Just like most large carmakers, Fiat had their fair share of landmark cars in the postwar era. The little 600 ushered a family of small rear-engined models that numbered in the millions. The 130 (1968-76) became the last truly large 6-cyl. car made by the Turin giant – a tradition that went back to the firm’s foundation. The 124 became, thanks to licensing, the second most-produced car design in history. For mid-sizers, the real ground-breaker that took Fiat to the modern age was the 128.
It’s an unassuming little econobox, to be sure. Typical of the late ‘60s Fiat products, it’s not that easy to tell apart from the 124, the 125, the later 131 or the Autobianchi A111. And yet apart from that last one, the 128 was miles ahead from a technical point of view.
Without going back to the very start of the Fiat saga, the small family berlina was naturally always present in the range in some form or another. By 1937, this had taken the form of the 508C Balilla (top left), which ushered in a brand new 1.1 litre OHV engine. By 1940, the car was rechristened “Fiat 1100” and got a nose job (top right), giving it the means to last through to… 1953! At that point, Fiat switched to a modern unibody with the 1100/103 (bottom left), which got a thorough makeover for 1962 as the 1100 D (bottom right). This last iteration of the 1100 lived in Italy until late 1969, but carried on in India as the Premier Padmini until the year 2000.
Fiat had managed to use pretty much the same engine for 30 years, the same suspension for 15 years and the same bodyshell for a decade. And people were still buying the 1100 in the late ‘60s. But the writing was still on the wall. Fiat needed a complete reset for their mid-sized family car line, as the live axle / RWD / prewar engine combo had had its day.
Back in 1964, Fiat had launched a little revolution with the Autobianchi Primula. It had a transverse engine, FWD, a transmission in-line with the crankshaft, MacPherson struts and a hatchback. For all intents and purposes, it bore all the attributes one might expect to find in a modern mid-sizer. It was especially innovative thanks to the use of unequal-length driveshafts, thereby improving the compactness of the driving end of the car.
For the 128, Fiat basically applied the Primula formula (once all its kinks had been ironed out), albeit with a brand new SOHC 1.1 litre engine and, unfortunately, minus the rear hatch. In April 1969, the new family-friendly Fiat finally premiered, and it soon became a runaway hit, with Fiat producing over 3 million, not counting the licensing deals made in a dozen countries, from Yugoslavia to Egypt and from Argentina to Sri Lanka.
Of course, several body variants were proposed very soon after the launch of the basic saloon. They were all of the two-door variety, interestingly enough. Even more variants came later in the ‘70s, including the quirky 3P “berlinetta” (more of a shooting brake). By the late ‘70s, there were the inevitable rubber bumpers and black trim replaced the original chrome, of course. A 1300cc version was also added, starting with the sporty Rally in 1971.
But there is no substitute for a standard issue 1st series four-door saloon to get a sense of the 128. Still very upright and feeling very ‘60s both inside and out, the early berlina has a buckets of charm.
And loads of room, too! The wheelbase is only 244.5cm (96.3’’), but four adults can sit in complete comfort. Even five, in a pinch: the floor is completely flat. Added to this was the fact that Fiat proposed the 128 at a competitive price. Let’s take a look at the market for 1-to-1.2 litre 4-door saloons and see how the little Italian wonder fares.
The 128, modern as it was, was not the only transverse 1100cc FWD saloon on offer at the time: Peugeot and Simca used the same solution. However, RWD was still the majority and a dwindling few rear-engined models remained in the race. By the end of the decade, things in this segment would be very different indeed.
The 128 soldiered on until 1985 – again, Fiat were past masters at wringing every buck from a design. It was the ultimate expression of the genius of the man who had created both the 1937 Balilla 1100 and the 1953 1100/103, as well as the 600, the 130 and the 124 mentioned in this post’s opening paragraph. That man was the legendary Dante Giacosa, who passed away 30 years ago.
Was this Giacosa’s masterpiece? It’s hard to say. The rear-engined Fiats got Italy (and Poland) on four wheels and the 124, as the Lada / Zhiguli, motorized a good half of the world. The 128, for its part, influenced most of the cars that followed it. Without it, the VW Golf, the Simca/Plymouth Horizon or the Ford Fiesta would not have been what they were. And Fiat, though it’s in trouble nowadays, owes a lot of its survival to the 128, too.
Related posts:
Curbside Classic: 1969 – 1985 Fiat 128 – The Fiat We Must Remember, by Perry Shoar
Curbside Recycling: 1977 Fiat 128 3p – In Case You Missed It, by David Skinner
Curbside Classic: 1982 Fiat (Zastava) 128, by Yohai71
Car Show Classic: 1991 Yugo Skala – The Fiat 128 Pick Up, by Rich Baron
Curbside Find: Fiat 128 Familiare Ready To Rally In California, by Rich Baron
COAL: The Brougham Antidote, Part 3 – Fiat 128 & VW Rabbit, by Kevin Martin
COAL: 1974 Fiat 128 — Finally Behind the Wheel, by Jeff Sun
Vintage Road & Track Review: 1976 Fiat 128 3P – Lots of Good Qualities; Not a Lot of Sales, by PN
Cohort Outtake: Fiat 128 – Reinforcing Stereotypes, by PN
I had a 128, and I think the engine was SOHC.
Yes. And I’ve corrected that now.
Thank you!
A coworker had one of these when new. Not bad a car for that money, but as it was driven in the salt belt the rust ate it in no more than 4 years! He never bought a FIAT again
Joe
My friend had one at work around 1974. Thats what made me look for one. I bought one in San Diego that had spun a bearing. I rebuilt it. I loved that little car. My 6’2″ height fit in it easily. I loved the seats that folded completely flat “nash seats” If I could find another one I’d consider it, but you hardly ever see them anymore despite how many they made.
As a preschooler the first European car I ever rode in was a 2-door 128 belonging to one of Dad’s coworkers. Conning-tower visibility and a much less floaty ride than Detroit broughams, features it had in common with my Aunt Betty’s ’76 Corolla wagon and the early Chevette that coworker replaced it with, made it much less carsick-inducing than the norm. I’ve been a small-car fan ever since.
Fiat in Italy never built a 5-door 128 but both a 5-door hatchback and a 5-door wagon existed, from Zastava in Yugoslavia and Sevel in Argentina respectively.
Fiats get a bad rep for longevity and it’s been written that the issue was a higher degree of maintenance required than US owners were willing (or didn’t know) to perform. A small, poorly trained dealer network certainly didn’t help, and four-season locales with road salt took its toll, as well.
It’s a real shame because the little Fiat was well packaged and coulda been a contender. As stated, the brand-new, small FWD cars that followed (Golf/Rabbit, Omnirizon, Fiesta, et al) get all the accolades when, in reality, they were barely better than the unlamented 128. As stated, maybe the big difference was simply their fresh 5-door design whereas the 128 kept a traditional 4-door sedan bodystyle. Regardless, it still deserves much more credit as a ground-breaking car than it receives.
While I don’t have the experience with Detroit iron that many of my age group here at CC do, I am lucky for an American to have driven some iconic small imports of the 1970’s. A 1275 Mini Cooper, my own 1st gen Ford Fiesta, Mk 1 and 2 VW GTI’s, Cortina GT’s and Saab 99’s – EMS and Turbo, Fiat 124’s, Alfa’s, 2002’s etc. not too mention Datsun 510’s, FWD and RWD Colts.. But the most raw fun, or at least tied with the Mini, was a friend’s Fiat 128. It wasn’t reliable, let alone durable, nor remotely fast, but it was fun to rev and to toss into turns. And roomy and quite refined by standards of the time.
Yes, a truly delightful little car. Now if only it had had (or come in) a hatchback body style.
If you look at how the Familiare was derived from the 2 door sedan, it was that. It’s just a name. Same chassis, same body to the back of the doors, just has a hatch instead of a trunk.
The Familiare was a station wagon. There’s a distinct difference. A wagon has the same length as a sedan with a trunk; a hatchback is shorter. Think VW Golf and Jetta.
Wikipedia has a whole page on the subject. Here’s a graphic from there:
“The Familiare was a station wagon.”
That’s what it is. The 128’s hatch version was the coupe, see below. If it has to be a 128, then it has to be the coupe. So much nicer to my eyes …
(Image: FIAT).
They did design a 3- and a 5-door 128, but decided not to include them in the Italian range.
Things never went to wast at Fiat, so the hatchbacks were given to the Yugoslav branch. Those were made as the Zastava 101 (or 1100 in some markets, and later as the Yugo Skala) between 1971 and 2010 — the longest-lived variant of the 128 by a mile. Over 1m of these were made, too.
That is quite a lovely looking car in my eyes. I actually preferred the little 1973 3 door wagon I had which I swapped a 1300 into. Amongst all it’s great features the one that stood out was the packing. There was so much room for the size.
And despite the thin little pillars which look like they would hold up nothing I rolled a 128 sedan and walked away unscathed and the doors still opened normally.
I would rock one today. Very fondly remembered
I have owned four of them and among the approx. 70 other cars I have owned only the Alfasud comes close in sheer driving pleasure. No Porsche, no Alfa Romeo, no Camaro, no Saab 900 Turbo ….
We needed a rental car in 1976 for 3 weeks touring and camping in 6 countries on the continent and asked for a Golf or 128. What we got was a Simla 1100, an ok car but hardly fun, and the Vauxhall we got in England was even more mediocre. The car mags all described the brio with which the 128 drove and we would have loved 3 weeks in one but it didn’t happen. My sister’s hubby later got a 128 and it was all the mags said it was, a ball and ahead of it’s time for such an inexpensive car, but it rusted badly, even in N Carolina.
I loved the Fiat 128 that was essentially the car in which I learned to drive. I suppose it wasn’t particularly fast, but that’s where the it’s fun to drive a slow car fast rule comes into play. The 128 was supremely fun, and I think that it may have been the experience that set me on my lifelong desire to primarily drive manual transmission cars. There was a lot of gear shifting going on with a 128, and I guess that just imprinted on me early.
Like Jograd, I would very much like to have a 128 3 door wagon (a “Familiare”). I’d drive that today. Carefully…because I think it would be easy fodder for the relatively giant vehicles most common on roads today.
But sadly, 128s are nearly extinct here due to their proclivity to dissolving when exposed to salt. Amazing to see one in such fine shape in Japan!
Well, Dante Giacosa reckoned it was his piéce de résistance in his own, terribly modest way.
The equal-length driveshafts were added primarily to the Primula, in order to quell torque steer.
The Primula had to have its clutch installed backwards to the diaphragm spring could be operated by a pushrod through a hollow primary shaft, being so narrow. Being wider and having a bespoke engine (itself a Lampredi piéce de résistance) it could use a conventional layout with a camshaft lever, IIRC.
The refinement and sheer driveability were outstanding at the time. Park one next to modern rubbish and the packaging is astounding. It even has rear doors one can use, unlike so many cars. The Fords were particularly Dukes of Hazzard bad in that regard.
Nice ;
I like how this car looks and prolly have ridden in one way back when .
Mostly I remember FIATs in their various Sports Car versions, when running well and properly maintained they were fast and fun .
Sadly, like many (? most ?) Imports of that time they were a bit delicate for the average hamfisted American diver who rarely considered maintenance until it refused to start or clattered to a halt .
I bet I’d love to sling any of the pictured FIATs here through my favorite back roads and canyons .
-Nate