Automobile brands have, at some point the other, been subjected to being subjected to puns and backronyms. This can be for any reason, whatsoever, ranging from poor servicing to having an overall weaker connection with consumers. It always ends up being quite a bit of a task for automakers to work around these words, that sound amusing but end up being worse than humor.

Even the current prominent automakers have gone through this phase, like Audi - Another Useless Deutsche Invention, BMW - Broke My Wallet, and niche automakers like Lotus - Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious. All of these brands have done their bit to erase these interesting backronyms except for one, Fiat. It is not that they haven't tried, but it just won't go off. Fiat has been dealing with the 'Fix It Again Tony' phrase since 1970.

Fiat has been dealing with the 'Fix It Again Tony' phrase for a long time now. We tell you how it came into being.

The Origin Of 'Fix It Again Tony' Phrase

1966 Fiat Nuvou 500 front third quarter view
Via: Commons.wikipedia.org

Fiat first came to the US back in 1908 when it established the Fiat Automobile Company with a plant in Poughkeepsie, NY. The sales blossomed till 1970. It was after this that cars produced by Fiat started to be plagued with reliability issues and a lot more problems related to components. By 1980, this had become a very prevalent issue that made the automaker earn its diminishing backronym - "Fix It Again, Tony". Soon after getting pegged with this rather catchy phrase, Fiat left the US in 1983 because of dwindling reputation and sales.

Related: Here's Why Fiat-Chrysler Is Struggling To Stay Alive

This Backronym Cost Fiat A Lot

1960 Fiat 500 front third quarter view
Via: Topspeed

A mere phrase that was intended to be a joke actually managed to cause a lot of trouble and loss for this Italian automaker. It became so prevalent in the US, that people actually got confused and started believing it to be the full form of "FIAT". After a long gap, Fiat made its return into the States in 2009 with the 500 series, and unfortunately, so did the infamous phrase. Even after a gap of 27 years, the brand evoked people to bring back "Fix It Again, Tony!" and that freaked Fiat out.

Other automakers also had garnered numerous phrases that went along with various issues they posed. But they were able to rectify and erase off those phrases before it caused trouble or damage. Fiat, in that matter, failed and thus had to deal with a very deep-rooted problem along with their re-entry. Even their collaboration with Chrysler didn't do any good.

Related: Fiat Chrysler Says They've Fixed The Jeep Wrangler's 'Death Wobble'

They Bounced Back, With A Bit Of Humor, or did they?!

The humorous Fix It Tony ad still
Via: Youtube.com

The funny thing about time is that we get used to stuff. "Fix It Again, Tony" stayed on for more than 30 years, and so, it actually turned out into a nostalgic piece of automotive connect. People across States would remember their old cars when hearing this once derogatory phrase.

It's rather impossible to get rid of a nickname of sorts, that has been around for so long. So, Fiat tired the next best thing of playing along with it. They released an ad in which they made fun of a Honda Civic, and it was pitched in for the launch of the then-new Fiat 500X. The ad was very bold, to be honest, and openly ridiculed the Honda to be "ugly, lacks power and technology".

That actually didn't turn out an expected as the whole line-up for Fiat 500 including the 500X, scored low on the Consumer Report's reliability index for every year it was in production. The irony is the Honda Civic, on the other hand, scored in the top bunch during the same period. It was a major backfire and the name rekindled itself past 2014 as well! Fiat currently sells the 500 line-up and is still trying hard to erase it off, but we don't think "Tony" is going anywhere! (neither are their reliability issues)

Sources: Roadandtrack.com, Autoevolution.com, Forbes.com, Broyhillasset.com, Wikipedia.com

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