(first posted 9/27/2013) Is there is a more forgotten sedan of the late 1970s and early 1980s than the Fiat Brava? As a replacement for the more well known 124 it sold only briefly from 1978 to 1982 the Brava was the North American version of the 131 Mirafiori. Despite sporting a twin cam engine and a range that included coupe, sedan and wagon body styles there a few survivors today.
The 131 had a much longer and more successful life in Europe than North America. Introduced to Europe in 1974 the 131 was a relatively conventional, yet advanced in many respects, three box design with rear wheel drive. On the conventional side, it featured a live rear axle but it was unusually well located to give respectable handling. The rear suspension was a neat multi-link affair rather than a leaf sprung cart axle. Initial engines were carried over from the 124 but still featured aluminum heads with double overhead valves available which was still quite a novelty, especially in its price class. A five speed manual gearbox could also be had and was an uncommon treat compared to most of the 131’s still four speed equipped contemporaries.
Although Volvo, Saab and Mercedes got more of the safety related press at the time Fiat was very committed to the safety of its cars. The body shells were uncommonly strong (the Fiat X1/9 is as well) with front and rear crumble zones built in. Rear seat belts even offered shoulder straps. In an era known for (somewhat inaccurately) flaming Ford Pintos, the 131 had its gas tank right up against the rear seat out of harms way. As a further nod to safety the 131/Brava was tuned for mild and safe under-steer at the limit.
The rest of the world name of Mirafiori came from the factory’s location in Turin, Italy. Perhaps Fiat figured Brava would be easier to pronounce for us North Americans as the car dropped the 131 and changed its name on its way over the ocean. North American cars were generally higher specification than what could be found over in Europe. There was actually a model dubbed SuperBrava offered briefly before the base specification was dropped altogether.
We also got a smaller selection of engines to choose from as the smaller OHV engines were not available but instead, we only got the lovely 1,756 cc or 1,995 cc twin cam four. Both carburetor equipped 1,756 cc and 1995 cc made 86hp except in California where extra smog equipment strangled the smaller motor to only 80hp. Fuel injection optionally arrived in 1980 and bumped the larger motor thus equipped to 102hp. The injected motor was then standardized for 1981.
We can tell this example is at least a 1980 model since a badge in the tail light tells us it features fuel injection. North American sales ended in 1982.
Like many European cars of the era the big, North American specification impact bumpers don’t do the cars any favors in the looks department. The Brava’s overall boxy shape means they look better integrated than something like a BMW 3-series though.
You don’t see nice airy greenhouses like this on modern cars. With such a thin rear pillar I suspect the visibility is excellent.
Nothing but straight lines back here unless you count the trunk keyhole.
The interior of the Brava was generally trimmed quite nicely for the era. Comparably reviews praised the logical layout and easy to use controls.
People will often assume because a car is Italian, French or British it is automatically an unreliable pile of crap. It might be different but that doesn’t make it automatically bad as Gil Cormaci’s 500k mile Brava coupe proves. His story made the rounds a few years back as it still wears original paint and runs the original drive-train minus an automatic to manual gearbox swap. The fact that his car lives in the Sun Belt rather than the Rust Belt certainly helps too.
Any Fiat 131 article would be sorely incomplete without mentioning its very successful rally racing career. With twenty WRC event wins and three championships the Abath 131 was one of the most successful racing cars between 1976 and 1981.
This ad shows one of the Brava’s most novel features, the glove box. Unusually it featured two top mounted sliding panels rather than the conventional drop-down door arrangement. The payoff was a compartment that was 24 inches long, 6 inches wide and a depth of 4 inches. Probably bigger than the trunks in some mid engined exotic machinery.
A last look at the rear of the Brava shows off its large glass area with no blind spots which is contrary to the gun slit style windows and massive pillars on many moderns designs. The 13″ rims are again a throwback to a different era as even humble cars these days seem to come with 18″ and 19″ chromed artillery wheels.
A pity to see how the mighty have fallen. Fiat built so many desirable cars in the Sixties and Seventies, and now…
I remember reading an interview with Giovanni Agnelli in about 1970 in which he stated something like, “In the future there will be only ten car companies in the world. I intend that Fiat should be a leader among them.” I’m glad I knew Fiat in their glory years.
I’m biased, I have a Fiat currently, and we had an 1100 way back in the 60s, but I really do not get the hatred towards Fiat, especially from enthusiasts who should know better. As the 8th best selling company worldwide, they are exactly where Giovanni Agnelli predicted they would be.
Every car company built some crap cars. Fiat did, yes, but so did Ford, GM, and Chrysler, especially back in the 70s. Combine that with a shortage of dealers and mechanics, along with the USA consumer disregard of any maintenance, and you will always have people saying that the cars were crappy and unreliable.Rust? Ask the owner of early 60s Mopars or Vega drivers and see what rust issues are about.
If you truly love cars, you should know that Fiat has been successful for a very long time. (Same with the French companies, last I checked, PSA and Renault are doing pretty well in Europe where they know a thing or two about cars.) In numbers, they are the 8th, 9th, and 10th largest producers in the world (in that order). All three sold more units than BMW did (and I understand pricing may have something to do with that fact) so they must be doing something right.
I get frustrated with the groupthink that keeps piling on Fiat (and the French cars, too). I doubt that many of the haters have had their butt in the seat of any of these cars, much less driven or owned one. I don’t excuse any company when they produce shoddy products, but I think that the reputation of a lot of companies have been sullied by folks who have 0% firsthand experience with those products.
JFrank
I agree with you about some points you stated. Many people criticize FIAT and the French makers based only on prejudice. I can personally attest that Fiat built a number of fine durable automobiles (and not only beautiful and fun to drive…). I regularly see many 20 plus year old daily drivers Uno and Palio showing fairly good condition. I live in Brazil were FIAT was market leader for about 20 years, leaving the mighty VW eating the dust. Now Flat is number 2 right behind GM. But the problem with FIAT is obviously not in the Brazilian market. It may begin with Europe, not to talk about the (at least until now) failed comeback to USA market. I’d be very pleased to see FIAT return to former glory, bringing back Alfa and Lancia too, but I fear for the worse. Maybe somebody from other countries can update my assessment bringing some new information. I really wish I’m totally wrong!
Alfa and Fiat (and probably Chrysler and Dodge too) will be with us for some time yet. Even should FCA continue losing market share, it is in the “too big to fail” category on both sides of the pond. Can anyone imagine Italy without Fiat? The pressure is building up and possibly some heads may roll, but the company is such a behemoth, too many people would suffer in case of collapse. So the odds are it won’t be the next Rover.
Last I heard, Ferrari and Maserati are doing ok, but then I haven’t been paying much attention to those two lately. Drop in the ocean anyways.
Lancia, however, is a dead duck of a marque.
I must recognize that FIAT has a huge strength on creating and exploring new market niches (at least in the Brazilian market). The guys brought the first car based mid sized pickup in Brazil, the Toro (think of it as 4/5 Honda Ridgeline) which is a huge sucess outselling any kind of truck around here expect for the small sized FIAT Strada. They invented the “popular” car in Brazil when they put a 1.0 liter engine on the Uno, and every other maker followed then but AFAIK never outsold FIAT on the 1.0 segment. There are other examples I could bring.
I must recognize that FIAT has a huge strength on creating and exploring new market niches (at least in the Brazilian market). The guys brought the first car based mid sized pickup in Brazil, the Toro (think of it as 4/5 Honda Ridgeline) which is a huge sucess outselling any kind of truck around here except for the small sized FIAT Strada. They invented the “popular” car in Brazil when they put a 1.0 liter engine on the Uno, and every other maker followed then but AFAIK never outsold FIAT on the 1.0 segment. There are other examples I could bring.
I found a way to own a 131 – Polistil makes a 1/18 scale diecast of the famous rally racer (see image.)
FCA is actually doing pretty well in USA, where Jeep and Ram are carrying them. Jeep is increasingly a global brand, and the newer Fiat-based Renegade and Compass are much improved over the old Compass and Patriot. Alfa has found a niche. Regrettably the Fiat 500 and siblings seem not to have gotten traction with us Yanks now that oil is relatively cheap.
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By the way: The two crash-cars in the third image are both Fiat 132 (second series). In Europe, the type 132 replaced the 125 whereas the type 131 replaced the 124.
Here the Fiat 132, first iteration (1972 -1974):
It may have not been considered a classic when this article was first posted, but that is a 1989 Chevy Sprint parked beside it.
Serendipity – I believe that the 124 to 131 move sort of matches the 510 to 710 move of the article above it!
The 124 was a superbly-refined smooth riding car in its day, but its replacement (I drove an early 131) did nothing to move the game forward a decade and was simply another tin-box saloon/sedan. It seemed tinnier/plastickier and lost the ride advantage, presumably for spurtier handling or something. It was in fact no better, merely bouncier. The rank opinion steering was a bit sharper, but now it had jouncy McP struts in place of double-wishbones.
Admittedly, the phase 2 cars pictured had the lovely twin-cam return, plus a much nicer interior. What would the Americans have made of the word ‘Supermirafiori’?
The story went that the 131 was intended as a ‘stop-gap’ model (like the Marina) after the poor sales of the FWD Autobianchi A111, but history suggests that wasn’t actually true.
Still, it’s always prejudiced ny view of the 131.