My original Uno Mk1 1.0 Fire did 185500 miles and was still going strong on its original engine. The rust (on the door) and consumables which needed to be changed (clutch) became too expensive relative to the value of the car to warrant keeping it going.
So it DID last. It was 14 years old when I retired it, and I thrashed it (as much as could be I guess for a 1 litre). Serviced it myself too