While an ever-increasing number Americans in the second half of the 1970s felt comfortable buying sporty German and Japanese sedans, the idea of relying on an Italian sedan for everyday transportation made sense to a much more exclusive group. For those Americans who craved a commute packed with Italian passion and artistry but needed something with rear-wheel-drive (ruling out the 128 and the Lancia Beta sedan) and cheaper than the Alfa Romeo Sport Sedan, Fiat offered the 131 on these shores for the 1976 through 1981 model years (changing its name to the Brava starting in 1978). As you’d expect, these cars are about as tough to find in junkyards today as Mitsubishi Tredias or Rover 3500s, but I ran across this ’78 in a Denver yard last week.
This car has the 2.0-liter version of Fiat’s screamin’ Twin Cam four-cylinder, rated at 86 horsepower. Since the ’78 Brava scaled in at just 2,455 pounds, it wouldn’t have been agonizingly slow by the standards of the time.
A five-speed manual transmission was serious stuff in the late 1970s, though a three-speed automatic was available in the Brava.
The 120 mph speedometer seems optimistic. I might need to go back and buy that Quarzo clock for my hoard collection.
This vertical-loading glovebox and its sliding door demonstrates the sort of edgy Italian design your BMW and Audi drivers didn’t get in 1978.
The University of Northern Colorado parking sticker from 1993 indicates that this car was still on the road at the advanced age (for a Fiat in North America) of 15 years.
It’s a bit rusty, but it should have been possible to get this car back on the road. What happened? Usually, I can’t answer this question… but it happens that I know a bit about this car’s recent history.
A couple of years ago, the owner of a repair shop for Italian cars in Englewood, Colorado, passed away. Nearly 100 cars— mostly 1960s-1980s Fiats but also a sprinkling of Lancias and Alfa Romeos— accumulated in the shop’s storage yard went up for sale at bargain prices. I did my best to spread the word about all those Fiats in need of forever homes, but most of them ended up being hauled off for scrap value. In the photo above, you can see today’s Junkyard Find in the foreground.
Two years later, we can assume that whoever obtained this Brava tried without success to find a buyer to pay a few hundred for it and then made a sad call to U-Pull-&-Pay. I wish it had ended up seeking Class C glory on a 24 Hours of Lemons race track, but the local racers are full up with silly projects and trying to make room for more. Anyway, a car that began its career in a Denver Fiat dealership will end it in a Denver crusher. Circle of automotive life and all that, no?
This isn’t the first Aspen Motors auction car I’ve seen in a Denver-area boneyard lately, but it’s the first I’ve written about. Stay tuned for a future Junkyard Find, Junkyard Gem, or Junkyard Treasure featuring more sad Italian stories.
The Brava was priced very well for all its standard luxury features, with an MSRP of $4,995 (about $21,920 today) for the ’78 sedan with 2000 engine. A new BMW 320i cost nearly twice as much, at $9,315.
Fiat departed the United States in 1982, though Malcolm Bricklin continued to import 124 Sport Spiders and X1/9s with Pininfarina and Bertone badging fairly deep into the decade. Fiat returned to our shores nearly a decade ago, which means that once again it’s easy to find Italian subjects for this series.
For links to 2,100+ additional Junkyard Finds, visit the Junkyard Home of the Murilee Martin Lifestyle Brand™.
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