Hey what's wrong with Italian cars? My very first was a Lancia Delta 1.6 turbo, 2 years later upgraded to the HF Integrale. After that had a selection of Fiat, including the Uno Turbo, Tipo and Punto's.
My 2004 Fiat Stilo 1.9 JTD is still going strong at 140k, last mot needing only handbrake...