Yesterday’s Seat 600 and 133 are a reminder that prior to being acquired by Volkswagen, the Spanish manufacturer mainly made Fiats under licence. Car makers draw heavily on their historical models for inspiration - a problem when your back-catalogue is based so heavily on a rival group’s designs. Seat has therefore always struggled to define itself clearly but this third-gen Leon (snapped at the 2013 press launch in Spain) was one of the better efforts.
@MarSolRivas Yes, it does a bit! I just noticed from Wikipedia that it was a design bought from NSU, which I hadn’t realised before, but which does emphasise the point about there being no settled distinctive Seat look.
Today, we’re back at Techno Classica Essen 2014, with the pretty little Fiat 850 Coupé, which was based on the Fiat 600. The 850 Coupé was designed by Fiat itself, and was first introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1965.
Today, we’re looking at Fiat’s mid-engined X1/9. I should logically have done this one after I covered the Fiat 128 as it uses the 128’s engine and gearbox shifted to the rear - rather in the manner of the later Metro/MGF ‘flip’ I also featured recently. The X1/9, introduced in 1972, was designed, and later manufactured, by Bertone. It carried that company’s badge, rather than Fiat’s, from 1982. I saw this one at Techno Classica Essen in 2014.
@davidwilkins Very cute sporty wee motor with fine handling. A pal had one of the last ones, a gran finale, the big bumpers kinda ruined the lines, but still a nice car. The longer he had it the more like him it became, his name was Rusty! 😂
@Glencoe@davidwilkins This car was never meant to have bumpers... Removing the inside end blocks was mandatory to keep the line as slim as possible. Later US style bumpers were an absolute disaster...
More sporty Fiats today with these two quite similar Fiat 500s that have been given the Abarth treatment. On the left, a 500 “upgraded with the Abarth Classiche 595 Engine Tuning Kit” and on the right, one “with Abarth ‘record’ tuning”. Both cars were on display at Techno Classica in Essen in 2019.
In 2016, Fiat introduced the 124 Spider, which was designed to capture something of the character of the 1966 124 Sport Spider I featured yesterday. This car was based on Mazda’s MX-5/Miata and manufactured by Mazda as well. But the appearance was modified quite a bit, and the engines came from Fiat too. Geek point - the cooperation with Mazda was initially aimed at producing an Alfa, not a Fiat. Snapped at the Geneva Motor Show in 2016.
@davidwilkins I'd like to like this car, but I can't for various reasons (turbocharged engine decked out with artificial pops & bangs, flashy shape, much more expensive). I'd rather go for a ND 160, with a few bits and bobs from BBR-GTI (Super 200, suspension & brakes upgrade).
Most Autobianchis sold in small volumes. The exception was the 1969 A112 hatch, which was seen in significant numbers all over Europe in the 1970s. It stayed in production until 1986. Under the skin, it borrowed much from the larger Fiat 128, and also provided the basis for Fiat’s own pioneering super-mini, the 127. Always really liked these. This one was at Automotoretro in Turin in 2016.
Just in case anyone is interested, I’ve managed to find another photo of an #Autobianchi A112, this one from Techno Classica in Essen in 2013. Like the colour scheme.
Today, the most important car most people have never heard of, the 1964 Autobianchi Primula. Fiat often used Autobianchi as a test-bed for new ideas - one of those was the end-on gearbox set-up later used in the Fiat 128. You’ll read a lot of stuff this year about how ‘innovative’ the Volkswagen Golf is as it celebrates its fiftieth anniversary - but the Primula, also available as a hatch, had it all ten years before. Pic details: see alt txt
Now we’re on the subject, I thought I’d do a few more sporty Fiats. This is the 128 3P Coupé, which I snapped at Automotoretro in Turin in 2016. The ‘3P’ is a reference to the three-door hatchback body. The original 128 coupé was launched in 1971 as a two-door fastback, with the 3P hatch being introduced later on. Based on the Fiat 128 saloon/sedan, but with a shorter wheelbase. Orange.
One last car from the illustrious history of MG. I somehow missed the MGA in my recent broadly chronological sequence, so here it is. Produced between 1955 and 1972, the sleek MGA marked a complete break from its more traditionally styled predecessors. This one, in Old English White, was snapped at the NEC Classic Car Show last year, and has a few choice under-the-skin upgrades such as a five-speed gearbox.
As well as introducing MG versions of its Rover saloons and hatches, in 2002 MG Rover also revamped the MGF sports car, which was rebadged as the TF. The most visible change was a slightly more aggressive frontal treatment. But under the skin, there was a stiffer body shell and the replacement of the previous hydragas suspension with coil springs. Snapped at the 2023 NEC Classic Car Show.
@davidwilkins Not at all sure mid engine was a wise choice, little room for stuff, maintenance nightmare. I think front engine rear drive would have been a more successful layout. More space for stuff, doesn't have to be terrible to maintain. Not that hard to make a fine handling front engine rear drive car that's a bit practical. Mazda MX5 hasn't done badly.
@Glencoe@davidwilkins MG was probably on a budget when developing this car, reusing an existing powertrain without any modification was probably the best solution costwise. The F/TF is quite a fun car to drive, mostly due to mid engine layout. Performance wise, all TFs are fitted the bigger F Trophy airbox that lifts inlet restriction that plagued nearly all cars using the 1800K stock fitment.
Today, we’re stepping away from the current sequence on MG with the most dramatic Jaguar ever made, the XJ220 - although there is an interesting MG connection. This is the XJ220 prototype which had 4WD and a Jag V12 engine. The production version instead got rear-wheel drive and a development of the V6 engine used in yesterday’s MG Metro 6R4. Those fancy scissor doors were dropped for production too. Snapped at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon.
@davidwilkins shipping a car with gullwing or scissor doors can be a difficult proposition.
It is the type of trivia that car dorks love, but when Mercedes released the SLS in 2011 they had exploding bolts fitted to the door hinge mechanism that would blow the hinge open in the case the car became inverted.
And since Mercedes is Mercedes they released this cool video of the system being tested too
After yesterday’s ADO 34, here’s a slightly later attempt to come up with a Mini-based MG sports car, the Targa-style ADO 70. This was designed in the UK but the prototype was actually built by Michelotti in Italy. They seem to have used the left-over green paint from the ADO 34. This one didn’t make it into production either. Pics taken: British Motor Museum, Gaydon.
@davidwilkins Not the most fluid design I've seen, pretty bulky, my aunt's car was bright yellow so it wasn't too bad 😄 The Datsuns were very good cars though, and I remember the doors weighing a ton
Today, probably the best known of all MGs, the MGB. Over its eighteen year life between 1962 and 1980, over half a million roadsters were made, and more than 100,000 MGB GT fixed-head lift-backs. This particular car at the British Motor Museum Gaydon was restored at the 1988 NEC Classic Car Show, using the first brand new ‘heritage’ MGB body shell manufactured by British Motor Holdings, and mechanical parts from a 1969 donor car.