Fiat Strada commercial

[FGalaxie]

They were probably more reliable and lasted longer than Leyland cars of the era.

[veggiemoto]

I had a 1979 Strada and it was a fun car to drive compared to American made econoboxes, and got better mileage. I never had a bit of trouble with it but the finish was not able to withstand east coast winters and road salt very well. For the era it was great although the Rabbit had greater durability.

[fixinggrace]

FIAT used Soviet steel to build these cars which wasn't up to snuff at all. I had one in 1986 that rotted so bad the doors literally fell apart. Didn't help we lived in the rust belt either. Otherwise, these were great cars. I literally used $2 worth of gasoline to get me back and forth to work every week.

[SIRSMITH08]

whats the music to this advert called ??

[SIRSMITH08]

@SIRSMITH08 its ok ive got it thxs

[215alessio]

I will buy the new punto evo soon, i 've also had a golf mk2 now also scrapped lasted 20 years and metal fatigue killed it. Lately it drove like a wet noodle. anyway the golf wasn't a nice car to drive. just good to move you from A to B

But I never forget my very first car , the fiat ritmo. When i have space and i find one in repairable conditions, be shure it will be mine as oldtimer. Funkiest car I ever had! 

[Makopako78]

Sono delle Ritmo!

Venivano prodotte all'estero con il nome di Strada perche' il nome Ritmo (Rhythm) suonava male : )

[lefthanddriver]

strada?????looks like fiorino.................

[MidlandNinja]

Any left at all anywhere now

[TitchTV]

I'd still love a bright orange Strada. Its having a toy car of one as a kid I guess. Great ad.

[WAYNE1977100]

@TitchTV that toy Strada was made by a French toy company called Majorette. I still have a toy orange strada.

[TitchTV]

@WAYNE1977100 Yeap remember it well. Will have to find one on ebay.

[Superchickenman159]

it looks like a honda today g

[alastair4151]

Cheap Russian steel means that many rusted before they left the showrooms.The lifespan of these cars was terrible,most were on the scrapyard by 5 -6 years old.

[215alessio]

@alastair4151 Mine lasted 11,5 years 1987 1998 bought 3rd hand in my student time rode it 1, 5 years and then was scrapped overmiled and wear and tear + rust was to far damaged

[TheMasterNo6]

Great ad. Shit car.

[Mark3164]

I like the bit at the end, an homage to The Italian Job. Justified as Fiat supplied most of the cars in the film, even financing the minis as BMC were too tight. Shame the Strada was such a crap car.

[Ordre33]

Great video !

Anyone can tell me what is the title and the performer of the song, please ?

[cielobuio]

The title is "Largo al Factotum", an aria from The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini.

Dunno who's singing this version though.

This advert must have cost a fortune to make and another fortune each time was aired. Love it !!

[bikersupermoto]

did anyone remember the 2 ronnies doing a spoof of this advert? ....

they showed the car being designed on a computer screen, then being built in the factory by robots and then ... a fiat strada driving along a road - it crashes ....

the fiat strada, designed by computer, built by robot, driven by an italian! - lol

[FGalaxie]

@bikersupermoto and they used footage of a vaxhaull, so it wa poms doing the driving.

Sort of like how their car industry all ended up in foreign hands.

[uhegbu]

I was not born when this advert came out but it was featured on Channel 4's 100 Greatest Adverts. Any ideas as to the name of th classical piece in this memorable one?

[blondJasper]

It's called Largo al Factotum and is from Rossini's opera Il Barbiere di Siviglia.

[Cantarally94]

Amazing Spot !!!!! The Fiat Strada-Ritmo is a Fantastic Car !!!

[simonenergy]

The Ritmo is very wonderful car

[12valvepower1]

yugo is fiat

[krakenwave]

and Skoda is VW

don't knock em

[boomhoward22]

wicked! i want that car!

[RevStaplehurst]

rubbish car ... good advert though

[FPVsean]

the end result : something youd see poking out of a skip XD

[hyperlexis]

The joke was always "The car built by Robots ..and driven by idiots."

My father had one from I think 1979. I remember taking long road trips in it. So many problems though -- clutch cable snapping, radiator leak, terrible vapor lock in summer. Having to use start fluid or gasoline down carb to get it started. And the rust! My Gd! It must have been in pieces within 5 years. It's like they weren't treated at all. One door almost rusted off. Today's FIATs are 1000% better, fortunately.

[Scania143ab]

They chose this tune as it sounds like ' family car, family car'....

[empirecazz]

sembra Uno spot per promuovere le industrie metallurgiche sovietiche

[ttrjw]

"Designed by a computer. Silenced by a laser. Built by robots."

Driven by a moron; rusts like bu**ery.

[wumbatz]

yea it rusts, but only on that island where the sun never shines... drive your british so called cars- do they rust less?!

[hurricaneUK]

cheeky bastard

[wumbatz]

you´re welcome

[volvomantom]

What a shame you never see these anymore.

[stewiegriffin1963]

What a fantastic ad.

[brianafuang]

nice heavy traffic jam. lol

[drayltonboy]

My favourite ad of all time. I remeber it being shown in the News at ten break. I was completely blown away

[DivideBYZero69]

I have one that doesn't rust. Oh, wait...

[TheReliquary]

Like Knightrider at the end!

[RCBPearce]

Or The Italian Job.

[shepshepherd]

Great advert for an unfairly forgotten car, of which there are less than 80 roadworthy examples in the UK.

[rynmcgrory]

Hairs are standing up on my neck at the end of that.

[bratattack5]

There was something lovingly ugly about the Sr1 Strada. My maths teacher had a blue one and l loved her for it so l used to enjoy her lessons more.

[fredrich99]

Still have mine only got 36000 miles nearly 20 years old and no rust .Its the 2 litre Abarth one It all depends on how you look after a car mine was garaged some time in its life . As for the car being crap you have never driven one and anyway Fiat sold millions and they did not give them away .

[hyperwhizzkid]

I think they'd all rusted to the ground by the time they'd finished shooting the commercial. Great ad, crap car.

[MuscledHeavyHorse]

Hardly an specimen remaining, but it was still a nicely styled car,remember it well from 1980 when I though it really impressive. Fiats have got a damned sight better since that particular example back then anyway.

[stevieg2087]

I seem to remember Not The Nine O'Clock News taking the piss out of this one, adding a clip of one crashing at the end and 'Driven By Italians' on-screen too.

[olliedann]

I remember that too. I wonder if anyone has posted that clip?

[agfagaevart]

I may have this. I'll post if I can find it.

[Gorf1234]

@olliedann Explorer and Firefox are crashing whenever I try to post a video response, so I'll have to put the link here -

v=FU-tuY0Z7nQ

[cushy1900]

Funny first thing I thought of when watching this ad.

Classic sketch.

[FGalaxie]

@stevieg2087 And it was a Vauxhall. so it was Poms driving it, and crashing it. haha

[numberstation]

I'll have an orange one,please.

[uglycustard]

Its a pity they all fell to pieces after 5minutes!!

[col2006ie]

I believe this ad was only shown three times in the UK - not sure if this was because of the ITV strike in 1979.

The ad cost £250,000 to make at the time, but apparently cost FIAT almost £6 million in lost production due to having to stop and start the factory machinery to film the advert.

[AntarcticaTelevision]

One of the finest adverts of the 1970s. Thanks muchly, Ollie.

BTW, the Strada was named Ritmo in the other European countries.