Author Topic: Where is everyone ?  (Read 5563 times)

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the duke of 126

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Where is everyone ?
« on: January 13, 2012, 06:04:51 PM »
Hello all , i am new to this fiat scene having been a vw fan for years , and i can't believe how little action this forum gets ! There does not seem to be many 126 cars for sale ! Or many new posts , compared to say the volkszone forum.
Is this because the 126's are now so rare in the uk? I know parts seem to be rare ie front headlights !
I am not knocking this forum as i think its great , its such a shame that there are so few cars about. I recently got mine and it has been brilliant .
Can anyone suggest a good sorce of parts ?
I was talking to a polish friend today and he said they are rare in poland now as well !
I reckon people in the uk who have one must keep them squirreled away to stop them getting knicked ?
Anyway who is in essex who has got one ?

ciaoflyer

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2012, 06:57:12 PM »
People are predictable that is why there are more VW owners :P
Ciao4Now

Rusty's Uncle

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2012, 07:27:32 PM »
Hi Duke , must have missed your name in the New Years Honours list , did you get the title for diplomacy or for excessive use of substances  :D ;D :D
How about a bit of contribution before you get into retribution  :P
volkszone is a Golf apart from here  :), put your motors where your mouth is and turn up to a meeting ! Or even better set one up as Essex seems to be a bit of a hot spot.
Get your sense of humour in gear , be prepared to research the forum for answers and be prepared to put the leg work in if you are looking for help :)

LOOKS LIKE  A GOLF , SOUNDS LIKE A GULF

stuey

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2012, 07:45:31 PM »
alive and kicking here! welding and lead loading at the mo..

in answer to you question how many more beetles campers and golfs are there in the world... many time over more than there are 126's..so I would expect volkzone to be busy!

we are an enthusiatic lot but the more active forum members tend to be knee deep in broken 126's quite alot bear with us as we start to get resto's done we should start to appear.. if it will help I can give weekly updates but it gets a bit disheartening posting up what is 3 days work in welding to have no one say a thing because its not alot to look at or i havent bought a big pile of expensive parts...

one resprayed and another arrives- double trouble BIS style!!

ChrisRLewis

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2012, 08:27:47 PM »
To be honest you cannot compare the VW scene "volkzone" to the Fiat 126 scene, 126's are a lot scarcer so the consequences are not such an active forum, this is a fact of life.

Believe me that this forum is doing really well for the number of 126's around.  I have the site's statistics which confirm the increasing interest in 126's and this forum.

Check the link for TopSite for sourcing 126 parts.
http://club126uk.co.uk/index.php?ind=topsite

Amateb8

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #5 on: January 13, 2012, 08:58:42 PM »
We are here! Stuey hit the nail on the head. The number of golfs and the beetles sold worldwide were 25mn and 22.5mn respectively. The Fiat 126 worldwide sales was only 4.7mn. The 126 were sold in limited number of countries, many of which were sold in the CEE and a few others including the UK. The 126 was also not as popular.

http://whoartnow.hubpages.com/hub/Top-50-Best-Selling-Cars-Of-All-Time

fightingtorque

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2012, 09:33:24 PM »
Still you got some replies so that is cool!  What sort of 126 do you have/ what sort of use are you putting it to - daily transport, restoration project, hotrod ?


Must admit it is intriguing that about 20% as many 126 were made as were beetles, and yet you don't see 1 126 for every 5 beetles.  or every 10.  or every 50 i would say.  'fraid the durability and popularity are not as high.

On the other hand, i think its a totally cool car, for what it is.  But i am also glad it isn't my only car!

Cheers,

Gav

the duke of 126

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2012, 06:46:48 AM »
Well that had the desired effect  ;D
The reason i got a 126 was because they are so rare and i have had wanted one for over ten years !
I think the points made about vw's were fair , i found a lot of vw ownership was almost about who had the most expensive or outlandish bus / bug , and silly prices !
From my research you can buy a mint 126 for well under 2k which for anyone wanting to own a top condition car in its class is a steal!
However from what i see of the fiat forum its more of hey ! Mines on the road !
They are such basic cars that unless you have loads of money to stick a bike engine in and go silly if thats your bag ( not mine ), a set of nice alloys and keeping the old girl going are more fun. I am also a monkey bike fan and i found in that area people were always sticking silly speed engines in them and going mad , i am a biker from the bike sports bike area and to me a monkey was to be as it was intended, ie a cheap fun little bike to bring a smile to your face !

As for aranging a local meet i would love to! From my research on here the only one is late in the year , well how about a summer one ? Meeting at the ace cafe in london and going a run to southend ? Or into the city and back to the ace cafe ? Maybe sometime in may? Give us all a chance to get rid of the crap weather and prep the cars?

Anyhow i live in essex so if there is anyone near here give me a shout , i know there is a guy in chelmsford who has six! But i have never met him.

This thread was posted as a fun topic not , to instigate a war of words , sorry if some were shaken by it  :D

Thanks for the parts link ! And great site this forum
From my very limed time having one it seems to me the fun is all about just having one to drive and enjoy ?

I have a white 126 g reg , on the road with mini light alloys, fair condition , not really any rust
« Last Edit: January 15, 2012, 12:09:43 AM by the duke of 126 »

Amateb8

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2012, 09:05:54 AM »
The 126's are getting even rarer literally by the day, evident from the number of 126's being broken up for spare parts, particularly the watercooled Bis. You only need to look at ebay (UK and elsewhere), other websites and used car magazines. Sadly, I think the watercooled Bis (which had a limited run between 1988 to 1992) will be close to extinction in the not too distant future.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2012, 04:24:13 PM by Amateb8 »

Darrell

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2012, 08:34:53 PM »
We may be little but our social scene of the year (Retro rides gathering) (well it is for me anyhow) is 100 zillion times better than any social ever  ;D

And while on the subject, you have to be warned that a non-running 126 will not be accepted as an excuse for missing this years's as unless something changes, mine will still be a non runner  :$
'84 aircooled 126 & 500F still in kit form
Not the only African in the village :)

Hazey-n-Marc

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2012, 08:40:38 PM »
I think that there are only a couple of hundred 126's left in britain (ours was the 127th bis taxed last year :D), they are a sociable bunch here, just not as numerous as the vw lot (part of the appeal I suppose :D). There are busy moments, but much like our cars, fairly steady.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2012, 08:54:11 PM by Hazey-n-Marc »

GasPunk

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2012, 09:15:28 PM »
I think that there are only a couple of hundred 126's left in britain

You're right - 223 taxed and 429 SORNd at the last count. 10 years ago there were 3000 taxed!



Not many to build a community with but I'm happy to be one of the few  :D

Hazey-n-Marc

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2012, 09:30:30 PM »
223 taxed, 429 sorned, that's 652 126's. Think the forum's doing well with 1796 members :D :o :D

Amateb8

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #13 on: January 18, 2012, 10:26:04 PM »
Unfortunately, sadly, a good number of the 429 SORN'd will eventually end up as spares or repair. Many will be broken up for spare parts. The days of the UK 126s are numbered.

I wonder how many vintage 500 there are relative to 126s? There are probably more vintage 500s now, than 126s.

GasPunk

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Re: Where is everyone ?
« Reply #14 on: January 18, 2012, 10:48:58 PM »
I suspect that a fair few of those on SORN are really just V5 documents and parts, rather than actual cars. I know I have 3 or 4 SORNed vehicles (not 126) that are just chassis', bodies and various useful parts.

I guess there's the other side of that; there will be some cars that have been off the road since before SORN came in that could make it back onto the road some day. I've found some great old cars lurking behind unassuming garage doors  8)