There’s a rule with Italian cars from mainstream brands, one that arguably applies to their French counterparts as well: the bigger the car, the more likely it’s going to flop outside of its home market. The Croma was an attractive flagship sedan for the Fiat brand and was the most accessible of the four Type 4 cars (Saab 9000, Lancia Thema, Alfa Romeo 164). Alas, the Croma didn’t make a convincing enough case for a replacement and, following its discontinuation, the Fiat flagship spot was left vacant for almost a decade.
I’m usually loathe to use any photos from my old iPhone 4S but hey, when am I going to see a Fiat Croma again? On that note, I have to say how impressed I am with phone cameras these days. I used my hybrid D-SLR camera exactly zero times on my trip to Europe and the US this year because my Google Pixel 2 takes such great photos. This old iPhone 4S I had back in 2011 or so that I used to photograph this Croma? Not so much. Forgive the image quality.
I’m surprised I even saw a Croma at all. Its time in Australia was mercifully short: it lasted only 14 months here. Fiat may have withdrawn from the US market but it was here more or less in name only during the 1980s, such was their poor sales performance. Planned product introductions, like the Fiat Tipo, never eventuated. In a rather sad state of affairs, the Regata had been keeping the brand alive here. In comparison, Kiwis were treated to a much larger range of Fiats including the Uno and Panda.
It was hard enough selling a flagship Fiat in Australia, especially considering such a car almost always cost more and had less (power, space) than a typical Australian family car like a Ford Falcon or a Mitsubishi Magna. Fiat couldn’t compete on prestige either, not in the way a brand like Saab or Volvo could. The rear-wheel-drive Argenta, a nipped-and-tucked 131, had been wildly unsuccessful and so its replacement, the Croma, really had to stun buyers if Fiat hoped to sell any. With an $AUD45k price tag and just one powertrain, a 112-hp 2.0 four with a three-speed automatic, the Croma was dead on arrival here. Shortly after its launch, Fiat’s distributor slashed $10k off the price tag but it wasn’t enough to save the Croma. A promised turbocharged, 5-speed manual model never eventuated. Would it have made a difference other than to educate Aussie buyers on torque steer? Even after its huge price cut, the naturally-aspirated Croma still cost a few grand more than a loaded Mazda 626 Turbo hatch. Who, other than slavish Fiat fans, would have bothered?
The Croma did better in some other markets, especially the Italian market, naturally. It wasn’t often that a large mainstream European sedan – or, in this case, five-door liftback – shared a platform with genuine executive cars. To keep the cost down and to suit its positioning, the Fiat used lower-quality materials than its cousins and had a range of DOHC Fiat engines. These included the aforementioned 2.0 in both 8V and 16V variants, as well as a turbocharged 8V 2.0, a diesel 2.5 and a turbo diesel 2.5. A small 1.6 four was available in select European markets.
This was a spacious family car, thanks to its relatively large dimensions and front-wheel-drive layout, and it was also rather versatile due to the hatchback. To drive, the Croma was a mixed bag: critics praised its willing engines and nimble handling, deeming it more fun-to-drive than rivals like the Opel Omega, but they panned its stiff ride. The Croma also had a reputation for creaking and rattling, sounding noisy and harsh when revved, and for having a rather cheap interior. British Car magazine went so far as to say, “It’s as though the Croma has been built down to a price to separate it from the superior Lancia Thema.” That price difference was a thousand pounds or so in the UK, though, and the Thema may have rattled less but rode just as harshly by most accounts.
Visually, the Croma was a fine design by Giorgetto Giugario, deftly maintaining a familial resemblance to other Fiats while appearing both aerodynamic (it had a Cd of 0.32) and crisply tailored. It was arguably the second best-looking of the Type 4 cars after the 164 and looked more athletic than the Lancia Thema with which it shared some sheetmetal.
The 1991 facelift further smoothed out the Croma’s appearance and also heralded the introduction of a 2.5 V6 borrowed from Alfa Romeo, the first use of an Alfa engine in a Fiat.
The Croma held on until 1996 when it was finally discontinued, having outlived the Thema (by two years). In total, 438,000 Cromas left Fiat’s Turin factory between 1985 and 1996. Although it competed at a higher price point, this compares rather favourably with the Saab 9000 of which 503,087 units were produced over the same time period (plus an extra year). Credit likely goes to strong domestic market sales – the 9000 was exported to the US and Canada and enjoyed a much, much longer run in countries like Australia and yet Fiat still sold more Cromas.
Fiat didn’t directly replace the Croma, the marque’s new flagship now being the Marea sedan and wagon. These were simply sedan and wagon versions of the C-segment Bravo/Brava hatch and were smaller than the Croma in every dimension. The name reappeared in the mid-2000s on a very different-looking hatchback, but that’s a story for another day.
Related Reading:
Curbside Classic: 1992 Saab 9000 – Snapshot From The Heydey of Snaabery
Curbside Classic: 1993 Alfa Romeo 164 – Alfa’s American Farewell Present
Of the four type four cars, only the Saab 9000 and Alfa 164 made it to the US, so I’ve never seen a Chroma in the wild.
However, that black and white promotional image emphasizes the common genes these models share. I’m not sure why, but the relationship between the C-pillar angle, rear wheel placement and trunk lid height are unique, and stand out on all four cars.
I don’t know what the exchange rate was between the U. S. dollar and the Aus dollar back then, but $45K for a 4 cylinder powered Fiat sounds crazy. Which is a shame as this looks like a fairly decent car.
However, even at LESS than half the price, it would have been doomed in the U. S. without that Alfa V6.
The Aussie dollar was worth around 75 cents US give or take. Low 70s in 1987, hit a brief high of high 80s before going down again.
I have a price list from October 1989 when the Croma was $35k, an Alfa 75 2L manual was $36,250, BMW 318i $36k (man), Holden Calais V8 $35k. Base model Camry auto 1.8 $18k. Cheapest car was a Lada Samara for $10,990.
On the other hand the Alfa 164 3L V6 $62k, and Saab 9000 GLE 2.0 manual $55,125 up to the Turbo auto $72,700. A MB 300E was $107,400, 560SEL $205,500.
Note that these prices include 20% sales tax back then.
Good write up about an ordinary and generally unloved car (at least outside Italy, where it was popular as a taxi).
At least it has the honor of being the first direct injection turbo diesel passenger car, a year before the Audi 100 TDI.
Interesting reminder of a car that was largely overlooked here at the time, lost between the Omega, Granada, Rover 800, BMW 3 series and many others. Being a Fiat (translates as cheap, cheerful, maybe not very durable in English, possibly unfairly) didn’t help.
For me the pick of the Type 4 would be the Alfa 164 V6, though I can see the appeal of the SAAB 9000 hatch (the original model at least) and the Lancia Thema 8.32 with the Ferrari engine and retractable spoiler is a nice idea, with torque steer.
But I do like that dash though, even if the revised front end ruins Giugaro’s efforts, IMHO
Nice catch.
I still shoot everything with my elderly iPhone 5S. Good enough for me, most of the time. 🙂 I’m just so happy to never have to think about having a camera with me. They seem positively quaint now, like landline phones.
It looks like a cross between a saab 9000 and a vw to me
I have never seen one of these, although am now reminded that I once knew of their existence. It is an attractive car, possibly the cleanest of the 4 with the possible exception of the Saab.
The 4 way sharing of this platform has always been of interest to me. These variations strike me as very much in the style of the way the mostly-autonomous Divisions of General Motors used to do business in the US. The structure was shared but the mechanical pieces, dashes and even most of the exterior sheetmetal were unique to each car.
What a find – I had no idea these were ever sold in Australia. It would definitely have been an uphill battle to sell them. Strange to think that the most accessible of the Type Four cars is the one least remembered globally today.
A reminder of the days when Italy was positively crawling with Fiats.
In the UK, I was repeatedly tempted by these and the Thema, but just had no use for them and couldn’t justify the running costs (particularly insurance). I liked the styling, and it was so much car for the money. (I’m talking about 7 yr old + cars which cost about as much as renting a Saab for a month.)
What a boring car. No wonder Fiat is where it is today.
The worse looking of the Type 4 variants. The 164 looked great, the Saab and Lancua less so.
I must have seen 3 Chromas on Australian roads in all these years.
Only the Regatta is is more disgusting.
I can’t remember ever seeing a Croma. A neighbour had a Regata though; it is probably still sitting in his yard…
Normally a near-bullet-proof engine in Fiats, at least in my experience.
After having my eyes tasered by all the Toyotas on the other post, seeing the lines of this car has let me relax. The boxiness, ahh. The lace wheels on the bright blue one, ahh. The resemblance to the Saab 9000, ahh. So straight, so wide, so flat. No angry Ghostbusters Stay-Puft marshmallow-man face. No batwings or bat- capes. No gaping mouth, no 40″ rims. No K-Mart aisle nine tinsel. I can go back to sleep now. I am safe. Everything is okay again.
LOL. Good point.
What a find.
If I recall, they only got rid of about 80 of these in the whole country over ’88-’89. In Melbourne, they were found only in Carlton and Brunswick. (Two suburbs which were/are the Italian centre of the city). Driven – with inventive variations on the road rules – by proud behatted Nonnos as a retirement self-gift, something from The Old Country. Mostly after a life of very, very hard work. When they got a bit doddery, the Cromas were sometimes piloted, from somewhere under the steering wheel, by the associated Nonnas. For such buyers, 13 or 14 secs to 60 didn’t matter. In fact, if stuck behind one, sometimes moving at all wasn’t any more a priority than driving on the correct side of the road, but I’m digressing.
I like them, always have. They have an sharp elegance lacking in the Saab, in and out, and it has lasted. Alfa 164’s were bought in the same suburbs by similar but somewhat richer versions of the elders (and just occaisonally, by their upwardly-mobile offspring). The Alfa, to me, is a classic example of a car that looked gorgeous new, and for some years after, and then suddenly, it didn’t.
I have seen exactly one Croma in my time, in Carlton, natch. And oddly enough, it was a manual, supposedly not imported. That Nonno had contatti, it seems, and there was no way he was going to have one these lazy-bastard’s new-fangled 3-speed automatics in his bewdiful Italian macchina.
“it was a manual, supposedly not imported”
It must have been. All Australian Chromas were automatics, unless a manual was brought in for evaluation or something.
I have seen a manual one listed for sale recently. The seller said it was a private import.
Yeah, I adored the 164 as a kid and now it looks a bit messy to me – by the time I could actually buy one, I preferred the Thema. The Croma has grown on me. It looks clean and sharp, as TheMann so eloquently pointed out.
So rare is the occasion to spot a Croma that I distinctively remember the last time that I did. This was in 2009 on the island of Sardinia. Me and my then-GF were camping illegally in a beautiful foggy forrest in the mountains. In the morning we were awoken by the sounds of thumping boots. Out of the tent I looked and there stood a high ranking military official accompanied by four of his underlings. They were wearing beautiful Italian tight tailored uniforms and had just emerged from a Fiat Croma. Soon we started chatting about the engine (it was a turbo manual!) and we were left in peace. Such a proud man, such a proud machine. The Croma’s design speaks of a time that from today’s vatange point seems much simper, less confused, less complicated (though it surely wasn’t back then).
Great find!
Ah, the official Tour de France car for many years, before Skoda took over that role. Rarely seen ’em since.
There’s a rule with Italian cars from mainstream brands, one that arguably applies to their French counterparts as well: the bigger the car, the more likely it’s going to flop outside of its home market.
Marchionne’s last 5 year plan has Fiat embracing it’s Fiatness: carving the line down to the smallest models: the 500 and Panda that own the A segment, the 500L, which is the leading small MPV and the 500X, not the leader in it’s segment. Seemingly left out in the cold is the C segment Tipo: styled handsomely enough, but with cheap materials, and not priced as cheaply as a Dacia. Press release a few days ago noted that idle capacity in 2 Italian Fiat plants will be used to produce the Jeep Compass, which, so far, has been imported to Europe from Mexico, and a new “baby Jeep”, which smells like a Panda Cross with a boxy Jeep body on it.
This old iPhone 4S I had back in 2011 or so that I used to photograph this Croma? Not so much. Forgive the image quality.
If I had had even an old iPhone to take pix, people would not be dismissing my account of seeing a Mustang 4 door sedan, wrapped in camo, in Dearborn a couple months ago. Any pic is better than none.
An interesting find. We got all the Type 4 cars new here in New Zealand, but all of the others seemed to be more common, both when new and nowadays as survivors. 164s/9000s/Themas appear on Trademe with reasonable regularity, but I haven’t seen a Croma online or in the metal for years. I personally like the Croma the least of the Type 4 cars – everything behind the back doors seems slightly stunted and out of proportion, like a Thema that’s been rear-ended.
Great find, especially in Australia!
I must beg to differ in opinion when it comes to the styling of the Croma and its ranking among other Type 4s.
The Alfa was obviously the looker of the bunch, but I’d place the more understated, yet equally beautiful Saab in second. The Fiat and Lancia on the other hand, just don’t have the same graceful proportions. Their shorter, more squared-off front and rear fenders, hood and trunk make for an overall stubbier, awkward overall look.
William, I fear the Croma may be no more!
KJ in Oz
Your market was naturally predisposed to cars of a higher segment than the Fiat Croma (such as Canada is strongly suited for pick-ups).
In addition to the disadvantage of the Croma, there were transport costs and customs duties, which significantly altered the purchase cost.
Many people have trivialized this car, which, on the other hand, was a real success for Fiat, with over 50% exports.
Why?
Because the Croma had a load of technological innovations never found in a single model of car.
1) First car in the world with a single chassis design shared with Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Saab (1984).
This was a brilliant idea of the engineers of the FIAT group, and now it is essential, on the part of all current competitors, to reduce the production costs of several car models on a single chassis.
2) The Croma was the first car in the world to have a petrol engine with variable length intake ducts and controlled turbulence (the 1986 CHT system patented with Yamaha).
3) The Croma was the first car in the world with a direct injection diesel engine (Turbo D i.d. 1988), with incredibly low consumption and never matched by any other manufacturer, blazing new paths for diesel cars.
4) The Croma was the first car in the world to use a variable geometry turbine with moving vanes (TD, id of 1991), and from this moment diesel lost the traditional Turbo Lag, to the advantage of greater drive torque at low rpm .
5) At a prototype level, the Croma was the first car in the world to road test a Common Rail diesel engine (developed by the Fiat Research Center in 1992), and imposing this system on all current diesel cars and commercial vehicles.
There would be so much to write about this car, if you are interested I will send some photos of this car, of little interest in Australia (and there is its logic), but very successful in Italy and in Europe!