FIATS most important car.

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FIATS most important car.

The 126, bear with me on this! Launched in 1972 as a replacement to the 500, essentially the same car in a modern body. Sold all over Europe up until 1991, then only in Eastern Europe until 2000, over 3 million made. Now that little car was made during some very bad times for Fiat but money kept on coming in from it, it got the Polish factories up and running who make the Panda today and the Centos before that.

I would also say the 127, this was surely the first supermini and not the Uno, launched with a conventional boot, but later gained a hatch, was FWD and had a fanstastic driving experience far better than an Uno or Punto, it set the benchmark for all other manufacturers to follow, which they did!
 
what about the 128? it featured the new Lampredi SOHC engines, last to be used in tipos/punto GT. MSN cars placed it among the top cars of the 60's as they said it was an affordable family car and featured many pioneering features such as the transverse engine and unequal length driveshafts (minis had the gearbox in the sump) it provided the base for the X1/9 too. it was also used to bargain with and Lada made them among others. however i think this was to do with getting the Russian steel which helped to destroy FIAT's reputation.

just thought i'd chuck this one in for people to mull over.
 
Everything you say above is true but this comment is not. The Uno was and still is a good car but the 127 was the first "Supermini" and defined the breed. The Uno merely carried on the legacy of the, ina many ways, far superior predecessor.

Note that I said the Uno was the first car to CARRY the 'Supermini' tag as the term wasn't defined until the mid 1980's.

  • It was also the first car to carry the 'Supermini' tag and in many respects defined the breed.

I was always under the belief that it was THE first car to be called a Supermini in 1983, but of course there was also the Peugeot 205 in the same category but I think this wasn't released until 1984. Either way, the Uno was one of the first to carry the title.

This is what Wikipedia has to say about 'Supermini':

The term "supermini" appeared around 1985. The influential Consumers' Association </wiki/Consumers%27_Association> first used the term in its annual Car Buying Guide in October of that year.

1983 saw two major launches on the continent: the stylish Pininfarina-penned Peugeot 205 </wiki/Peugeot_205> and the Giugiaro-styled, spacious Fiat Uno </wiki/Fiat_Uno>. Both cars lasted well into the 1990s and were hugely popular all over Europe.

This definition made clear that a "supermini" was something larger than a Mini yet smaller than a typical car of the time. In its 1985 report, it included such cars as the Austin Metro </wiki/Austin_Metro>, Volkswagen Polo </wiki/Volkswagen_Polo> and Ford Fiesta </wiki/Ford_Fiesta>. Smaller or more basic cars were grouped under a Bargain Basement heading and included the Mini, Citroen 2CV </wiki/Citroen_2CV>, Fiat 126 </wiki/Fiat_126> and Renault 4 </wiki/Renault_4>.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_mini_car

Regarding the Uno vs 127, the Uno was also considerably lighter, more aerodynamic and more fuel efficient than the 127, which became very important factors in defining a supermini.

The 127 was also built on a mainly manual production line, whereas the Uno was nearly entirely built by robots (the Strada was the first Fiat to be build in an automated fashion). And don't forget what FIRE stands for - Fully Integrated ROBOTISED Engine! Therefore the FIRE engined Unos were almost entirely built by robots, and thus were much cheaper to make than a 127.

No denying that the 127 was a great car, but it wasn't as advanced in its design, wasn't as aerodynamic, wasn't as fuel efficient, wasn't as light and wasn't as cheap to make as the Uno was. It also didn't sell in anywhere near the same numbers as the Uno.

I would also say the 127, this was surely the first supermini and not the Uno, launched with a conventional boot, but later gained a hatch, was FWD and had a fanstastic driving experience far better than an Uno or Punto, it set the benchmark for all other manufacturers to follow, which they did!

It was indeed an influential and a very good car in the small car market of the 1970's. But so were the Renault 5, Alfa Romeo Alfasud, mk1 Ford Fiesta, first generation Honda Civic, mk1 VW Golf, Talbot Samba etc. All were front wheel drive, all were available as hatchbacks, all were cheaper to run than conventional saloons and all had seating for four adults (a bit cramped in the back though!)

Don't forget as well that though larger, the Renault 16 of 1965 was the first mass produced European car to be offered with a hatchback.

Regarding FIAT's most important car, this is what Wikipedia has to say about the UNO:

Fiat Uno in the UK
The Uno was the first Fiat to achieve real sales success in Britain, with 190,000 examples being sold in the first six years of production, amounting to an average of just over 30,000 a year.


Full article here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Uno

Sadly, it also has this to say about it:

But the Uno failed to shake off Fiat's image of making cars which failed to last. This was highlighted by the findings of a survey by Auto Express magazine conducted in 2006, which revealed that the Uno was the tenth most scrapped car to be sold in Britain since 1976, with just 5,179 of 195,000 pre-1990 versions remaining.

:cry: :cry: :cry:
 
uno for redefining supermini market re:performance/reliability/packaging/economy/refinement. 128 for being first front driver and being so advanced to drive compared to its rivals. original panda..guigiario favourite design, and a modern icon for me..clean sheet design, no frills utility car, fiat doing what it does best, small clever cars.
 
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