FIAT 133 - remember these anyone?

[GregZX]

My old man bought one of these as his first car, a 1977 on an S plate. He kept it until 1981 when he bought a 2CV. He’s sadly no longer with us but before he passed I had a conversation about the car with him where he said it was actually a SEAT but my mum is adamant it was a FIAT.  They were SEATs rebadged as FIATs in the UK but maybe a few slipped through. Anyway glory in the pointlessness of the FIAT 133 below…his was this very same colour. 

[sierraman]

I do vaguely recall them, SEAT eventually made them I think as the Fura until maybe the mid/late 80’s. Don’t think they sold them here though. 

[1duck]

my uncle had one for years, but he did live in italy so that's not surprising really. Traded it in for a first gen punto under the scrappage scheme, think he still has the punto to be fair to him. 

[Asimo]

 

[DSdriver]

I had a new Fiat 850 on order when they first came out but it got held up by a strike at the factory (dealers excuse) so I cancelled the contract.

[RichardK]

44 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I do vaguely recall them, SEAT eventually made them I think as the Fura until maybe the mid/late 80’s. Don’t think they sold them here though. 

The Fura was the rebadged, plastic-bodykitted 127 hatchback that continued, I think, overlapping with the Uno. I don't /think/ it was a 147 but it could have been a Brazilian weirdness sold in Europe... I'm fairly sure was just an '80sed 127 though.

[Dobloseven]

Definitely were sold here. Think it was essentially a restyled 850.To me it showed the folly of Fiats numbering system, with it being bigger than a 132,which predictably was bigger than a 131, which oddly was bigger than a 130.

[Split_Pin]

Rebadged Spanish Seat which was about the same size as a 127 but running on a dated 850 underpan. I recall seeing loads of them in the mid 1990s on summer holidays to the Balearics.

Seat Fura was a Spanish built Fiat 127 MK3.

[Spiny Norman]

I remember them, but they didn't sell very well in this country. Always thought they looked like a slightly bigger 126.

[purplebargeken]

Had the one that became StillOranges car. Cute car.

[eddyramrod]

4 hours ago, Dobloseven said:

Definitely were sold here. Think it was essentially a restyled 850.To me it showed the folly of Fiats numbering system, with it being bigger than a 132,which predictably was bigger than a 131, which oddly was bigger than a 130.

Don't you mean smaller?

[mitsisigma01]

3 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Don't you mean smaller

You beat me to it , I was just about to check specifications, I had a 132 seemed lovely for a second car until I looked underneath. 

Local scrappy had a 130 back in late 80s , great place to shelter when it pissed down, every time I went there .

[sierraman]

1 minute ago, mitsisigma01 said:

You beat me to it , I was just about to check specifications, I had a 132 seemed lovely for a second car until I looked underneath. 

Local scrappy had a 130 back in late 80s , great place to shelter when it pissed down, every time I went there .

Saloon or coup?

[mitsisigma01]

80s 130 scrappy one was a saloon , about 500 mm longer than a 79 132

[AnthonyG]

Definitely only sold here as a Fiat 133, albeit only for a few years. Sort of a gap filler between the 126 and the 127. 

Although sold as a Fiat, it was common knowledge from Autocar/Motor/The Daily Express Motor Show Guide etc that they were built by Seat, and anybody interested enough to read a road test would have been aware of the origin, hence perhaps the difference in the recollections of @GregZX’s parents. 

I think possibly the last year or two of Fiat 850s (73-74) sold here were sourced from Spain as well. 

The British car market in the mid 70s had all sorts of basic models re-appearing due to high petrol prices and rampant inflation. Hence the 2CV arriving back on these shores in 74 after a decade or so of being unavailable. Plus you had the introduction of homemade ultra poverty spec stuff like the Mk2 Escort Popular and Viva ‘E’.  The 133 was bang ‘on trend’ for all this misery! 

[Richard_FM]

The Seat made 124s were also sold for a time in the UK, not sure what they were badged as though.

I think it was the Viva E which was created after there was an over-supply issue with 2 door saloon bodyshells, which Vauxhall decided to clear by selling them with a bare bones spec at a knock down price.

[eddyramrod]

5 minutes ago, Richard_FM said:

I think it was the Viva E which was created after there was an over-supply issue with 2 door saloon bodyshells, which Vauxhall decided to clear by selling them with a bare bones spec at a knock down price.

I thought the saloon was added later, after initial introduction used leftover Firenza Coupe shells.  On the same bandwagon was a Chevette E too.  It was a golden* time....

[Dobloseven]

5 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Don't you mean smaller?

Yes, don't know what happened there.Think the 130 was Fiats biggest effort in that numbering system, perhaps their biggest ever. There's two 130 saloons in a front garden in Wigston, just outside Leicester. Look like they've been abandoned for many years. No doubt the owner would say they're worth a lot of money and he's going to do them up when he gets round to it! 

[wuvvum]

2 hours ago, AnthonyG said:

I think possibly the last year or two of Fiat 850s (73-74) sold here were sourced from Spain as well. 

I seem to recall that the Seat 850 was actually sold here as a Seat at the time.

[Richard_FM]

The 129 was an unused number in the Fiat sequence, unless something like the X1/9 was supposed to use it.