Fiat 128 berlinetta - the fast combination sedan coupe
Not only Saab had the CombiCoupe on offer. In the 1970s, a number of brands followed the trend. Just as the SUV and crossover wave is rolling incessantly today, there was this mixture of station wagon and coupe, which, however, was considerably more tasteful than the ubiquitous SUV design marathon.
Sometimes even a real coupe had to die for the combi-coupé passion. In Turin they showed no mercy with the fairly successful 128 series. The shapely sports coupé was discontinued in 1975 - and replaced by the Fiat 128 berlinetta. The berlinetta wrote Fiat in lower case and invented the term combi-limousine-coupé for the Teutonic friends who live north of the Alps. That's pretty bulky.
But also quite German. Because only here can you manage to string words together endlessly and form a new concept from them.
With the Fiat 128, Turin introduced front-wheel drive
Fiat launched the 128 series in the spring of 1969. It gives an impression of why the Turin group was so successful at the time. As with Saab in Sweden, Fiat now also relied on front-wheel drive. The 128, which was not only supposed to be available as a sedan, but also as a coupé and the station wagon version called Familiare, was also incredibly progressive in other respects.
Fiat gave the 128 individually suspended wheels all round, with MacPherson struts and wishbones at the front and a self-stabilizing system of damper struts and trapezoidal wishbones at the rear. At this point in time, the Fiat competitors continued to rely on rigid axles. Saab even for more than 30 years.
The front engine with overhead camshaft and toothed belt was designed by Aurelio Lampredi, who had come to Fiat from Ferrari and the one with the Lampreys engines shaped the group's range of drives well into the late 90s. The 128 was considered a highly modern car, the front-wheel drive and the modern chassis gave it fantastic road holding for its time.
For this reason, it is no surprise that the 128 became a fixture in rallying and positively influenced the image of the brand.
The Fiat 128 puts the German manufacturers to shame
It is actually shameful that no German work has managed to achieve such a feat so far, judged the Hessischer Rundfunk in a test in 1969 (Video). Because the 128 was modern, sporty - and only cost about as much as a VW Beetle, which was hopelessly outdated in comparison.
In 1975 Fiat took the Sport Coupé out of the program - and replaced it with the 128 berlinetta and the X 1/9. The X 1/9, a sporty, uncompromising two-seater became the Italian Love Affair for people with petrol in their veins, the berlinetta was the family-friendly compromise between sporty elegance and high variability.
The Fiat 128 berlinetta
The berlinetta, written in lowercase, naturally wore prestigious double headlights at the front, and delighted with a sporty but simple interior. Above all, she inspired with a dynamic rear end, which somehow gave an idea of Ferrari. As with the Saab 99 CombiCoupe (Link) the Fiat offered plenty of space and up to 1.000 liters of loading space.
Fiat had once again made a big splash, the brand had a compact everyday car with Italian elegance in the style of famous GT cars for normal earners in its range.
The company's slogan, cars with wit and sense, says a lot about the thinking at the time. Both the former and the latter are missing in today's cars. Wit and reason are neither suitable for advertising nor are they in any way trendy.
And the Fiat 128 berlinetta is also absorbed in this world. Where is the berlinetta? Because fewer than a handful of copies are for sale across Europe.
- Sequel follows -
The 128 3p is good in the coupe. Deze oogt iets ouderwetser, maar heeft meer fans volgens mij. The 3p is duidelijk aanpassing aan de concurrentie, de Simca 1100, de Golf, grand Renaults and many other cars with a 3rd deur. The 3p is here the best handy in use in the coupe….you can load a bicycle, of a koelkast, and the small furniture, the tussen de wielbakken of the 3p past: EEN HEUSE VW-KEVER MOTOR…. They had a vriendin with a loden right-wing voice 2 no-one, and so we had the eight-handed 128-3p was... Afijn, the 128-3p had then 4 zitplaatsen, maar Achterin was het helpen. The 3p was fully loaded, with 2 full aft, and the reed was never there. Hij lay dan op zijn kont. The deed of the 128-3p is also good, we want to accelerate the speed of the 128-3p in a new way, and prints that are fast in the veren…. It's great, there's a jumping lui Paard, the reed was less... For example, the 128-3p was equipped with a 1500 motor with the Ritmo, and also a double Weber mee had been given, in the door a beetje klieren with the 128 -Rally nokkenas, a small 90Pk had mobilized. Heremee will be the 3p a hele rappe metgezel, the a good robbertje konkken. Naturally it also had a 5-bak nodig, wanted with the original 4-bak, had a speed of 175km/u to 7250t/min Drive had as the original 2-bak. The other 5-bak had a very long FD, and was equipped with one family over a fijne racy 4-5p, and a splendid GT, the unique 128 kon volhouden, and also nog 3 op 150 reed.. Afijn, the racy 1p will be sold of a brand, the others had been loaded, I had already had 14 seas, maar 3 heb had been overcooked... The orange, the GT, had now been made, the other kale had been made, had also been used a few times, and was used later 2 Lampredi-SOHC uit de Tipo, die met gemak 1-1600pk levert, en zalige kaartleesritten-auto gaat opleveren…. The 100-110p in the Coupe's two wheels are not available in meetings of classics, so they are perfect every day and the used machines are... How to get the same SOHC jankerds as you want, the recipe for 128rpm can be used. In this case, no one can come to me....With a 3, a BMW 7000ltr 1500-cylinder frame can follow, of an Alfasud Coupe QV toch aardig laten.... Yes, there is a Golf GTI 2 with 6 seats…. Op brede CD 1.6's with a Zastava bladveer Achter, en Koni Geel, zijn klaverbladen and genot…. The Engelsen gave their motors a bijnaam, The Roaring Mouse. With the 140 words there is a bit of advice…. We want the thing to come back again... In a different way in a Saab 30, the new ones are not in the best condition, the good thing is that they are not in the box…. He is a real drivers car…..
This thing was never written, it was minced and not included. Gooi he's maar af……
Very nice car and ahead of its time!