Who could turn down a week-long adventure to drive a Fiat Uno Turbo in Rio de Janeiro — and watch the Brazilian Grand Prix — even if it meant taking the wrong route back to Auckland?
By Donn Anderson
Following the third polite advisory I figured there had to be a fair degree of substance to the warning. “If this is your first visit to Rio de Janeiro, please be careful,” came the personal hushed dialogue from the pleasant hostesses on a far from crowded Varig flight from Los Angeles to the famous Brazilian seaside city.
The previous evening, I had flown into LA from Auckland en route to the 1985 international launch of the Fiat Uno Turbo. I was prepared for another long haul of just under 12 hours across Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Central Brazil to that nation’s third largest city. Surprisingly, the 10,500km run from Los Angeles to Rio is actually longer than the 8800km LA-London air route.
With the journey including a brief stopover in Honolulu I expected to travel just under 44,000km for the return journey to sample what was to be a low-volume version of a popular Italian car that would sell in even lower numbers in New Zealand. I like to think this shows nothing more than my deep commitment to my craft. In fact, even though I became lost on the homeward journey, my total air miles would be little different.
Founded in 1927, Varig was Brazil’s first airline and its only international carrier between 1965 and 1990. There were certainly no complaints about the service or the flight to Rio but if you wonder why you have not heard the name recently it’s because the airline ceased operation in 2006. Arriving in Rio at 6.30am 37 years ago, the temperature was already 27 degrees with the heat of the day still to come.
On the brisk early morning taxi ride to the hotel, the poorly surfaced roads were filled with domestically built first generation front drive Ford Escorts, strange-looking Chevys, and an abundance of Fiat Unos, including the locally inspired Prismo (Uno with a boot). There was an absence of Japanese cars, but many other aging Euros were stranded roadside with bonnets up. On the open roads few motorists were wearing seat belts, and motorcyclists were wearing even less, clad in swim shorts and sans crash helmets. The major hotels in Rio post security at the entrances to avoid thefts so unless you are a resident there is no entry. At reception I was warned not to walk anywhere outside the hotel in the evenings unless with a group.
“And if you venture to the beach for a swim on your own, any belongings you leave on the sand will not be there when you return from the water,” the concierge assured me. Within a few metres of the hotel were sprawling favelas or shanty towns — slums, in other words — so it was never a good plan to flash cruzeiros about your person. These days Brazil calls the local currency the Real, never mind the confusion caused by the nation having had eight different currencies since 1942.
At least my stack of cruzeiros looked impressive after changing them from US dollars. Yet I had to factor a sagging NZ dollar in 1985 that was worth only 37 cents to the Yankee dollar — little more than half today’s value!
Grand Prix, signore?
An extra attraction on this press junket was attendance at the Brazilian Grand Prix, the opening round of the 1985 Formula 1 championship. Even so, explaining the huge expense for flying in scores of media for a relatively unimportant and hardly new model car was difficult. Apparently Fiat was ending its financial year without spending all the promotional budget so that made it okay to hire a jumbo jet, pack it with scores of European journalists and fly them from Rome to Rio — and add in several Asian writers, plus one from New Zealand. Rather than locating the lone Kiwi representative with English-speaking journalists in one of the many hotels booked by the Italian car maker, the helpful Fiat personnel placed me with those who did not. I asked why. They said they were unsure what language was spoken in New Zealand.
The hotel was crying out for maintenance, having tired decoration, fittings that did not always work, and an air conditioner that made little impression on the heat but plenty of noise while doing it. Within minutes of checking in I cut myself on a jagged piece of metal while, up until then, enjoying a most welcome shower. I was soon racing downstairs to catch the bus to the convention centre theatre for the Fiat briefing.
The Giorgetto Giugiaro ItalDesign-styled Uno was nothing new to the assembled media. Replacing the Fiat 127, the Uno was launched two years earlier in 1983 and was named European Car of the Year soon after. Compact and light at a mere 845kg with a spacious interior and wind-cheating design, this first-generation 3689mm long Uno supermini was always going to weather well, long after the model life ended in 1989. The Uno and Peugeot 205 defined the 1980s small car, both featuring nimble, responsive manners and low running costs.
Aided by earphones, we were briefed on the latest Uno in a multi-language presentation. While the early Uno came with an overhead valve 903cc motor, the 1985 developments included a one- litre single overhead cam ‘fully integrated robotised engine’ (FIRE) power plant that was lighter and used fewer parts. All very well but it was the Ritmo/Strada-derived 146 engine Turbo i.e. we had travelled so far to see and drive.
This sports version was distinguished by a more prominent front bumper incorporating an air dam, foglight, and separate air intakes for the oil radiator and intercooler. The Bosch LE2 multi-point electronic, fuel-injected IHI turbocharger boosted the 1301cc motor to a healthy 77kW (105bhp), a substantial leap on the 33kW for the FIRE model. Thirteen-inch alloy wheels shod with Pirelli P6 tyres were standard, but only minor changes were needed to the MacPherson strut front suspension and twist-beam rear suspension with coil springs.
Lag of lag is a plus
We were looking forward to the drive programme, especially as Fiat spoke of a 200km/h top speed, and zero to 100km/h in less than nine seconds. Because of the large number of journalists, Fiat ran the drive evaluations over several days, providing a car for each to sample. So it was a case of one person to a car with a map thrown on the passenger’s seat and go where you fancied.
I headed for the countryside, following a twisting coastal route, soon reaching quiet villages and scrubby hills distant from the fervour and colour of Rio and its six million-plus inhabitants. But I really didn’t have a clue where I was going and discovered few opportunities to sample the Uno’s heady performance, although I could test the transition to turbo power.
Unlike many other turbocharged cars of the era, the lack of turbo lag was admirable, as was the smooth and quick power delivery. Fiat did much more than merely bolt on a turbo, uprating the pistons, valves, camshaft, and other internal components. Brakes were upgraded with larger diameter self-ventilating front discs and rear discs replacing the less powerful Uno rear drums.
A fair amount of mechanical, gear, and wind noise came as little surprise.
The Uno Turbo was targeted at the more expensive Peugeot 205 GTI and there were impressive interior touches like the improved sports front seats and bank of instruments that included turbo boost monitoring. Fiat kept turbo boost relatively low to preserve reliability and the combustion chambers were redesigned to eliminate hot spots and lower the compression ratio. Oil jets sprayed from spring-loaded valves in the main bearing housing, helping to cool the piston crowns, and a thermostatically controlled electric fan cooled the fuel injector bodies.
New Zealand concentrated on the higher specification versions and the first variant, the Uno 70S five-door, was introduced here in June 1983 with a $13,500 price tag. At the modest peak, six versions were available here, including the 45 FIRE, 60, and 90 variations. The Turbo i.e. made its local debut in February 1986 for $28,000, rising to $29,145, and the last ones imported by Torino Motors in early 1990 were actually $1,000 cheaper. There were upholstery improvements in 1988 and new trim shortly before the model ended production.
Prost and Senna
The day 7 April brought stifling heat for the Brazilian GP and a shortish drive to the five-kilometre long Jacarepagua circuit, where tankers sprayed cooling water on exuberant spectators toasting in the open grandstands as they cheered their local hero Ayrton Senna. As a precursor to the main event, the previous day, we watched a race for standard Fiat Uno Turbos, but all eyes were on Keke Rosberg as he led the opening 10 laps in his Williams-Honda.
Ferrari’s Michele Alboreto took over the number one position until Alain Prost assumed command in the TAG Porsche V6-engined McLaren, romping on to an easy victory in the 62-lap GP. Senna’s Lotus Renault ran fourth, then third to the delight of the Brazilians but when the electrics failed and Senna retired on lap 49 thousands of spectators lost interest and left the circuit.
On the down days journalists could enjoy the local sights or the beach. The only day-time clothes required for Rio are shorts, speedos, or a bikini although more clothing was appropriate for the cable car ride to a 396-metre elevation and the heady heights of the famous Sugarloaf Mountain. On another day we admired astonishing views overlooking the city at the site of the colossal Christ the Redeemer statue, accessed by three panoramic elevators and four escalators.
There’s an awful lot of coffee in Brazil and they serve it so strong visitors are wise to order a jug of hot water to temper the flavour. Fiat suggested a boat cruise to while away one of the lazy days but when I arrived at reception on the appropriate morning, the bus had already left. No problem, I would spend the day by the pool, but the hosts insisted on providing a local man to drive me to the port.
Copacabana drama
He spoke not a word of English, and I could not translate his loud Portuguese expletive when an idiot in a late-model Ford Escort stormed past doing at least 100km/h on the main waterfront street along Copacabana beach. To our horror, a young man stepped off the gaily patterned sidewalk to cross the road without seeing the speeding car.
The Escort flung the man high into the air before he landed on another innocent individual strolling on the crowded promenade. Tragically, both were killed. Meanwhile, the Escort driver continued on at a subdued rate, clearly in total shock, until my driver forced the Ford with its severely damaged front end into the kerb to await assistance. Any thoughts of a boat cruise were abandoned.
It was astounding to find the speed limit along Copacabana was as high as 70km/h. Unsurprisingly, the Rio traffic mortality rate is the highest of any major city in the world. For every 15 people who die in traffic accidents in Rio, just two are killed in either London or Berlin.
Following the Grand Prix and having decided to cut short my Rio stay by a day, I phoned the airline to change bookings. Struggling with the English language, the operator insisted on rerouting me to San Francisco so I could return home to ‘Oakland’. No, I wanted Auckland, New Zealand, not Oakland, California! She had never heard of Auckland. Somehow an agreement was reached but while awaiting my flight in the departure lounge in Rio a friendly American lady passenger asked me if Miami was my home town.
This seemed an unusual question until I boarded the plane and found it was destined for Miami in Florida and not the West Coast! It was then a matter of catching another flight across the USA to Los Angeles. It added considerably more travel time yet only a few more air miles — a quirky and fitting end to a definitely eventful week.
