Punto Paradise and Stilo Surprise

My wife and I own a pair of Puntos; a basic 8 valve, 3-door 1.2 in red from 2005 affectionately & hereby known as Redun & a 16v 1.4 Sporting in light blue from 2003 known as Pocketrocket. (Just when did I start giving cars names?)

These two cars were our first venture into the Fiat marque. Redun came first after someone wrote off our very nice 1998 Escort Si by backending it & then Pocketrocket appeared a few years later when our full-time work led us to different parts of the County.

Interestingly, although I expect you have heard this before, most people we knew tried to put us off Fiats – unreliable, expensive to maintain, rot-boxes, badly made, etc, etc. Little did they know, and us too for that matter, these two cars have turned out to be even better than we hoped they were going to be.

Both were purchased from a used car dealership from where I had bought several cars (including the Escort) previously. My motto here is that if you find something good, then stick with it & even today I still look on their website regularly to see if anything tempts me. On both occasions we looked at similar-sized Renaults, Nissans, VWs, etc but in the end, and in particular with our first buy, we liked the ‘character’ of the Punto. Neither of us are great fans of small, 5-door models, so with our children having fled the nest, Redun was just up our street. It was a bit different with Pocketrocket because I fell in love with it at first sight and, despite what all the experts say, I didn’t even bother looking at anything else.

One thing we did want was a full service history for both cars to give us at least some peace of mind that they had been cared for previously. Here are some brief details.

Redun. First registered 30.04.05. Purchased by us 20.06.09. Miles 53,447. Price £2995.

Pocket Rocket. First registered 20.11.03. Purchased by us 20.02.12. Miles 83,089. Price £1950.

Redun had a fully stamped up book with no significant problem history.

Pocketrocket also with fully stamped up book but with a history of the usual niggling problems of ESP / Hill Holder / Power Steering warning lights which had all been diagnosed at various intervals but never satisfactorily dealt with.

Redun has never caused us even a moment of worry. Still with a full service history it has become the workhorse of the fleet – that sounds too posh for me. My wife has now retired & resumed helping our daughter in her equestrian pursuits. The car now spends most of its life looking very dirty & with the back seats almost permanently down. Current mileage 110,000.

Pocketrocket is more the Show Pony. I run a business from home so don’t use the car every day anymore. The only time I definitely have to use it is when I’m taking my 13 yr old grandson somewhere. He reckons the car is cool & gives him some much-needed street cred. (So there is some hope for the younger generation.) I’ve been driving for 50 years now & in the past I’ve always lost the novelty & excitement of driving a particular car & have always part ex’d them for something else after a couple of years. I still love the opportunity of driving this car for the experience it gives me – long may it continue.

For my sins I am a motorcycle speedway fan & regularly belt up & down the motorways following the sport. My mechanic always encourages me (although I don’t really need much encouragement) to ‘wring its neck’ as he says it does the car good. He’s probably right as the engine has never had to have any work done on it since new apart from a couple of routine cam belt changes.

This year alone I have spent £4k+ on Pocketrocket including the fitting of a new clutch, rear brake drums, coil springs, track rod arms & ends, wishbones, exhaust, headlamps, timing belt, air box & filter, manifold heat shield as well as having the gearbox re-conditioned, alloy wheels re-furbished & an original colour respray. Also the niggling warning lights fault has been dealt with. At some point in time I would like to do a bit of detailing work under the bonnet but for the time being, that can wait.

They say that a week in politics is a long time. Well that’s also true when it comes to buying Fiats. No sooner had I written the article on the Puntos when I fell in love all over again. It may sound sad but I look at ‘Cars for sale’ websites most days even when I’m not really thinking of buying. I was doing just that when I spotted a Stilo that I knew I had to have.

So what was the object of my desire? Stilo Schumacher no. 117/200 with the full GP kit (except for the OZ Superturismo alloys which I would like to get later), FSH with a year’s MOT & cambelt change. The real drawer was the FSH along with the lovely bodywork & low miles of only 54K. I understand that there are only about 85 of these cars left on the road in the UK & I must admit that I didn’t even know that they existed.

Already having lots of fun & looking forward to meeting other members of FMC when the show season starts.

By the way I’m still very much in love with the Puntos, especially Pocketrocket & hope that wee will be able to bring both cars to as many Fiat gatherings as possible where I may well fall in love again. (Something a bit older next time?)

Leigh Rose