Curbside Classic has just reposted one of my favorite articles — a magazine-length piece by Don Andreina (2023) about the 1972-77 Fiat 130 coupe. Although the car never made it to U.S. shores, the author shows how it influenced many designs such as General Motors’ 1977 downsized big cars.
I do have one follow-up question that may sound rather odd: Was the Fiat at least indirectly influenced by a pair of American cars — the 1963-64 Rambler Classic/Ambassador and 1964-65 American?
At least to my eyes, the 130 coupe represented an updating of the Rambler’s design language in key respects. Most notably, the upper-fender crease stretched from the rear of the car to almost the tip of the front fenders, whereupon it wrapped around the hood. In addition, the wheel openings arched forward and the C-pillar was squared off on the sedans.
Despite these similarities, the Fiat 130 would never be confused with the Classic. This was partly because it came out nine years later, and so reflected newer styling trends. These included a greenhouse with more rake and a mid-level side crease that gave the car a less upright appearance.
The Fiat also had a fairly level beltline rather than the Rambler’s more teardrop shape, which was a lingering vestige of the 1950s. And while the 130 coupe was roughly the same length and width as the Classic, it had a five-inch-shorter wheelbase. That allowed a longer deck as well as door-cutout proportions more appropriate for a coupe.
Fiat designer was in the field when Ramblers came out
The Fiat was designed by Paolo Martin. He started his automotive design career in 1960 at Studio Tecnico Michelotti and moved over to Carrozzeria Bertone in 1967. A year later he was appointed head of styling at Carrozzeria Pininfarina (Wikipedia, 2023). There he oversaw the design of the Fiat 130 coupe.
The concept cars and production models designed by Martin were largely for European and Japanese automakers. However, he presumably was familiar enough with U.S. design trends to have seen the mid-60s Ramblers. I have not seen any historical documentation that he consciously borrowed Rambler styling themes for the 130 coupe, but there are enough similarities that I would be surprised if it was purely coincidental.
Might Romney have championed international styling?
This brings me to a counterfactual. American Motors’ CEO George Romney stated that his strategy was for Rambler to continue offering practical, space-efficient cars “that still looked good, along the lines of a Mercedes-Benz” (Foster, 1993, p. 98). If he had stayed at AMC through the rest of the 1960s, he might very well have pushed for styling that was more international in flavor. That could have even led to a renewed association with Pininfarina, which Nash — one of AMC’s predecessor companies — had worked with in the early-50s.
In other words, a car in the same ballpark as the Fiat 130 coupe might have been in American Motors’ future if Romney had lost his bid for Michigan governor and returned to the automaker. Instead, Romney won, his successors embraced Detroit groupthink, and we got the likes of the 1974 Matador coupe.
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RE:SOURCES
- Andreina, Don; 2023. “Curbside Classic: 1972-77 Fiat 130 Coupe – Bill Mitchell’s Regards.” Curbside Classic. Posted Oct. 5.
- Foster, Patrick R.; 1993. American Motors: The Last Independent. Krause Publications, Iola, WI.
- Wikipedia; 2023. “Paolo Martin.” Page last edited Sept. 17.
ADVERTISEMENTS & BROCHURES:
- oldcarbrochures.org: Rambler (1960, 1963, 1964); Rambler American (1965)
PHOTOGRAPHS:
The following photos were drawn from Wikipedia via Creative Commons. Photos have been lightly edited to reduce background shadows.
- Banner image of Fiat 130 coupe by Maxwell61 (CC 3.0)
- Fiat 130 coupe by Calreyn88 (CC 4.0)
First of all, to update the Rambler / Rebel platform to “internationalize” the styling along the lines of the Fiat 130 likely would have required major changes to the unit body, including the cowl. Fiats of the early 1970s were notoriously rust-prone. I had a radio colleague who owned a 1974 Fiat 141 sedan: Unreliable, easy to rust and noisy. In his opinion, a terrible and flimsy car. I think the idea of A.M.C. trying to emulate Mercedes-Benz aims too high for a domestic manufacturer. The brand to emulate was Volvo, as in the Volvo 240-series.