MEET THE OWNER – PAUL HAUGHEY AND HIS FIAT CROMAS
27th March, 2020
To see one Croma on the road is an unusual sight – but Paul Haughey’s fleet includes two! The blue one is a CHT with just over 48,000 miles, and the Green one is an IE Super with just over 21,500 miles.
His fascination with possibly the rarest of the “Type 4” cars commenced ‘when the first job when I left school was in a Fiat garage and I got to drive Cromas there. I liked the look, shape and sound of them - but I was too young to afford one’.
Paul never forgot those Cromas but ‘I never thought I would ever see one again as in Northern Ireland there was only a few sold. I put a message on the Fiat Facebook page and the Fiat members’ forum looking to see if there was any Croma around’. To give an idea of the challenges he faced:
At the moment, there are three CHT’s taxed and 12 on SORN, eight IE’s taxed and one SORNed, three IE Supers taxed and four on SORN, four IE Supers on SORN, four IE SXs SORNed, one IE SX Auto on SORN and two Turbo IEs taxed and six on SORN.
In other words, this is indeed a rare car. However, Paul eventually received ‘a message about a CHT that was for sale, I got in contact with the owner and bought it.
A few weeks later I got a message from a guy that had seen my message looking for one and he had one laid up from 2008, so I chatted with him and bought it as well’.
Fiat introduced the Croma in spring 1985. The British market versions were sold as the sort of 2-litre executive transport for the professional who would have considered ether a top-of-the-line Ford Sierra or a low-spec Granada/Vauxhall Carlton.
The motoring press was not unenthusiastic, for the Croma was smart, well-appointed and good value for money.
Unfortunately, the Fiat name was not associated with middle-management transport, as sales of the Croma’s predecessor, the Argenta, were limited.
The original Croma ceased production in 1996 – the name was revived for an estate car in 2005 – although many regarded it as deserving a higher profile in the UK.
Paul thinks ‘Fiat should have imported the 2.0 and 2.5 Turbo Diesel into the UK – they might have sold more if they did’.
He has already received a great deal of positive response to pictures of his Croma, while his advice to the would-be buyer is to-the-point – ‘like any old car that is scarce, buy it and keep it on the road. When they’re gone, they’re gone’.
With Thanks To – Paul Haughey
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