When was the first time you sat behind the wheel?

Following on from the 'what do you like most' thread, when was the first time you discovered the seductive charms of the Coupe Fiat?
My story goes like this.
1999 and I had just graduated and got a bit of a windfall of cash so I thought I'd celebrate with a new car. I was thinking sporty, Italian, stylish and thought i'd check out the Alpha Romeo 2.0GTV, popped down to the local Alpha/Fiat dealers hoping to test drive the Alpha but it was out on test and not due back for half an hour, the sales guy suggested I took the Fiat for a test and to be honest I wasn't too keen, I didn't really know much about the car and it was a *Fiat*…..anyway he persuaded me to take it for a spin and….wow, what a joy etc etc.
I went back the next day to test the Alpha and what a disappointment, there was no way I was going to pay more money for that!
Took the Fiat out again, just for confirmation and yep, still loved it and I still do.
I bought a year old Porto (ex Ruspers/Laura07) and I don't mind admitting that my heart actually missed a beat when I went to collect her, she was lowered with 17 inch Momos…drool..
Viva coupe!

Alfa.

Doh! (_8(])

I was deciding what car to upgrade to next from a 306gti6 I was 21 and wanted something turbo charged. I had always looked at coupes before I remember seeing an article in some mag comparing it against the 2.2 prelude. I decided to go look at a red 20vt colour coded with sender skirts the bloke took me out in it. I loved it as soon as I saw it I just had to have it! When driving it back I put my foot to the floor in first pulling away from the lights and wow!!!! I couldn't believe the extra power! It made me feel so good everyone used to star at it being so bright and red :-D

I first drove a customers Coupe in around 2001, it was a 20V NA and loved it.

Drove a few other customers Coupes over time and knew I wanted one eventually and when I first saw a Sprinty (GraemeC's), I was in love and knew that a Coupe would be my next car, preferably in Sprint Blue, which in 2006, one did finally become my next car

When I picked it up from the dealer, first week of Aug 1998. It was doing 120mph (legally on the autobahn) within 20 mins....Bought purely as an investment tax free in Germany, so not too concerned at the time whether I'd like it or not...

As I'm on my third I obviously did

July 1995.

I must have hated it; I've still got the one I ordered that week.

And then you let me drive it, 2 months later I had my own one!!

Finally drove a mates LE in Jan 06.

However got marketing info from Fiat Italy on the premise of a school project on FIAT cars. Got all the marketing info of the day which must have been 1993/4 prior to launch in Ireland of the coupe, reminds me that I should try and find those catalogs :-).

The interest stems back to school boy days when the local Italian chipper owner had a fantastic Broom Yellow 16V Turbo.

Then jack bought mine and dan bought one too! Best car for the money love em to bits and that sound! :-D

19 years old a speed red 20v with tan interior
instantly in love.

at 25 I finally got a coop, scotts green with cloth interior, had been looking for one for ages but seen an Alfa Spider while looking and fell for that instead (wrote it off, but still want another )

at 27 got my almost dream coop - Porto blue it now has my long lusted after tan interior, but (when I pull my finger out) this will be changed for my lifelong dream of a cream interior

now 33 so suffice to say the coop bug has well and truly bitten

DB7 is next on the cards when my pockets grow deeper

Paul


ps do I get a prize for the amount of smileys in this post

I'd just started my new job and decided to treat myself to something a bit more exotic than the mondeo V6 I was driving (ironic as my new employer was Ford). I was tempted by the performance/price ratio of the 20vT.

I hadn't scraped together the cash yet but on a trip home to see my parents in the midlands I went out to have a drive of a coupe to see if I liked them. I told myself I wasn't going to buy that day, just look. I told myself I'd only buy a green one anyway and what were the chances of finding a nice green one close to my parents' house?

The nearest coupe was in wolverhampton. It was green. The tan leather matched the shoes I was wearing. I was getting swept up in the romance of it. Then I noticed that all the service history documents were from garages in Basildon - the town I had just moved to for the new job.

A bank loan later and it was mine! I almost shit myself when, on the drive home, the boost kicked in as I was pulling away from a roundabout on a damp road.

Had moved to Germany and taken my RHD BX 19 GTi with me, which was starting to corrode through hydrualic pipes too often, so was looking for something new. Summer 1996, we had a holiday in Italy and spotted enough Coupes to get me hooked.

Early 1997, test drove a Red 20V and a Burgundy 20VT. The 20VT was bl@@dy fast, but the 20V was somehow a more engaging drive and it was ordered. Later that year, we were at the Frankfurt motor show and Pininfarina had brought a Coupe, along with other cars that they were building (Ferrari 456, etc). Every car on their stand was silver/tan, just like mine

I still have that car.

Summer 1995. Didnt have the cash to buy one but blagged a test drive of a beautiful broom yellow 16V Turbo for a test drive. Could'nt go too mad because there was a salesman in the passenger seat, but I'll never forget the looks I got rolling through Otley town centre. Magnifico!

I was still in the womb.

My Mum was learning to drive while pregnant. We think this is why i'm so into cars.

Yes, she failed.

Corrected for accuracy

My mate always loved Coupes and bought a red one a few years ago. He said it was blindingly quick(modded) and I at the time had a brand new Honda Civic Type R. I've always known about Coupes, but never drove one and never really liked it.

So he came round one night to take me for a spin and OMG, I was flabbergasted by the performance. I thought there was no way that a car that cheap could be quicker than my Honda!

Anyway, he still tried to convince me to buy a Coupe, but me loving my Honda wasn't quite sure.

Then one day he opened a brand new shiny dump valve and said I could have it if I bought a Coupe... so I did!

I never drove the car myself until I picked up my own one and I can honestly say I have never regretted selling the Honda and buying the Coupe.

Although the point at the time was to save the money I got from the Honda, but then the tuning bug bit me big time and I've spent a 5 figure sum on the Coupe since I've owned it... just for over a year now.

20 - Broom yellow, 16v NA, Black Leather, 20v Turbo alloys , man that car got attention

nov 2010 when i met my fella {porkypaul} loved the speed and drive of his LE coupe and a year later am the proud owner of my very own porto and have to say its the best car i've ever had, love driving her, the 3rd gear is now my best friend and the new dump valve is just wicked and as a female you dont half get some attention from boy racers on the A500 trying to take you on!!