Stop thinking of Fiat as a little car company. It may make little cars but that’s different. And just because there was never an aggressive bolt in the body of any Fiat you’ve ever met doesn’t mean that the same applies to the parent company either. It just so happens that Fiat makes enough little cars to be the second largest manufacturer in the entire little-car producing world—which is to say the whole world outside of the United States. Second now, but it’s hell bent on becoming number one. Within the past several years Fiat has swallowed up Autobianchi, grabbed a big piece of Citröen (which in turn has combined with Maserati), bought 51% of Ferrari and, just recently, inhaled Lancia. And, not content to merely collect car-makers, Fiat has also rewritten its agreement with the American Importer, Fiat-Roosevelt, to strengthen ties with Italy, and announced a contract with Pirelli which stipulates that all Fiats to be brought into this country will, henceforth, be exclusively equipped with Pirelli tires. Interlocking trade agreements such as these, and an acquisition philosophy that makes the maneuverings of the geniuses behind the Wall Street “Conglomerates” appear to be mere cautious dabblings, have served notice for all to see that Fiat is a force to be reckoned with on a world-wide basis.
All of this is by way of preparation for yet another case of things not being exactly what they seem. The subject of this test, the Fiat 124S, is not a 124 sedan face-lifted for 1970 but rather a separate model which has been in existence all along. Fiat builds an enormous selection of cars, most of which are not imported into the U.S. and consequently unknown in this part of the world. The 124S is one of these, along with two larger sedans, the 125 and the 130, and a pair of $6000 Dino sports cars.
To be realistic the 124S is very similar to the 124 sedan that has been available here since 1967, but there are some important differences which make this new sedan a very considerable automobile in this time of strong competition in the small car market. Visually both cars are similar—for the most obvious of reasons. Both use the same body. Most of the mechanicals—suspension, brakes, and the layout of the drivetrain—have not been changed either. But that doesn’t matter because they were all pretty well good enough before. The things that count, like the engine, have been helped in no uncertain terms. Fiats are noted for their small engines. small even for small cars, and the yawning deficiency in the 124 sedan was its tiny 1197cc engine. It had good performance for its size but it was short on flexibility and wasn’t really happy unless it was being revved and shifted with the kind of vigor that most economy-car buyers, by definition, don’t have. Enter the 124S—a real big-bore Fiat with all of 1438cc to propel it. Besides the big engine you get Pirelli Cinturato 155 SR 13 tires, four headlights, more comfortable seats and a very attractively restyled instrument panel. You get all of this for $2015, up $50 from the old 124. Competition is extremely tough in this market segment and $100 either way on the price puts you up against an entirely different group of cars. The toughest of this Fiat’s competitors should be the $1995-plus-everything Maverick and the $2035-Datsun PL510 4-door. When Toyota finally gets its Corona Mark 11 into the dealers’ showrooms it should fall into this area too, as would the 4-door 1204 Simca if Chrysler could get the world to take notice of it.
Our love affair with Fiat’s delightful 124 sports cars still rages on but we find the sedan’s appeal to be far different from that of the sports cars with the same number designation. The sedan has its priorities straight in that it’s practical first and fun only if you take pleasure in well-executed function. In fact, that should be the definition of an efficient economy car. It’s precise in its operation like the sports cars but it lacks their highly refined personality.
The Fiat’s long suit is room, which it has in abundance. On the outside it’s a very compact automobile with an overall length of 159.6 inches, less than an inch longer than a VW, on a 95.3-inch wheelbase, also less than an inch longer than a VW. But it is wider than a Beetle by 2.4 inches and it makes excellent use of that increment. The interior is very generous in elbow room as it is in every other direction in which your limbs might like to stretch. The Fiat very closely approaches a modular concept—a fact not at all disguised by its exterior styling. It is in essence three boxes joined together, a large people-carrying box in the middle with a smaller engine box on the front and a like-size luggage box on the rear. And that analogy holds up as you examine the 124S more closely. The passenger compartment is definitely cubic—uncompromised by stylist-motivated tumblehome, tuckunder or any attempt to imitate a Coke bottle. It is much like a small room with lots of windows. And a cube is the most successful shape for a trunk since nearly everything that you haul is box-like in form. For the record, the Fiat’s trunk is almost large enough to attract the attention of the Teamsters Union. The spare tire is stored upright along the left side and the fuel tank is in a corresponding position on the right, leaving a moderately wide but very deep space in the center at your disposal.
Although the interior is no more expansive than the old 124 sedan it is more attractive, thanks to the restyled upholstery and new instrument panel. It stretches across the full width of the passenger compartment. The dash is smoothly contoured and padded in compliance with occupant safety regulations, with a hooded instrument cluster directly in front of the driver. Two dials, the left one a speedometer and the right one containing temperature and fuel gauges and a series of warning lights, tell you everything you need to know. In the Italian tradition the dials are crisply marked in very legible white numerals. There is no tachometer, but shift points corresponding to 6000 rpm are marked on the speedometer face with bright red arrow heads. Apparently, the Italians find the key-in-the-ignition warning buzzer every bit as offensive as we do because the 124S has a nice silent yellow light under the dash. We are with them all the way. Their dislike for noise didn’t extend to the heater blower, however, which has all of the audio charm of a hurricane whenever it’s running. Fortunately, the efficiency of the heater itself is so great that the blower needs to run only when the car is moving at very slow speeds.
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