UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Doh

should have realised that...

i always thought it stood for how spunky it was or that it ran really hot, til it was explained to me

didnt help that mums one was bright, fire-engine red hehe ... i wanted to put blue lights on it

That and they don't have a head gasket to blow (and weren't Ferrari involved in the engine design?).

I used to rag the t**s off the one I had on a regular basis, damn thing just wouldn't die. Remember using mine to tow a seized door on a shipping container open once (think the scene from the Lost World where the Mercedes M-class is towing the caravan up the cliff face, it was like that on tarmac).

As an aside, the Marbella never had the fire series engine AFAIK, it had the 3-cyl 900cc jobby.

yeah, its some asthmatic 850cc jobbie that probably came out of a ride-on lawnmower somewhere - hence "underpowered panda clone"

you can get a good 75mph or more out of it but you'd better have underpants of iron! much happier around 60 (or indeed, 40 offroad ... perhaps it's got insane amounts of suspension travel hidden inside those unassuming wheel arches that causes both these effects?)

wouldnt surprise if ferrari had a hand in some part of the car's design, being part of fiat for so long now..... but what's that about the lack of a gasket?

sorry guys but I'm old school its got to be an OPEL MANTA 400 and heres the link to a pick if your not sure

http://www.manta400.netfirms.com/motors ... 00.com.jpg

if were talking head in the clouds sorta favourite



And back down to earth...



My long standing favourite (appart from my mk1 of course)

you're not bstardchild's brother by any chance are you?

Tahrey1043 wrote: wouldnt surprise if ferrari had a hand in some part of the car's design, being part of fiat for so long now..... but what's that about the lack of a gasket?

Didn't need one, the head and block were a single peice I seem to remember.

how do you de-coke the buggers or change the valves then?

or is it some kooky method where you have to remove the crank and pistons then withdraw them that way?

(would explain why they disappear from the roads quite quickly - once the rings get shagged from continual hammering, or the valves burn, cambelt snaps, etc, the whole thing is just too difficult to fix and you may as well junk the car ... fantastic in maintenance terms, never needs seals replacing etc... right up to the point where it actually needs an overhaul?)

They're not exactly user-servicable, mine was burning a valve out towards the end. But then small fiats are pretty much deigned as disposable cars.