THE DAY MY UNCLE BOUGHT A NEW FIAT 132

In 1976, life in my small Hampshire village often lacked excitement. True, there was the ever-popular Southern Television quiz show That’s My Turnip and the occasion when some community elders decreed Ceefax to be witchcraft. But in general, it was a placid existence until my Uncle Brian arrived in his new car. The following conversation reputedly took place in the Post Office:

Zeke (think Benny Hill): “Alloy wheels. They be against the laws of nature.”

Jake (think Tony Hancock as Joshua Merryweather): “And that metallic paintwork will cause the crops to fail; you mark my words.”

Rumour has it they planned to create a wicker effigy in Swanwick Station’s car park, but the Post Office stores had run out of firelighters.

And Uncle Brian’s Fiat 132 ES was an impressive machine and not only in comparison with the near-wrecks my family seemed to favour as everyday transport. It represented a form of attainable but genuine luxury – less opulent than the flagship 130 but still redolent of the high life. As well as the “shimmering metallic paint”, there was also the “tinted glass and deep pile carpet door to door” and “the steering wheel adjustable for height and reach.”

Fiat GB further promised five cars in one, as “A man in your position needs all the cars he can get” – i.e., affordable glamour for £3,098. Since its launch four years earlier, the 132 had never really impacted the UK’s middle managers, and a 1973 report in Car probably did not help its chances. While they praised the ride, engine and ability as a motorway cruiser, “the steering is too heavy”, “the driving position is positively awful” and “the handling is weird.” A 1974 facelift did not appear to improve the 132’s sales, despite Motor Sport’s opinion that as a “sporting saloon and well contrived family coach combined, it merits attention.”

The ES appealed to a motorist who would have otherwise looked at the Ford Cortina 2000E Mk. III, the Granada 2000L, the Leyland Princess HL or the Vauxhall VX1800/2300. Such cars were not exotic enough for Captain B Roberts of the Merchant Navy, as he always had a taste for the faintly exotic. Plus, unlike some of my family’s vehicles, the doors were not prone to falling off.

132 production ended in 1981, and there are now believed to be 20 on the road in the UK; none of them the ES - https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/family/fiat_132. If memory serves me correctly, the Fiat owned by my Uncle Brian was eventually replaced by a Mercedes-Benz W123, but I always hope to encounter one at a classic car show. After all, what six-year-old car enthusiast would not be impressed by the “unmistakable Italian styling?”