Old Top Gear 1997 - Fiat Marea

Tiff Needell road tests the then new Fiat Marea.

[@jessesteinbar]

My parents had a brand new Red Marea Weekend, what a nice car!

[@RoadCone411]

I hired one of these in June 2000 for about a week and a half - drove around a lot of the UK with it. It was a very pleasant car, to be honest, with comfortable front seats and a good feel on the road. It tackled motorway miles and twisty Welsh back roads with equal aplomb. Much better than the nasty Citroen Xsara I had rented on a shorter UK visit the year before. I get all the fun cars!! :)

[@gorski548]

My father owns Fiat Marea 1997 xD Its a great car! Still works like a charm! He bought it in 2002.

[@tadekk]

Weird. I just bought a 1997 estate Marea from a guy in Bristol who had it since 2002. Same car? :)

[@BRED510]

I bought a P reg Marea from the Auctions for £460 back in 2004. Drove it a year, put 20k miles on it, did nothing to it, sold it on for what I paid. Great free motoring.

[@graydog1975]

Here in Brazil the Fiat marea is very famous for its very difficult mechanics, for having an Italian engine A hug from Brazil

[@romulodecastrodasilva5863]

Explosões meu amigo!

[@fasthracing]

Had a 115 1.8 ELX. Great car did 100k in it with only the exhaust falling off and headlight bulbs failing every 6 months.

[@aristotelisentertainment279]

Back then when Fiat could innovate.

[@easydrive3662]

Those marea weekends actually looked really decent with quite a different unique look

[@florjanbrudar692]

Yes, the rear lights remind me so much of the pre-facelift first gen Kangoo.

[@DIZAZZO]

We had here in brazil a turbo version, with the Coupe turbo 5 cylinder engine. That was the fastest and best car made in brazil for many, many years. Some bad mechanics and idiotic 2nd and 3rd owners, doesn't know how to deal with all the technology and the cars started to fail. But, as i say, just excuses for utter incompetence.

[@SPT83]

A culpa não é de mecânicos e sim da própria Fiat que orientava nos manuais a troca de óleo a cada 20 mil kms num carro com motor 2.0 turbo,fora que é um motor Italiano de manutenção complexa e quase impossível de arrumar peças.

[@Thefrs_3]

@@SPT83 O Brasil é um país muito avançado, estávamos bem alinhados com o que o carro oferecia, certo?

[@jessesteinbar]

Era muito foda, tinha um no clube do Marea em Porto Alegre que diziam que tinha o motor de um F1 debaixo do capô. Meus pais tinham um Weekend SX 1.6 vermelho alpine, era muito show, todo mundo adorava aquele carro.

[@jessesteinbar]

@@SPT83 esse erro era quando ele vinha importado, já com o motor turbo eles arrumaram o manual

[@jessesteinbar]

@@SPT83 o turbo só veio depois que a Fiat traduziu mal os manuais

[@Pidge0386]

I own 2 of these, one, a Fiat Marea 2.0 20v ELX (5 cylinders) The second is a base model Fiat Marea 1.6 16v SX (4 cylinders) They are great cars, but one electrical fault can kill these off!

[@frazzleface753]

It was oddly positioned, not big enough for Mondeo man, and if you wanted something smaller and cheaper, just get a Bravo/a. I do like front end styling from Fiat in this era. The rear end on the Marea is a letdown though, after the individualistic styles on the Bravo/a.

[@Pidge0386]

trueish

[@sharonec5419]

I agree and it is that rear lights that have not aged well. I think they should have put Braca lights on the Merea put instead of them been vertical they would have been horizontal. That would have worked and looked good.

[@driver5o]

on balkans, these cars can be now found for under 1000 euros because pretty much every 20v 2.0 marea is washed out. noone buys them or even has them anymore due to bad maintenance and high reving life. those are one of the best engines to tune but u need good amount of money to even make them run again smoothley, not to mention tuning itself

[@1ns4ne1d10t]

Only problem with the Bravo/a and Marea was the steering and tracking quality which seemed to fall out of alignment within 500 miles of being re-aligned. A few potholes later and the loose tracking would shake itself out into towing out which made the Marea feel sloppy and awful to drive which ruined the whole experience of owning this lovely car. It was the only problem I ever encountered with these cars but everything else was brilliant on them. They had just about every mod con you could want featured in the ELX models (if you found an HLX juicy on fuel and pricey to insure). Despite the fact they were built a bit tinny and assembled a bit misfitty they were all very well rust proofed and the huge doors on the Bravo held up together better then a 3dr Astra and a 3dr Escort (Which seemed to sag with the door weight). The 100 16v 1595 engine was the best 1.6 litre engine you could get. In fact all of Fiat's 1595cc engines were 16v and twin cam as a standard 1.6 purchase unlike Fords Escort and Vauxhalls Astra (Which offered you a poxy 1.6 8V unless you were willing to fork out more for a 16v). Apart from the Golf VR6, the 2.0 litre 5 cylinder engine in the HGT and HLX had more cylinders under the bonnet then any other car in that class.

[@greengrass9572]

1ns4ne1d10t, a well worded description, but as great as the 1.6 16v was, it wasn't the best, that went to Alfas twinspark.

[@Menda_Lerenda]

Did you knew that the jtd on the bravo was "torque limited" to stop it beating the 156 and 145 on performance? Fiat group: good engineering, unbeatable rubbish management.

[@vojin54]

It wasn't limited,it had the same 1.9 JTD as in the 145,with a fixed geometry turbo,but the 156 jtd had a variable geometry turbo,thats why it had more torque,but the 145 and Bravo have the same torque

[@leonardoyagui2083]

There is another problem too, Here in Brazil, when Marea arrived in 1998, a commom problem is detected in the Fiat Marea. Fiat say that the oil need to be changed in 20000km, this value is pretty high compared to values in other cars, this causes to Marea to explode after several kilometers riding in the Marea. this became even a joke here in Brazil hahaha. - Im not an expert in vehicle maintenence, so i don't know how to explain this in a proper way. but this is the problem, and there are many ways to cause an explosion of the 5 cylinder engine of the Marea, not only an high value of oil change; - Sorry guys for my bad english, im not American or British. im Brazilian, sorry for the mistakes.

[@antonio.9698]

Joselo Aero That,s wrong, they had less torque because the gearbox are different, weaker on the Bravo, so they detuned it a bit..

[@howardturner746]

Had a weekend version, drove it up and down France for years full of stuff, was a great car that never broke, until the windscreen fell out because of rust! Had a 5 cylinder 20v bravo which was great until I had to get the timing chain done...I didn't, it blew up, great cars but expensive to fix...

[@doctoremil2678]

And so you lost more money buying another car, rather than maintaining your Bravo properly...

[@yoranw4608]

An awesome car. But the 5cyl engines were a nightmare. When I lived in Brazil, they were quite common automobiles. But quickly vanished due to expensive maintenance costs and common breakups. Still, quite an awesome car.

[@Pidge0386]

"When I lived in Brazil" The Brazilian one was a nightmare, fiat had nothing to do with it.

[@yoranw4608]

@@Pidge0386 I'm sorry. Is there a problem that I've lived in your country?

[@Pidge0386]

@@yoranw4608 No, no, nothing is wrong with you. It's just that you seem to believe that the marea is bad, but you've only seen the brazil version?

[@yoranw4608]

@@Pidge0386 Yes, I've come from America and Fiat was absent of there for a long time, so this car was never sold in US. And as far as I know, the problem the car faced in Brazil was that it required specialized maintenance, which did rise up the costs and since the price of the car lowered quickly, some owners didn't give it much TLC and then the cars became truly problematic. Correct me if I'm mistaken, please.

[@19smkl91]

oh I miss those electric windows.. so much power, marea owners know what I'm talking about

[@lucasworktv]

Lovely car!

[@lucineicolussi]

In Brazil, we have version with engine 2.0 20v, 2.4 20v, 2.0 20 turbo, 1.8 16v, and 1.6 16v. Today, is a New colectinable car.

[@ravituario]

"A girl called Maria" it's not the same of Marea...

[@lucylocket4740]

He is such a twat!

[@boboh587]

Lucy Locket such a twat? but a brilliant driver.

[@boboh587]

Lucy Locket under stand now see what you mean .

[@boboh587]

Lucy Locket no lol just maybe where ever he was brought up from.

[@lucylocket4740]

Hahahaha

[@toxy3580]

Lol the windows got jammed in ours as well

[@tjfSIM]

£14,500 in 1997 was nearly £25,000 in today's money!! That's a hell of a lot of money to spend on a Fiat

[@utubeleplague]

Guess why they have barely any new cars nowadays?

[@cargueone1971]

tjf4375 / you also made much more than than you do now.

[@video99couk]

Back in '98 I spent £14k on a car, but rather than a Fiat (I was looking at the Coupe) I bought a 4 year old Toyota Celica instead. Turned out to be a good move, because 21 years later I'm still driving the near-flawless Toyota. I doubt a Fiat would have lasted quite so well.

[@lastp6905]

These cars are pretty much nonexistent in the UK now

[@Pidge0386]

I own 2 myself, i must say though, you don't see them often!

[@Snarl616]

You don't see many in Italy either. Good cars, but I never wanted or loved one. They look impersonal, like a modern Fiat Tipo.

[@King_Renato1]

In Brazil, we call it THE BOMB.

[@johnxxiiii]

in Brazil bomb its the AP motors.

[@Pidge0386]

Brazil 2007 ones are quite bad......

[@miroslavhovezak7349]

What is the episode and series ?

[@romulodecastrodasilva5863]

Teletupyes S2 E5!

[@djmhyde]

this car is da bomb

[@50Lior]

I had ome in 1998. Big Big mistake. Was bearly soled for pinats...

[@skadi6750]

Who still drives this car in 2017?:-D I love my boyfriends almost-post-apo babe:-D This car learned me to drive:-D It can deal with all of my stupidity and I could stuff two ponies inside:-D

[@robertolemos4]

I have a Fiat Marea 1.8SX 2003 with 35.000km. It stayed stored for 12 years and came back to life.

[@leonardoyagui2083]

Skadi the Beast In Brazil we have lots of people driving the Fiat Marea. its an classic 90s Sports-Car here in Brazil

[@chrisbergamo]

In Brazil we had an Exclusiv version for our market, the Marea Turbo and the Marea Weekend Turbo using the same 5 cylinder engine of the Fiat Coupe. Now it is really is a collectable car.

[@agentofenhanced2428]

Have a 2002 Fiat Bravo, modded and tuned for racing.

[@reaperreaper9593]

First car I drove after getting my license was my grandparent's Marea 1.8, later I got myself a 1.6 Marea, still have it to this day. Every time I want to sell it, I change my mind and decide to keep it just a little longer :D

[@douglassouza5203]

Amo demais.

[@Statimtek]

with Porsche it's a family name so it should be pronounced properly. Porsh-ah. Would you call the famous prime minister Winston Church?

[@n--r--s--7___9___6]

👍

[@sharonec5419]

I never liked Tiff Needell. The Jeremy Clarkson of then would have gave a better review and besides this was not a Ford Mondeo competitor it was Renault Megane Classic and Peugeot 306 saloon competitor. Old Tiff could not even get his facts right.

[@64fairlane305]

Read moore

[@romulodecastrodasilva5863]

KABUUUUUM; in Brazil marea have the worst reputation!

[@SPT83]

here in Brazil this car has a bad name, is considered a car bomb.

[@KanishQQuotes]

Unreliable ?

[@SPT83]

@@KanishQQuotes No

[@darrenwilson8042]

The "trendy cassette hatch" - a car born at the end of the casstte players life before cd's swept all before them. Remember cd's? No? the preceded MP3 players, memory sticks iPods and DAB radio - Jesus 15 years ago was the dark ages

[@madeinjapan3485]

Absolutely awful cars, nice to look at but that's about it, water pump failed at 30000 miles head gasket replacement, exhaust fell off, clutch went at 70000 miles along with most other wear and tear suspension and steering problems tie rods, suspension arm c.v boot the list went on and on.

[@Tylerpierre99]

"in so doing they've turned a small family car into an abomination by adding an unnecessary boot and made the rear uninspired and as shit as any of the other 4/5 year old cars it was competing with at the time of launch"

[@paianis]

Small saloons are more popular than hatchbacks in many parts of the world, hence the prevalence of cars like this.

[@julianestebansalazar5757]

That car ugly

[@davidpp9999]

no u

[@spitfire5c659]

I’m so proud of this community

[@andreramos7838]

🤫

[@johnxxiiii]

ugly its your face.

[@unexceptionalcars914]

Julián Esteban Salazar stfu