Made in Italy, this is usually a sign that the car you get is stylish, fast and exciting to drive. Unfortunately, in most cases it will also be unreliable.
Without question, most of the most exciting road cars come from Italy; no other nation has produced so many Sports car and supercars as a handful of highly skilled and passionate Italian automakers. Unfortunately, that same passion for style and performance can lead to some embarrassing flaws, so Ferrari can conflict with a high profile recall due to poorly designed and glued / fitted wheel arch liners. Likewise, any gear head tempted by either a Trident emblem or a Visconti snake knows that the inevitable is certain to happen, as it depends more on when and not if.
Are all Italian cars badly built? Fortunately no, new Lamborghinis and Ferraris are vastly improved, newbies Pagani, who build everything but their engines in-house, are as perfect as possible.
8th Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato
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Make no mistake about it, the Lancia Fulvia was an eye-catching compact coupe with a legendary sporty pedigree. When Zagato employee Ercola Spada gave him a sleek fastback makeover, it only got better. Under the hood, the mechanics remained largely unchanged, 1.3-liter V4 engines in later models developed 91 hp, powered by a 5-speed manual transmission.
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As light as possible, the engines are made of full alloy and with corrosion-resistant copper mountings, the bumpers have been removed, resulting in a curb weight of 2.110 lbs, which gives the Fulvia a sublime handling. If you ignore the corrosion problem that spoils all old Italian cars, Fulvia’s biggest bugbear is Lancia’s shocking reliability record. The engines are powerful, but water pumps and leaking seals are a warning to stay out of the way.
7th Ferrari F355
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Incredibly fast, beautiful, packed with technology inspired by Ferrari’s F1 team, the Ferrari F355 picked up the tiny supercar baton of the unloved F348 and shot like a burned cat towards the horizon at a top speed of 185 mph. On the back, a telltale badge reveals the Ferrari F1-style paddle-drive gearbox, a first for production cars. Under the rear is a 3.5 liter Italian V8 engine with 5 valves per cylinder and a red line at 9000 rpm.
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The F355 sounds fantastic too, any transmission would struggle to maximize the V8 engine with every gear change. This screaming, bliping and screaming process is more intoxicating than any illegal substance. In the long run, however, these substances will be cheaper, as highly stressed, high-revving V8 engines regularly destroy valve guides, exhaust manifolds are notoriously fragile, ignore them at your risk.
6th Lamborghini Diablo
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The Diablo may be thirty years old, but it still demands attention wherever it goes. Dramatic rocket-shaped profiles and thundering V12 engines make it the king of super sports cars. At that time still a very Italian engineering project, the parent company Audi had no influence on design and construction. The 5.7 liter speeding V12 engine developed 485 hp and promised a tire scorch of 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds.
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Tires aren’t the only component that needs a brawl, very strong and heavy, the Diablo perversely ignores one of Ferrucio Lamborghini’s biggest annoyances with Ferrari, weak clutches. The media package can take up 25,000 miles between exchanges, in reality it’s much closer to 12,000 … if you’re lucky. Here, too, as with the Ferrari, it’s an engine-out job.
5 Lancia Delta Integrale Evo 2
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A contender for the most successful rally car of all time and possibly the craziest street variant, the Delta Integrale is one of the first high-performance hatchback transmissions you could get your hands on. Available in two flavors, the earlier 8V four-pot and later, rev-four 16V engines produced 212 horsepower, plenty for a little road racer with handling that caught the attention of most supercars of the era.
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Built for the crater-rich WRC stages, the Integrale should be almost bombproof, but it also has its quirks. Cambelts are worryingly fragile, as are camshafts, which can withstand violent abuse before suddenly giving up. Below that, the front roll bars with rosette joints go through the bushes faster than you can say Delta Integrale Evo II.
4th Fiat 124 Spider
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In 1989 Mazda came, saw and conquered the small sports car market and has been a bestseller ever since. It’s no surprise other automakers wanted to join in, which resulted in Fiat using pretty much everything except Mazda’s bodywork and engine for the current 124 Spider. Fiat’s own innovative 1.4-liter Multiair turbo engine gives the 124 Spider a uniquely Italian feel compared to the Mazda.
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Even if Fiats and Mazdas share the same production facility, they roll off the same assembly line. Surely this is a guarantee of “Japanese” workmanship? Sadly no. Oddly enough, the addition of a Fiat badge makes the 124 Spider seem all Italian and carefree, electrical systems are a hit-and-miss, and the Fiat is known to suffer from an oddly imbalanced suspension quirk.
3 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
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The good news, Alfa Romeo struck back, giving gearheads an amazingly good alternative to the endless waves of German performance sedans, with BMW seemingly introducing a different “M” mode every week. In the face of Teutonic, business-like efficiency, the Giulia Quadrifoglio goes through her supercar smashing routine in a more evocative way, with curves, die lines and the famous Alfa grille all pointing to something special.
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The promise of great performance isn’t just talk, a 505-horsepower 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 gets its occupants to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, with Alfa Romeo claiming a top speed of 191 mph. However, low reliability ratings are common, leaking mineral oil can contaminate the clutch system, faulty turbocharger valves and suspicious electronics gave the Quadrifoglio a low consumer satisfaction rating of 1 out of 5.
2 Maserati Ghibli
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Italian automakers are getting pretty adept at building fast, fun, and luxuriously outfitted performance sedans. Owners get an aggressive yet stylish look, bi-turbo Ferrari V6 engines up to 424 horsepower, making this one of the fastest four-door sedans you can get with a top speed of 280 mph.
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Undoubtedly, it is a stunning luxury car for drivers, even though it runs well. The problems are often exaggerated by owners who still remember how bad Maserati used to be. In 2016, the Italian automaker ranked 40th. However, times have moved on and things are better, although reports of suspension and powertrain problems remain and this is the most worrying; Brakes that don’t work when requested.
1 Fiat Coupe Turbo
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In 1992, several leaked spy photos surfaced of a new sports coupe bearing the Fiat logo, surprising the media and gearboxes. The coupe came to dealerships in 1993 on 16-valve designs, one with a naturally aspirated engine, the other with a turbo. The best was yet to come, however, as Fiat later updated the turbo model with a 5-cylinder unit with 217 hp.
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The Fiat Coupe is blazingly fast for a small front-wheel drive coupe, making it to 100 mph in 6.5 seconds. The otherwise handicapped powertrain layout was eye-catching, the gas lifted in the middle and the rear would kick out for serious track fun. Now for the bad news, rear calipers often fail, as do front wishbones, and premature blue smoke is a sign that the turbo, known for its frailty, is on the verge of extinction.
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About the author
Jason Garbutt
(402 published articles)
Growing up in a car-obsessed environment from an early age generated a keen interest in everything to do with cars. primarily an F1 fan, but also an avid fan of other motorsports. Professional background who has worked closely with an established UK supercar manufacturer over the past few years.
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