Trust me to find cars in Venice.
My poor brother thought he’d gotten a reprieve during our Europe trip when we arrived in Venice. No cars for me to stop and photograph and yammer on about. Lucky him! Only, while exploring Venice we stumbled across a parking lot near where busses, trains and, yes, some cars enter the archipelago. I pointed at this little purple hatchback and said, “Look, a Lancia Y10!” Although my brother probably didn’t want to engage me in a long discussion, he did point out that that didn’t look like a Lancia badge. He was right, this was an Autobianchi – the last Autobianchi.
Technically we were both right. By the time the Y10 was launched in 1985, the Autobianchi brand was being withdrawn from other markets. The Y10, therefore, was known as a Lancia throughout Europe but for the Italian market where it received Autobianchi badging.
The Fiat-owned Autobianchi brand had a reputation for innovation, the ’64 Primula being the world’s first hatchback with front-wheel-drive and a transverse-mounted engine. That formula would later be adopted by Fiat-branded vehicles and, indeed, by rival automakers the world over.
From 1969 until 1986, Autobianchi sold the A112 supermini in continental markets, a neat three-door hatchback derived from the Fiat 128 and which, in turn, spawned the Fiat 127. Offering a hatchback and front-wheel-drive like the Primula, the A112 was still somewhat of a pioneer as rival brands continued with less space-efficient rear-wheel-drive platforms and undersized trunk lids. Its trend-setting format is probably what kept it looking fresh enough to last into the 1980s.
By the time the Y10 came along, Autobianchi was no longer much of a testing bed for the Fiat Group. Instead, the Y10 shared mechanicals with the Fiat Panda but for a new rear suspension set-up (which did end up on a Fiat, following tradition). Engines were borrowed from the Fiat lineup, consisting of 1.0 and 1.1 four-cylinders. A turbocharged 1.0 was offered for the first few years before emissions regulations led to its replacement with a 1.3 naturally-aspirated mill.
While the Y10 used a great deal of Fiat componentry, it was still innovative. Its luxurious (for a supermini) level of trim and premium positioning presaged upscale B-segment products like the rebooted Mini, Opel Adam and Citroen DS3; the Y10 could be had with an interior swathed in alcantara, as well as mod-cons like a sunroof and power windows.
Unlike more practical Fiat-branded superminis, the Y10 put form over function and targeted women buyers. Styling was penned by Tom Tjaarda, responsible for the design of the De Tomaso Pantera among many others. The Y10’s severe Kammback rear sacrificed some cargo capacity and rear passenger space on the altar of style; the tailgate was often finished in matte black. The Y10’s rakish styling was rather aerodynamic, however, with a drag coefficient of 0.31.
Further emphasizing the Y10’s role as a stylish supermini, there were numerous special editions available including designer trims like FILA and Missoni.
The featured Y10 is a 1992-95 model, the final facelift of the long-running supermini. Its narrower headlights and slim, chrome-trimmed grille brought it in line with contemporary Lancias like the Kappa and Dedra.
Although the Y10 was the last Autobianchi, Fiat had found success with this premium supermini concept. The Y10’s replacement was the Lancia Y (also known as the Ypsilon), which lasted for three more generations. Much as the Y10 had been the last Autobianchi, the final Ypsilon looks like it’ll be the last Lancia.
Don’t think of the Y10/Y/Ypsilon being the angel of automotive death, however. This line of chic city cars has proved to be an enduringly popular supermini for its often young, female consumer base, even as rival superminis have come along with the same level of equipment and style. Not everybody wants a big car, so why should supermini buyers miss out on features and style?
Photographed in Venice in September 2018.
Related Reading:
Automotive History: Italian Deadly Sins (Part 1) – Autobianchi A111, Who Do You Think You Are?
European Vacation CC: 1982 Autobianchi A112 Junior – Rosemma’s Third
CC Capsule: 2008-14 Lancia Delta – The Chrysler That Never Was (Except In The UK & Ireland)
Nice. I have a thing for Fiats and Lancias of that era. My dad’s retired doctor uncle downsized to a Lancia Y10. Nice car but not so easy for him to get his well worn body in and out of. He definitely couldn’t get in that Autobianchi! What a parking job.
Another CC post has reminded me of my masochistic parents taking my sister and I (aged 7 & 8.5) to the South of France in a double decker bus from Edinburgh (!) and I was of course more interested in the cars than anything else. (The bus was a Plaxton bodied DAF)
I could swear the Y10s were badged Autobianchi in France, but maybe I’m imagining that.
Now I wish I’d bought a Chrysler Ypsilon when I lived in the UK, and stuck Autobianchi badges on it to really mess with people.
I looooved my A112, the A112 Abarth was the world’s first hot-hatch, the handling, the sound, loved that little car.
The Primula looks a lot like the ADO16. Form and function follow each other closely, so no big surprise that they look so similar.
Well noted, both were designed with the assistance of the Pininfarina design house.
This was of course known as a “White Hen” on my side of the pond. I rented one in this very colour in Torremolinos many years ago, to drive my family to Gibraltar, stopping only for my daughter to vomit. In Spain it was badged as a Lancia, and sadly it is the only Lancia I have ever driven.
I rented a Y10 on a trip to Italy in 1994. I didn’t rent one purposefully – I just wanted the cheapest car available and this was certainly it. It was terrifying on the Autostrada where the interminable trucks buffeted it like crazy. On the other hand it was the perfect size for the narrow Tuscan streets and parking spaces. It was a stick, of course, which was really the only fun you could have with it. It lacked all creature comforts including A/C and was sweltering in the Tuscan summer – except on the Autostrada where terrifying replaced sweltering.
One night on the Autostrade it decided to emit turn signal pings, at random moments, without the trouble of me activating the signal. This was incredibly annoying and I took it to the seedy Europcar agency in Cortona. The guy treated me like some kind of wimp who couldn’t take a few cheerful pings in the hectic Italian traffic but finally changed the car for an Opel Astra wagon which didn’t ping and was slightly larger and still didn’t have A/C. It was squatter and more stable on the Autostrada though. I didn’t miss the Y10.
I drove the Fiat Seicento (an updated Y10) when I worked for Avis and it was so much fun I nearly bought one.
The caveat is that all I was doing was flinging it around the airport, but I was used to cars that get buffeted by trucks, in Scotland aircon is redundant 95% of the time and they never pinged at me unintentionally.
I think the Europcar guy had a point.
Definitely a city car and city cars are lousy on the autostrada. I had the same experiences there.
Unless the car would have been longer, how can a vertical tailgate sacrifice capacity?
What I thought too.
Perhaps he meant that if the roof were to end at the same point that it currently does, a more sloping rear would possibly add cargo space? Of course technically you are correct (which is the best kind of correct).
Don’t quote me regulations about correctness! I co-chaired the committee that reviewed the recommendation to revise the color of the book those regulations were in! 😉
These things were everywhere when I went to Italy in 2003.
Looks like a shorter, narrower and taller 3rd-gen Civic hatch.
The Civic came to my mind as well.
+2 – Glad I read the comments, first!
Great piece, Will. I love reading about cars from parts of the world other than my own. I like that these were *premium* superminis.
It didn’t even cross my mind that I would spot *any* cars when I visited Venice in the fall of 2017.
Pete,
Yes, they look pretty similar.
When the Y10 was first introduced to Italian market there was some speculation about its design being inspired by the Civic which was marketed in Italy, though an extremely rare sight here.
This one is new to me, but looks like a blast to drive (as any proper Italian car should be).
Is the latest Lancia version shown in the picture a 4 door? Or are those rear door panels fixed in place to make the car a 2 door like all the older ones?
4 door, door handles hidden up in the frame, Alfa style. That one was badged as a Chrysler in UK & Eire.
Essentially a rebodied current-model Panda. Fiat is making sure to get the most of that platform.
The dashboard is intriguing on these; I’d like to have had the LED concession. Interesting that there doesn’t seem to be a spot for a radio. Was that not a desired feature for European cars at the time?
The posh Alcantara padded lid next to the ignition and below the climate control panel should conceal the radio spot.
Like most european cars of that era a radio was an aftermarket option usually not provided by the manufacturer.
I remember that back in the day I looked with envy at the fully integrated stereos fitted to US cars.
Outside Italy these Y10s all but disappeared. Funny how what is essentially an upgraded Panda can be so different, so upmarket compared to the utilitarian Fiat. Since then Fiat encroached upon Lancia’s Ypsilon twice over: first with the 500 which still sells well, then with the underwhelming Alfa MiTo. You’d think they obviated the demand for the Ypsilon but the current model, again based on the Panda rather than the Punto, is only offered in Italy today and continues to sell well there. I imagine the tooling’s been paid off so FCA can continue to build them as long as there’s demand, at low cost.
Elsewhere, Lancia is already gone. Not much of an ending for the brand that once built the Aprilia, Flaminia and Delta, but the same can be said of Saab.
Enjoyed one of these as a rental car inItaly in 1991. Badges were Autobianchi at the front, and Lancia at the back -or was it the other way round? Anyway, I drove it into a Ford Escort.