My aunt had one of these( (and it was yellow like the one pictured above). It was in the shop more often than it was on the road, and it had this weird thing with the pop up headlights when you turned them on where one light would come up, either side, and if you got lucky both would come up. You had to toggle the switch a few times to get both lights to come up. Also I recall it backfired a lot, and it sounded like a shotgun going off when it did.
I've owned six of them. All in the late 80s/early 90s. Five of them were shitburgers mechanically, and were cheaper to replace than repair. However, I scored a killer deal on a yellow 1978 model with less than 2,000 miles and in factory new condition. I loved the shit out of that car. A mid-engine, Italian Sports Car with Bertone Coachwork, 4 wheel independent suspension, 4 wheel disc brakes, and just enough power to be absurdly fun. NOTHING I have ever driven had the uncanny and immediate response to driver input like that car. You couldn't force it out of control... it was like a fucking magnet. It just stuck!
I would hit the twisties at terrifying speeds in that car with nary a squeal from the tires in protest.
Upgrading to some custom built 15" wheels wrapped in 195/50R15 Dunlops (verses the stock 175/70R13) and installing larger aftermarket sway bars made it totally ridiculous.
Also, that car was built like a tank... not at all the death trap people assumed it to be.
In 1972 when FIAT was under the gun to produce a new model, the US D.O.T. was trying to enact some crazy new crashworthiness mandates for new cars. Among those criteria a car must meet was a 50MPH impact and an 80MPH rollover (ludicrously out of reach at the time). FIAT didn't want to gamble and lose, so they went into the project assuming those new laws would go into effect.
The result was a car made on a monocoque platform (i.e. Formula 1) with a tubular steel cage around the cabin, in the doors, and throughout the car. It passed both tests with flying colors, and is the only car ever to do so.
Unfortunately, this also made it heavy. Perhaps too heavy for the tiny motor it had. It wasn't quick or fast by any stretch, but that worked to its advantage in many ways... it handled and stopped so ferociously well that you almost couldn't get yourself into trouble with it.
Later models had increased displacement and Bosch Fuel Injection for greatly improved performance, but it never got the power it deserved.
I've seen several with Alfa V6s stuffed into them. Holy shit! Most modern performance cars would be quickly embarrassed by them.
