L J K Setright: Happy birthday to a remarkable, but long-forgotten Fiat
The little car's virtues were all in matters of engineering, not styling
Latest in Features
On Facebook
Life & Style blogs
Living a long, healthy life – looking after your heart
In my clinic I see all sorts of people walking through my door. Mostly, they come to me because they...
Tips on renting your property to students
Five important things to think about before the Freshers arrive...
If a lifetime is 70 years, should we look for mid-life crisis at 35? Front-wheel drive has been with us (ignoring a tiny number of cars of historical interest but no commercial significance) for 70 years, thanks to the genius of Andre Citroën; what was critical half-a-lifetime later?
If a lifetime is 70 years, should we look for mid-life crisis at 35? Front-wheel drive has been with us (ignoring a tiny number of cars of historical interest but no commercial significance) for 70 years, thanks to the genius of Andre Citroën; what was critical half-a-lifetime later?
The motoring world was swithering in doubt. There seemed to be a lifetime of authority behind the traditional front-engined car driven by its rear wheels, but for the past decade the only successful racing cars had been rear-engined, like the VW Beetle, and like many other cheap, small cars flourishing in France and Italy.
The pre-war Citroën had earned respect, but was nevertheless judged odd, and few people outside France had experienced the marvellous rationality of its 1955 successor the DS. Only the tiny, quirky, nimble and affordable Mini of 1959 had ruffled motoring pundits.
The Mini was a marvel of packaging -- 20 per cent machinery, 80 per cent people-space -- but flawed by the BMC bosses' insistence that designer Issigonis use an old engine and do everything to make it cheap. One consequence was that he had to put the gearbox in the engine's sump, which was bad for the oil. Another was that, although the roadholding was good, its handling involved some surprises that many drivers found too sudden for their liking.
If Citroën had made front-drive practical, and Issigonis had made it affordable and fun, it remained for somebody else to make it good.
That somebody was Dante Giacosa, who had risen to be chief engineer at Fiat. Ever since his car-design debut creating the original Fiat 500, the Topolino of 1936, he had wanted to produce a small, front-drive car. In those days that was like preaching heresy, but after three decades he had more authority and his bosses had fewer objections.
Giacosa saw a need to replace Flat's classic 1100, and decided that it should have front-wheel drive. Under him were three brilliant engineers: Montabone was good at everything, Cordiano likewise, but particularly good at suspension, while Lampredi was the greatest engine-designer of his times. The result promised to be extraordinary.
It was. Fiat launched the 128 on 29 March 1969, and it scooped Car of the Year awards in seven countries. The remarkable thing was that the little car did not look remarkable: its virtues were matters of engineering not mere styling.
Lampredi had given it an entirely new engine: it was light, it had a belt-driven overhead camshaft, it was very strong and sweetly imperturbable. Cordiano gave it his new steered-strut, independent rear suspension, ensuring some infallible handling.
The rest of the detail was fascinating, too. The wheels were not simply held on by nuts, but located on a central spigot to guarantee the concentricity that the new generation of radial-ply tyres demanded. The springing kept the car on an even keel without the need for anti-roll bars. The gearbox, parallel to the engine, enjoyed its own oil. The drive-shafts were identical in torsional stiffness. And so on ...
Nearly all these features are commonplace in the front-drive cars that populate today's roads. The Japanese were the first to see the merits of the Fiat; next came VW and Ford with their Fiesta.
In the numerous new standards it set, the Fiat 128 was quite exceptional. Like so many noteworthy Fiats, it was also utterly commonplace. That is part of the paradox which has made Fiat from time to time one of the greatest names in the industry. When next you climb into your Vauxhall or VW, your Renault or Rover, remember where the principles originated, just half-a-lifetime ago.
- 1 The Ten Best Places In The World To Be Gay
- 2 So Moorish: Mark Hix offers his own take on classic Moroccan dishes
- 3 The 10 Best Scotch Whiskies
- 4 Private viewing: Our tour of the pick of the property market
- 5 The Ten Best Ice Cream Makers
- 6 The Ten Best Men's Sunglasses
- 7 The Ten Best Steam Irons
- 8 African monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV
- 9 Liver disease 'time bomb' warning
- 10 Coke reveals its secret: It may need to carry a cancer warning
- 1 Mark Zuckerberg saved $111m by selling Facebook shares before stock slumped
- 2 Osborne adviser leaked budget information to Murdoch's man
- 3 Brazil rocked by abortion for 9-year-old rape victim
- 4 Society: The only way is Finland
- 5 Schoolboy spiked brownies with cannabis in cookery class
- 6 Fat? Really? Olympic hope laughs off official’s jibe – but others aren’t amused
- 7 'Hello mum, this is going to be hard for you to read ...'
- 8 African monkey meat that could be behind the next HIV
- 9 Coke reveals its secret: It may need to carry a cancer warning
- 10 French in uproar over oral sex anti-smoking posters
Experience the Heineken Hub
Get free wi-fi and exclusive i content while you enjoy a tasty pint of Heineken at participating pubs.
Can you imagine a career in teaching?
Be inspired to teach - let real teachers show you how rewarding the job can be.
Playing a game-changing role during the Games
Cisco is providing the solutions for London 2012's complex IT needs.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Career Services
Ridley Scott: The most macho man in movies?
Gallic gourmets put France back on culinary map
The outsider: Margaret Howell
For men only: A pilgrimage to Mount Athos
Feeding a hungry world – or meddling with laws of nature?




Comments