Fiat 124

Manufacturer	Fiat
Production	1966–1974
Assembly	Turin, Italy Casablanca, Morocco (SOMACA)[1]
Predecessor	Fiat 1300/1500
Successor	Fiat 131
Class	Family car
Body style	4-door sedan 5-door station wagon
Layout	FR layout
Engine	1,197 cc ohv I4 1,438 cc ohv I4 1,438 cc dohc I4 1,592 cc dohc I4 1,756 cc dohc I4
Transmission	4-speed (5-speed on Special T) manual all-synchromesh[2][3]
Wheelbase	Sedan:2,420 mm (95.3 in)[4] SW:2,420 mm (95.3 in)[5]
Length	Sedan:4,042 mm (159.1 in) SW:4,045 mm (159.3 in)
Width	Sedan:1,625 mm (64.0 in) SW:1,625 mm (64.0 in)
Height	Sedan:1,420 mm (55.9 in) SW:1,440 mm (56.7 in)
Curb weight	950 kg (2094 lb)
Related	SEAT 124 VAZ-2101 (Lada 1200) VAZ-2105 (Lada Riva) Tofaş Murat 124/Serçe Premier 118NE

The Fiat 124 is a mid-sized family car produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat between 1966 and 1974. It was the replacement of the Fiat 1300 and Fiat 1500. Today it is perhaps best known as the car used as the basis for the Russian-built Lada, which continues in production to the present day beyond the 124's discontinuation in 1974.

Thanks in part to the ubiquity of the Lada version in Eastern Europe (and also in Latin America and the Caribbean), the 124 has achieved iconic status, and if Lada production is aggregated onto the original Fiat production run, the 124 and its various clones is one of the biggest selling automotive designs of all time with over 15 million units sold worldwide.

Launch

The 124 was introduced by being dropped by parachute from a plane and instantly won critical acclaim, including that year's European Car of the Year award - the fourth winner of the award and the first from Italy.^[6]

It was praised for its spacious interior, advanced coil spring rear suspension, disc brakes on all wheels and lightweight construction.

The car was unusual in the extent to which Oscar Montabone, the chief engineer responsible for its development, was able to start with a clean sheet.^[7] Only the all-synchromesh gear box came from an existing model, the Fiat 1500.^[7]

Engine

Power came from a 1.2 L (1197 cc) Fiat OHV straight-4, producing 65 hp (49 kW) and 70 ft.lbf (95 Nm). Also 124S with 1438 cc OHV engine and 124 ST with 1438 cc and 1592 cc Twin Cam with 5 speed gearbox.

Variations

A 124 station wagon was introduced in April 1967, featuring most of the same specifications as the saloon but the springs were stiffened and the final drive ratio changed to 4.4:1.^[8]

A slightly stretched and more luxurious version of the 124 sedan known as the 125 was launched in the early part of 1967.

The basic 124 saloon also spawned the Fiat 124 Sport Spider and the Fiat 124 Coupé, both sought after 1970s classic cars.

The end

Production of the Fiat 124 ceased in 1974, paving the way for the slightly larger but otherwise in most respects similarly configured Fiat 131 Mirafiori.

Engines

• 1200 (1197 cc) - 60 PS (44 kW; 59 hp) - 66 PS (49 kW; 65 hp) (1966–1974)
• 1400 (1438 cc) - 70 PS (51 kW; 69 hp) - 75 PS (55 kW; 74 hp) (1968–1974)
• 1400 Special T (1438 cc) Twincam - 80 PS (59 kW; 79 hp) (1968–1972)
• 1600 Special T (1592 cc) Twincam - 95 PS (70 kW; 94 hp) (1973–1974)
• Abarth Rally (1756 cc) Twincam - 128 PS (94 kW; 126 hp) (1972–1973)
• 2000 (1920 cc) Twincam - 115 PS (85 kW; 113 hp) (1979)

Clones

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Fiat sought to extend its worldwide reach by entering into various collaborative agreements with smaller manufacturers (mostly in developing nations) by licensing the 124 design following its discontinuation in mainstream Western European markets. The best known of these is AvtoVAZ in the former Soviet Union, manufacturer of the Lada - arguably the best known of all the 124 clones, and perhaps better known than the 124 itself. Other versions of the design were developed for various regions around the world, and many are still in production to the present day.

Soviet Union/Russia

Main Articles: VAZ-2101, Lada, AvtoVAZ

VAZ-21011

In 1966, Fiat entered into a collaborative agreement with the Soviet government to establish car manufacture in the depressed Samara-Oblast region of Russia. Fiat invested in building the massive VAZ plant in the newly created town of Togliatti, named after the Italian communist leader of the same name. The factory produced an adapted version 124R of the 124 known as the Lada ВАЗ-2101 / Zhiguli (sold as the Lada 1200 in export markets) until 1982 and 1200s until 1987. These cars are based on the 124 but modified on more than 800 points, the major modification being an etirely different OHC engine developed by Fiat, hydraulic clutch, drum brakes at the rear, modified suspensions, etc. Early modifications include the VAZ 2102 (Station Wagon) 2103 (Lada 1500) 2106 (Lada 1600) and 21011 (lada 1300). The updated versions of the Lada based on the Fiat 124/ВАЗ-2101 design are made to the present day and are known as the ВАЗ-2104/2105/2107 — marketed as the Lada Riva or (Lada Classic) in most Western European markets. Production of this line until 2011 has exceeded 16,800,000 cars,^[9] and recently they are produced at the Izh car factory, az Izhevsk, Russia, az IZH-2104/2107.

Indian

1989 Premier 118NE

The Fiat 124 was also introduced in India by Premier Automobiles Limited in the autumn of 1985 as the Premier 118NE.^[10] The car was very similar to the 1966 version except for a few cosmetic changes to the front and rear. However, Premier incorporated the Nissan A12 (1,171 cc and 52 bhp) powertrain instead of the original Fiat engine along with a Nissan manual gearbox. Added in 1996, there was also a version called the 137D which sported a diesel engine, built under license from Fratelli Negri Machine Sud S.r.l., Italy.

The car got a tremendous response in the beginning. Auto magazines^[which?] praised its gearshift as the slickest of all. Rusting was the problem with these cars.^{[citation needed]} At the end of production an improved model called Viceroy was released in collaboration with Peugeot, France. Later on it was outmoded by other modern cars and production was stopped in 2001. A few well maintained versions are still found today.

Spanish

SEAT 124 manufactured circa 1970.

In the frame of the licence agreement between SEAT and Fiat, it was produced and sold in Spain with the name SEAT 124 from 1968 to 1980. The car was very successful in Spain, and was sold in both the 4-door and station wagon versions.

Also Sport versions were made with 1600 cc (1970–72), 1800 cc (1972–75) and 2000 cc (1978–79).

Bulgarian

The Fiat 124 was also produced under the name Pirin-Fiat in Lovech, Bulgaria, on the basis of complete knockdown (CKD) kits between 1967 and 1971.

Turkish

Tofas Serçe, Turkish version of Fiat 124.

The Fiat 124 was also produced under the name Murat 124, aka. Serçe ("sparrow") in Bursa, Turkey by Tofaş. 134,867 Murat 124s were produced between 1971 and 1994. TOFAŞ concurrently produced the Fiat 131 series under the name Murat 131 between 1976 and 2002. Today, the company manufactures bona fide Fiat models.

Korean

The Fiat 124 was also produced under the name Fiat-KIA 124 by Asia Motors in South Korea between 1970 and 1975.

Egypt

From 2002 to 2007 Lada-Egypt company built at least 9,000 cars in the shell of Lada 2107/Riva (2,200 in 2006), and it continues in 2007.

References

• James T Crow, ed. (1968). "Fiat 124". Road & Track Road Test Annual: 50–53. 

External links

• Italian site dedicated to the Fiat 124 (English pages)
• Italian forum dedicated to the Fiat 124

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