs a lot of TLC but it is worth it

Without doubt! It looks faster than most cars stood still! I saw my first coop when they came out (old see!) it was a pace car (or track side car of some description) at a race meeting I went to in Spa, and knew then I was going to have one, it was just a case of when.

Most people I know think it's a fab looking car, but their perception of it as a car, is generally fairly negative (old Fiat issues with reliability, rust etc)

Now I've just fixed my central locking issue, I love it even more!

Gareth

I had a small lad (About 4 or 5) knock on the window whilst I was waiting outside Tesco, asking what the car was !
Must admit, I don't think if I was it's parent, I'd encourage kids to go asking questions of strangers, but at least he had some taste

The first time I visited my g/f, I parked on the street (It couldn't make it onto the drive without grounding) and a neighbour (About mid 80's) came up and said 'I like your car'.

At petrol stations, forecourt staff have asked what it was and said it looked like something special, and were amazed when I toled them it cost just £4k.

At work, someone was ribbing me that I must get paid too much, when I pointed out that both of my cars put together cost less than her Golf

When parked outside my Brothers last week, two older people stopped and stared at it for about 5 minutes in the middle of their mid afternoon walk.

The Coupe is something special. Yeah, people will joke about it if you put a loud exhaust on it, or silly skirts, but most of the time, I think they just admire a great bit of machinery, and the piss taking is just casual jealousy

Long live the Coupe

The last time sometime someone asked what mine was, I said 'a Fiat Coupe', he said 'yeah, it's obviously a Coupe, but what is the model name?', in a really patronising manner s though a) I didn't know to describe a car by it's model name and b) I didn't know what model name meant. Hmmm. He then proceeded to 'inform' me that the the first ones weren't turbos, and it was only when the 20v came out did they do a turbo. Er, OK mate. But it generally gets the right kind of attention, feels like driving a supercar sometimes, which is nice. I even like it when chav-packed corsas pull into the petrol station and evryone in the car strains to get a look. I've no doubt some of them are saying it's one of those things off top gear, but I can always tell there's that latent respect. All good.

Chatting to a customer at work and went outside with him to fetch something from his car. Was parked next to mattyb's coupe so there were 2 of them sat there. We got chatting about cars and i pointed over to the 2 coupes and mentioned mine was the silver one and he called us "boyracers".
How dare he!!

They are both completely standard too.

Also had a passenger in the car who got in and said in these words, "is that a custom dash?"

haha

You couldnt be closer to the truth,only time my coupe gets a diss[as a chav would say] is when someone or one of my mates in a fit of pure jealousy.
Funny enough just meet my mate at the shell,he lives other side of brum,i dont see him that often.
He couldnt stop asking about it and complmenting it.
Its fast yea but it brings so much more to the table than that,it really does
If you said to me do you want to swap your coupe for a lambo spider i would.Then i wouild sell the lambo and go and buy another coupe,and have lots more doe to spend on it.
For me the coupe is the best car in the world,i will never own another car unless i have another run around for work and that.

I think that's a very valid point.
London - especially - is littered with poorly looked after Coops, I think.
As you say, I guess it's inevitable when they cost so very little.
Can't see them ever becoming classics but then I kinda don't care if they do or dont anyway.

I think they will tbh.

I'll probably get shot down in flames for the following statement but:-

I think colour has a lot to do with it, take Saturday night as an example. I was out for a meal for my dads birthday and I parked along the main road outside the restaurant behind my brother in laws new black Porche. I clocked a few people walking past the porche to check out the coop

Yellow suits the car so well, it is the kind of colour that not only makes a car stand out at night, but makes a already good looking car stand out even more.

Austin

just remembered, when some old biddy drove into the side of mine a couple of years back she was distraught at her first ever accident - she said to me " i'm so very sorry i've damaged your beautiful, classic car and i hope you can restore it to its full beauty" now this woman was driving a very expensive amg merc, so i was kind to her as she loved my car.....

whilst that might be true hedge, i can understand why. i went down to whitechapel for the weekend last week and dont think i saw a single parked car without multiple dents. parking is awful, people dont EVER give way or let you out of junctions, and the dirt is unbelievable!!!

no wonder they don't give a fccuk about the cars, they just get trashed on a daily basis!!

i actully only get people mainly saying they don't like the fiat :-( i once had a stunning girl who works with me say how nice it was but genraly i get stick for owning this car.

True,as much as i love the speed red and sprint/eletric blue[favourite couler coupes]i always had my hart set on a yellow one.
Looking at a yellow coupe,everthing else around it looks dull,black and white.
The coupe looks fresh next to any i mean ANY car!

I was just going to post this. Having a Vinci Grey I don't get too many comments.

However friends Sprint Blue or Broom Yellow do

I dont really care what others think about it, i love these cars! Fiat have made/still make some brilliant cars so i've never understood the bad perception of FIAT, i used to love the old punto gt turbo and the little old 500 and the barchetta....if the public have a bad perception/dont like the car, theyre missing out on a fantastic motor with a real 'feel good' factor and are just silly badge snobs. Ive had nothing but positive comments/stares/admiring glances since owning the car, occasionally i get jokey, jealous jibes from my mates saying 'its a fiat something will go wrong on it soon' or all fiats are crap but i know that really theyre either jealous or dont know anything about cars otherwise why make a comment ?

Regarding the yellow comment, its so true. I dont get half as much attention in my red coop as my old yellow one. I dont usually like yellow cars, except the seat leon cupra r etc but the yellow looks amazing on the coupe and makes it look exotic and 'special' currently saving for a vis or 20vt in yellow

Fact is that when any car is bought for pennies, it's gonna have pennies spent on it. Hence the majority of them are not going to be terribly well looked after.

Add in features like the Top Gear one where - let's face it - the car is ridiculed, then the public perception is a negative one and skewed, at the very least.

Until we have an awful lot more written off, I don't think they'll ever reach classic status. Even were that to happen, I very much it, still.

I think top gear take the p*** out of nearly every car that they have on the show unless its a seriousely good car so i dont think it matters really and the fact that it costs little to buy doesnt really matter as it means that you can pick up a fantastic motor for little money

I'm not convinced that Top Gear ridicule the Coupe in particular. Clarkson's job is to be rude about cars, whether they cost £800 or £800k. And I'd question how many non-coupe / vitara / huge lexus barge owners even remember that feature - if it were not for the endless repeats on Dave it would be long forgotten.

All I'll say on the classic debate is that the price is in Practical Classics each month, and the car has been featured more than once. Depends what you think a classic is.

Still speaking from the outside, (though not for much longer hopefully!) it was the looks that got me interested in owning a coop intially.
The styling and back end are gorgeous, though the dual lights at the front took a little while to appreciate..

yellow and red ones stand out a bit more for me, (though I do have a soft spot for scotts green) and the LE, with the nice touches like the rear light surrounds and side skirts.

When I mention to my friends about getting a coop its more the Fiat stimga thats the issue, when I explain a bit more about it, they usually quieten down

I've only ever had positive comments about my Coupés, from little boys waving to nice comments at the pumps.

Back in 2007, I was lucky enough to accompany a 355-owning friend on a leg of the Ferrari 50th (?) anniversary convoy, which went around the world and had a few legs in the UK, to which Ferrari owners entered a draw and were them drawn at random. Chatting with other owners at the start and then at the party at Maranello dealership in Egham, whenever I was asked what I drove and said I'd had a Fiat Coupé, there were only positive comments from the Ferrari owners.

Badge stigma will always happen, "oh you drive a fiat", so what? I debadged mine, but only because I wanted to clean up the lines on the outside and because I love people asking what it is... The amount of people, including a fair few young women say things along the lines of you've got that flashy silver sports car with the private plate, as opposed to you've got and 11 year old fiat...

As for the 355 owners, I've got a friend who owns a 355 and he loves the coop, he had one 10 years ago, and he even refers to his 355 as his sporty fiat, but although he is minted, he doesn't like to talk about it...

As for the younger generation, even the max power brigade seem to like the car as they know how much car you get for your money in terms of standard looks, standard performance, features and potential to modify...

I can't think of a single person I know who likes the looks of a coop... All my mates love the grunt but none of them have a nice comment about the styling.

I've showed pictures of them to people at work after a girl there was taking the piss out of it (she always does). The best I've heard was "It isn't that bad but I don't like it".

A guy at work has an Evo VIII FQ320 (@350bhp) and he was talking to her. He said his car was 'functionally ugly', but the FIAT "really goes out of it's way"

He recently tried taking the piss with the breaking down thing, so I pointed out that his engine has let go at under £40k miles and he conceeded the point

I don't think I've ever heard a positive comment on anything but the noise or pace of the thing... Maybe tastes in Essex aren't what they are in the rest of the UK?

I've just remembered something - one of the cops at work once asked me if I could change a tenner for the chocolate machine. I said something along the lines of I haven't got a penny as I get paid peanuts to which he replied "what? With that Ferrari you've got in the car park?"

Mr L drove it to work last week and one of the cleaning ladies asked if it was a 1.6 He was not amused . . .

Every car? You think? Hmmmm.

It was a joke article and the Coop was in it. Ok, so the Alfa article was similarly funny, but at least the brand came out well in the end. As for the Coop, well, it did the car - and it's perception - no favours at all.

The fact it cost so little to buy is the exact reason there's so many shoddy looking ones knocking about. Hence the perception, IMO.

TBH i thought essex was all xr2 and xr3,all the essex boys with doe then its a scooby or evo.
Jap cars for the older and ford for the younger people in essex.
Thats the way it seems to me anyway?
Funny how the people with negative comments on the coupe,mostly drive cars themself.
Take my friend adam,he said i should get a good car,for the money i had i should of got a scooby,i laughed and said what can you say?You drive a 1.4 old banger of a vauxhal NOVA.
I then said you had your licsense for nearly five years[same time sa he owned car]and all you done is put a stupid looking bodykit on then took it back off again.Then i said your car hasnt even got 3rd gear and you have the cheek to say that.
TBH i no full well he is just plain jealous,and just knowing that is enough to make me feel good about my coupe,he is the only one who give negative comments on it.

i overheard a bloke and his girlfriend walking past my house one afternoon, the girl says to her bloke, "oh my god look at that ferrari!" the bloke stops and looks at the back of my car, smiles and matter of factly says, "no its just a bloody fiat!!" made my day!!! probably took her out that night for some donutting at mcdonalds car park in his mums saxo...

also, in response to the early comments about jeremy clarkson/top gear, have a look on you tube, there is the original test drive of the coupe (not sure which exact model but a turbo none the less) and he says, and i quote, "the last time i had this much fun in a two door italian sports car, it cost over £150,000"

enough said.

All hail president clarkson

Clarkson does give the coupe some good comments, It was Hammond and May who took the mick.

Also Clarkson did a review in top gear magazine[i belive]you could find it on the web.

If jezza never messed about with the wheels and done that stupid jay- turn at the beggining of lap I think we could of been in for a good lap time.I always wanted to know what it could do it in?

Ive seen the review and very positive it was too, the public reaction as he parked it up in the middle of town was incredible . Crowds gathered round it....

I'm referring to the youtube video btw

gets a mixed reaction, as expected really, its a bit of a marmite car, and personally there are one or two angles where i think it looks awful.

at least though it gets a reaction of some kind.

Best angle for me is front side from a distance, looks stunning, worst is rear viewed towards the rear side

I can't find this video that you guys are referring to!

It looks good at all angles, but the best view is when you are in the driver seat

Took the coupe to a garage a couple of months ago for some advice on a braking issue, never used the place before. While explaining the issue he asked if he could take it for a run to find a solution for me.

Whilst in the car he told me about several high powered cars he had in his garage recently,then I explained that he would have to go a tad faster and break heavier for the issue to raise its head.

After the spin he said " I tell you something, I really enjoyed that " amongst other compliments.

He wanted me to leave the car with him for a day or two, I
made my excuses and left.

To sum up I don't think he thought coupes where up to much until he drove one that is

Styling wise I've had a lot more complements from women. Not that that does me any favours - most would prefer the car without me in it, so they could have it! They appear to think it's quite pretty.

General consensus among the blokes I know is that it's quite cool, but that it 'will definitely break'. And damn the smug bastard laughing at me now an oil pipe has burst!

Had a BMW driver stop me in the car park to compliment me on the coupe. Was genuinely interested in what it was like to drive, and said he always liked them from when they were launched.

The view from front to bacf plus side. Inside and out it is amazing it really is.

Cant beat a coupe mate.

True, its a beautiful shape, still havent grown tired of the shape, constantly looking at in car park on my drive etc lol sad but true, im in love

You sound like me, can't walk on or off my drive without looking round it at diffrent angle's for ten minites.

That is how much I love the car, once again at petrol station. Seen someone looking round it with his girfriend, It is a great felling to have a car people take so much intrest in.

Are you serious mate? HAHA, i thought it was just me who did that? After a night out or just coming back from work when i get out i cant resist but looking round her and admiring that stunning shape

Im really hankering after a broom one soon though, easily the most exotic, eye catching colour, looks very cool and italian if that makes sense, espec with black leather

My Mum and Dad think its a good looking car but both have said in the past they dont like the rear end.

But recently dad's said the back end has grown on him.

I told him to hit the gym!

LOL, i must admit i used to love all the styling apart from the rear end but it really has grown on me, looks fantastic when you're following a coop, on the cat and fiddle meet i was following a moon grey debadge plus with my mate and it looks REALLY good at the back, wide and cool

I awlays think I feel a bit over the top about the coop - but I seriously can't think of much that I prefer the look of outside of very expensive exotica!
I had an old guy come up to me in a garage the other day and shake my hand cos he loves them so much.

I think they (like all pretty cars) suffer from the general un-coolness of cars these days (because of the damage they are seen to be doing to the environment)

It pains me but (in a very general way) there seem to be two groups of people - the Garys who think cars are great but wouldn't talk about asthetics if you paid them - and everyone else who thinks liking cars is just not the done thing any more.

I personally think something that is functional as well as beautiful represents some of what is best about human civilisation.

There you go - I reckon the Fiat Coupe is one of the best things Humans have ever created......and I got one for £2000! Thats not bad is it. LOL.

Oh dear I think maybe my perception is a bit weird....

There're probably bores anyway and drive round in toyota aygo's or toyota priuses lol....?

Yeah maybe - but we are talking about the public perception of the coop.....I just don't think the public in general like cars that look like they have been designed for anything but pure functionallity - like anything more is just excessive.

The coop looks like it was designed to be a car lovers car. I just don't think thats very cool these days.

Who cares what other people think, never really understood the point of this topic in the first place lol, the fiat coupe is a true individuals cars that goes against the usual boring bmws/audis/vws and is like a breath of fresh air when you see one so i dont really give a monkeys what the 'public' think, its a crackin car imo

My girlfriend was in a large French city in the 20vt this week.
She was parked in a shopping centre car park.
When she went to leave,she saw an old fella looking round the coop.
He asked about the model etc.
She told him what the coop was capeable of doing performance wise.
He did,nt know the model.
Which was strange,as he went on to explain that he was involved,many years ago with setting up the first Fiat dealerships in france. He liked the car very much.

Ahh. Mum and Dad hated my coop when I first got it! But now i've been afew for a week and Dad has had the keys to have a little play with it he really likes it now! Though i said he can drive it but he doesnt trust himself haha

As for Mother she's just not bothered

Also i agree no one ones what it is.. when i mention "Fiat Coupé" they just give me a blank look!


Ooh another thing comes to mind.. was parked up on the high street picking mum up and a bloke was walking past really smiling and admiring the car.. then he saw the Fiat badge on the front and his smile grew bigger and he just looked away! haha found it amuzing

spelling Matt! sort it

Shh, get your black bits sprayed

its the fiat badge that kills the car. fiats just aren't cool and as soon as you mention it's a fiat they lose intrest.
had a guy from austraila who is holdens top sales guy in southen austailia looking at my car and there was a group of them all sort of 50 and they where saying what a sporty little number what is it a nissan.
i said its a fiat and he just said i ahven't seen a fiat like that and just lost interest straight away.
fiat haters are global

How can somebody HATE the coop lol, theres nothing not to like about it is there or do you mean because its flashy and sporty they didnt like it? My parents think its gorgeous and love getting lifts in it, my dad says hes going to get one when hes retired peanuthead, i think you're on the wrong forum to say fiats just arent cool whats remotely cool about a bmw or audi/volkswagen etc....I know where you're coming from as alfa romeo etc is seen as a more desirable brand than fiat, but i still love fiats: the old 500, barchetta, coupe, punto gt turbo, the lil sei and cinquenceto sportings, the new 500, fiat 124 spider etc....i think theyre crackin cars and only badge snobs think otherwise, so what

i knever said i don't think fiats are cool its what other people think and genrally everyone turns there nose up and makes rude remarks to the fiat badge not the car.
if it was a alfa or a bmw badge on the front public persections would be better.
badge snobery is everywhere now and you have to be rich to be cool.
i think its a cool car far from perfect and the looks catch me out sometimes i love them sometimes im not made and the performance is ok and stuff but things have moved on since the coop and unless its a new flash car people just aren't interested.

also the fact that everyone knows the fiat coupe is fwd and most people really get put off with fwd and just think you can't have a fast fwd car that will keep up with todays coupes with rwd and fwd rally slags and i was the first to admit i thought the same that the coop can't handle or lay power down when i got it but it has proven me wrong but as what people who know little about the cars go just think it will be crap to drive.

Couldn't agree more, I hate people that can't look past badges - the girlfriend of a close mate of mine saw my coupe, and she asked lots of questions, power, engine etc, then she said "is it a Maserati or an old Ferrari?", still quite enthusiastic, and I said "No, its a Fiat" immediately she just lost interest, needless to say she drives a BMW.

None of it matters really, badge snobs are just missing out on a fantastic car and more fool them, those that are car enthusiasts/actually know a thing or two about cars love these cars...

i agree its a good car and for the money exellent but lets face it becasue its not a excotic badge car its not cool.

ok tesco made a range of shoes and they where just like a pair of hugo boss shoes i had. well i needed some work shoes that get killed easy so i bought the tesco shoes to go to work in and kept the boss shoes for best.
i put the went in to work and i heard the 18 year old customer service girls giggling and i asked whatrs up?
they said what pikey wears tesco's shoes i saw them in there last week, with your bank account get some taste.
anyway next week i put the boos shoes on as i picked them up by mistake and first thing i got was oh tesco shoes again i replied not boss thanks and then they all said they where really nice and looked great.
i can't tell the diffrence they look same but the badge change these girls minds.

sorry for the long story but if shoes spark that response what does a car do.
i get lots of stick for now owning a fiat yet any other performance car i have had didn'e get that

i really like the coop but i can't flah it off it doesn't work
oh i also don't get all these guy on here who say its a ferrari or alike as lets face it ,its not is it.
its a cool car but its not a 120k super car

What a sad, shallow bunch of people you associate with lol, the coupe is a cool car, how many other cars do you see getting the thumbs up constantly from kids? I know that sounds daft as theyre kids but kids know whats cool and what isnt as theyre not blinded by badge snobbery and just take something on its looks/engine note as its passing or that cool car from gran turismo

I don't think people on here compare it to a Ferrari, and if they do they draw comparisons to older Ferraris maybe, certainly not '120k super cars'. People who don't know Coupes, like in my earlier post, draw the comparison as the Coupe is obviously Italian, so I think most of the Ferrari / Coupe comparisons on here are from third party comments, not Forum members directly.

You wouldnt get comments from forum members directly stating that its a baby ferrari etc but just maybe that some of the styling cues are similar

they aren't choosen friends or anything but gernally the fiat isn't traeted with respect.
on the other note my skyline got to much attention , you couldn't go down the pub without people asking how fast it is or they corse will be it or some carp or oh look at him he thinks he is flash that sort of rubbish and i don't miss that really.
my mk1 escort rs2000 rally car now that was a crowd puller i never got so much attention is hard to discribe i would be driving down the road and people drove round where i lived to find it so they could talk to me about the car and driving down the m4 with people taking pictures of it.
always people trying to nick it though :-(
coop i haven't had one thumbs up or wow cool car or nothing.

I think you need to move Town peanuthead, or you drive a dog

sat in Mcdonalds, minding my own business i had been working all day so just wanted something quick and cheep to eat to keep hunger pain at bay

2 "girls" sat down and started chatting, what did i do, were do i work ect, self employed, and a architect consultant for a software solution..

any how, they asked if i was minted. i said no, im just ok, so your minted then? no, im just ok...what car have you got, i have a fiat

punch line, so your not minted then are you?

i resisted the earge to slam her head in to her burger and walked away

some people are so shallow its unbelievable, people who think a badge can make something better, having a logo on a t-shirt makes it any better than the same t-shirt with out

there true products of a consumer society. there told something is better because it has a logo or badge, they bow to peer and consumer pressure and follow like sheep

these are the people i have nothing but contempt for, and pass off a smile as i walk past in my 10 quid tesco shoes

Samsite what do girls know any way :

Duck's and hides!

Its a sad state of the world really and i think people that are dressed head to toe in designer clothes, have the latest phone and drive the latest 'in' car: bmw audi etc are about as cool as a vindaloo curry

your going to have to run faster than that SR, the misses is just plunging your address in to satnav

i don't have a dog car thanks very much but i live in a very well off area and all you see is flash cars and unless you don't have a stunning super car its not worth writing home about around here.
i try to show people how nice the coop is and how well it goes but no one listens.
even the girl friend said to me why have you just spent 3k on your car doing it up its still only a fiat its not like its a bmw!
i was not amussed but she openly admits she likes the coop

It doesnt matter if people 'listen', as long as you like the car, sod em Otherwise, go buy a dull bmw and join the crowd oh, and make it a 1/3 series with essential private plate, at least you'll have their much needed 'respect' then.

i don't need the respect hence owning the coop but all i can say is the coop in the genral public eyes has a limited wow factor. we think they are great hence why we own them but lets face it they are quite rare and fast yet they still sell for pennys as not many people want them hence why not mny people think they are cool.

I get the odd 'it's still a fiat though' comment but just about everyone I know thinks its a nice car. Many are put off by perception...iE that they break down alot and require constant attention but (touch wood) in my experience it's been very reliable.

There's even been one or two in work who have decided to ditch their new cars (the £200/month purchases) in order to get a bit of cash together to buy something secondhand.

Maybe not a coop but on the strength of seeing the coop, knowing its 10 yrs old, knowing they dont have a good image when its comes to reliability and knowing now if they bide their time and buy with their heads rather than their hearts, they can have something that looks good, is as reliable as a new car and will cost them a fraction of the £2500 a year they fork out to drive a new C2 or Fiesta.

I argee with the public eyes comment. Normally it's older people who come and ask me what is it then as soon as I say FIAT they look at me like i've just killed someone and they explain it's a very nice car and they don't see many.

Normally the younger crowd just think it's a £800 FIAT that is ready to fall apart and typical comments about how ugly the car looks.

I've said it many times here I get stick for owning one because my friends are jap mad and rightly so with the insane mods they do. As soon as something is up it's the typical "should of stopped mucking around and got a proper Ferrari" then I get the other end of the scale who think's the car is "a Ford or something".

I find it very sad anyone even considers the fact they need to buy a lets say a BMW M3 because it will make them feel better and with others around them or the fact they want to try and impress someone. I also feel it's sad that people have to ask "Whats the public perception of the Coupe".

Just buy what you want and drive it.

I think people would like one but the expense of running one is too high.

the thing is that the coop is still a nice looking car and it goes well. its a shame when people ruin it for you by the rude coments, i don't care to much but when you take pride in you car like most people here would and someone is point blank rude about the car you own then it hurts. i have had this a couple of times with this.
really though its not enough to put me off the car.

Let's just be grateful that it's not a prestige brand/badge. If it was, most of us wouldn't be able to afford to buy one.

Very true, for the looks/performance/standard kit the coupe is an absolute bargain, if it was another make it would be quite a bit more

i agree to a extent but most high power cars have taken a hit now, scooby /evo's /skyline/m3's/ near all powerful cars have taken a hit but if the coop is a good car for the money well good car full stop but with the issues on common things going its not so atractive to buy than some of the jap cars or german cars but i like to be different hence the coop.

hmm... thought the thread was perception of the coupe, not of its make ..

I've bought a Coupe for 'me', as I like its looks and to a degree its straight line oomp. I do sometimes wish it was better screwed together like my previous Bmw 5 series ( which I'd bought as a comfortable, well engineered and safe cruiser, not for the badge. ) , but then I've wished that about all 4 cars I've owned since that

I have no interest in anyones shallow opinions of the car, nor its badge ( never have, never will ), I'm just glad to be in the position to own something a little different.

Was chatting to a female colleague today, She mentioned that when I started at the company, she thought my coop was a ferrari, and wondered why a man of my Calibre was working as a temp in a payroll office!

You can't really get a better perception than that!

very true. its not just the coop though but a man is very much judged on his pride and joy now a days and lets face it does it matter one bit.

You can't put a price on taste or class.......

Is it just me though that thinks Fiat has suddenly become cool? The new 500 couldn't be more successful if it tried. I really never had brand snobbery when I first set eyes and ears on my friends 20vt all those years ago, I just didn't know the car was as good as it was.

People's ignorance is definitely our gain.

I've never met a girl who hasn't fallen in love with the coop, especially the odd screech of excitement I could get out of one of them when booting it in 1st surprisingly off a junction

In short, I haven't met anyone with a negative to say about it. And to me people's perspective on it really does matter, its a huge factor as to why i enjoy owning it and spending so much keeping it going!

my first experience of a fiat coupe was when i worked at epson, one of the TL's at that time had a black fiat coupe 20vt with the full kit. I was driving a 3ltr toyota supra at the time. we used to take the same route to work each day. and the inevitable occurd each day
i got shown the ass end of a coupe! the supra sounded nice, but the sound of the coupe going past at full chat a couple of foot away was amazing
gareth Jones his name was, he must have been on here some years ago now... any how. he took me home in it one night and i was amazed by its looks and speed, i had to have one

i didn't give a monkeys if it was a fiat, the badge meant nothing to me. if anything can be said of fiat, me and the misses both say they produce fun quirky cars

fiat panda 4*4 great car! 4wd in something like that was differnt
fiat punto gt, a great pocket rocket
fiat punto HGT imop one of the best looking super minis out there
fiat bravo hgt a lovely looking hot hatch that went as well as it looked
Fiat Coupe.....need i say more
Fiat multapla, say what you will, but they dared to be different on this one!
Fiat Stelo abarath, great looking with all the toys you could ask for
Fiat panda, the new one, great car i think, i would own one

I can go on....I dont fiat have made a bad car. I dont know why people dont like them, i wouldn't want to own another car full stop

The only good thing about the Multipla is the fact that it's alarm system seems to be set off whenever I drive past with my farty exhaust
Always gives me a chuckle as I drive through one of the neighboroughing villages and see this dog ugly car, and hear the horn start beeping as the alarm goes off, and see the lights start flashing in my rear view

I had always wanted my first car to be black or silver. I ended up buying Portofino Blue (the first one I saw)- only the Fiat Coupe could do that!

i wanted yellow, or red, and i said defiantly no to black....i ended up with a black one

colour is only metal deep. its the Coupe underneath that matters

i remember seeing the coupe on the internet and persuading my dad to take me down to see it- it was about an hour's drive.

he had to go to an important wedding that day too and having to travel so many miles to see an 11 year old car didn't appeal to him at all. he was pi*ssed off and we were arguing all the way. i was in a bad mood consequently and i was at a stage where i had lost all excitement and interest in the car and i was expecting to get there and be greeted by a banger, just to top things off.

but... as soon as we got there, we forgot everything! there stood the coupe, looking great. it instantly won us over and put the smile back on my face. and when i was shown the amazing ability of the car- i was reduced to laughing hysterically.

funnily enough there was another car there, which was also on my shortlist. what was it now?
i think it was a... toy...toyota... toyota celica, thats it.

do get me wrong i like the design of 90%of fiats out there they look great and yes they are fun but its the reliablty that puts people off and that has happered the name.
look at the rover and mg and tvr.
i have had loads of rover coupes and turbos and they are a great car but are not cool at all due to there reliabitly problems.
mg made some different and nice looking cars and handdle well to and hit every part of the market but again there rep killed them
tvr made one of the best cars on the planet in my eyes and they look amazing go like a super car and sound out of this world but trv's get a bad name and i have heard loads of people saying they aren't cool ????????

you need a german car now that aparently is reliable lol to be cool even though most are made like crap now.

Thankfully I have grown out of giving a toss about whether some 'no mark' thinks my car is cool or not
But I did used to care once .....so no offense meant to those who still do



ps I get a lot more comments on my coop than I did with my last car...



pps It was an ITR

It doesn't bother me that a lot of car nuts dis the coop becasue it's a Fiat and make out that it's unreliable etc.
Most true petrol heads know the car and give it credit.

And ALL joe public non car people think it's luvverly - and rightly so

Nissan isn't a 'cool' brand, it makes the vast majority of its money from reliable shopping trolleys; you have to remember most people aren't car lovers, and don't have the foggiest what that an Evo or Skyline is.

BMW, for the most part, isn't 'cool'. It makes incredibly well made, expensive cars, again deriving most of its money from debadged 3-series repmobiles.

Brands like BMW impress some idiots more than others, because owning a high-end model is a statement of wealth - people hope owning the cheaper ones will achieve the same. It shows just how unbelievably stupid those impressed are, as most new BMWs are either leased, or bought on HP - i.e, somebody elses money.

Enough of the brand crap - this was supposed to be about perception of the Coupe, not Fiat. Either way, I haven't had any negative comments, and couldn't care less if I did.

Philip

the only thing that winds me up is work colleagues who say that in the 4 yrs i've had mine it's let me down and cost me loads of money. when pressed about what and when it let me down they can't come up with anything, it's a perception. i have spent a lot on it, out of choice, to get it to a reasonable and highly reliable condition, and testimony to this is, the only times it's let me down are a) a pipe blew off when i was taking it home from purchase, as the lad had tied it on with a bootlace and b) when the clutch master reservoir decided to pack in.
not bad for a 11 year old car on c114k miles, 40k+ of those by me...but they still won't have it that it's reliable.....

depends what nissan and your right a low end bmw is looked down on to but most people think cool black bmw.
lets face it now a days the badge does seam to determin whats cool or not so it is relivent.
if the coop was badged up as a masserati or a porsche or alike it would be cool but its the badge that stops it and its a shame really.
i was have a decussion with the girls at work who all have civic sports or crap like that and they said what do you know you own a fiat, not like you own a skyline anymore! i said yeah but i like the fiat just as much and they wouldn't have it.
then i said i fance a mustang gt500 in the next couple of years and then i got told i was a chav! i mean really a 35k muscle car being a chav car i don't think so! shows you what people know and how your judged on there limited knowlage.
one even said they wouldn't date a guy unless he either owned a boxster s or a m3! whats a tw@t

And breathe...

lol sorry.

We had some Gypo come round looking for scrap at the weekend.

'Can we take that Fiat?'

Admittedly it was sat with a flat tyre looking a bit sorry for its self but still it doesn't say much for what people think of them at the moment.

I've read about such people , do they really exist ?

Fair play to the pikey , at least they recognised the marque....

yeah they are to many around here. people think because they live in the royal bourgh they are worth something but i must admit there are enough rich people around here to attract wanna be wags.
they mainly seam to be young stupid girls anyway with no brain and walk like they are special but lets face it, they are tramps.

i have never pulled because the car i have driven. have been chatted up twice on the bases they thought i was rich because a o car i used to drive but i told them where to go.

Yeah, they're known as chavettes or chav birds which peanuthead unfortunately has to work with, plenty of people at work know my car is a fiat and call it a 'cool ride' lol, ive only ever received positive comments about it, even if i didnt i wouldnt particularly care, i bought the coupe for me, because i have always liked it since high school, my doctor used to own a sprint blue 20vt... .