Hello, CenariusXVI!
Sorry to take so long responding, but as there was no post in this thread for two years, I became lax in monitoring---plus, there was no email notification of your post.
I was aware of the cars' continued production in Brazil (a lot of restoration parts are made there) but didn't realize they lasted until 2001, as stated in some Padmini Premiere articles I looked up. I believe the last year they came to the USA was '69, and Fiat stopped exporting anything here in '80 or '81, resuming only recently after bailing out a floundering Chrysler Corporation.
The forced retirement of the cars may not bother the clean-air brigade, but it's still a raw deal to any 'car nut'; a similar edict by the government of Japan forces any 40,000-mile car to either be scrapped or have its engine replaced, not just rebuilt, which has started a whole industry in the US as literally boatloads of perfect-running "Used Engines From Japan" have hit the shores and undermined the remanufacturing industry---many owners would rather pay $400 for a running motor than pay several times that to have their own redone.
Of course, the Pad has only 40 horsepower.....
Take care, Cenarius, and thanks for posting!
GSGregg