5 Weird Little Fiats You Didn't Know Existed
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- čas přidán 27. 01. 2023
- It may not have had the best managers, but Fiat sure had plenty of talented engineers and designers, and here are five examples you may well have never seen before. #fiat #history #classiccars #stellantis
Presented at the 1974 Turin Motor Show, the impossibly cute Fiat X1/23 was a vision of sustainable urban mobility well ahead of its time.
The ESV 1500, named after its weight in pounds, was the smallest of the three prototypes Fiat presented at the 4th international conference on experimental safety vehicles, held in the Japanese city of Kyoto in 1973.
Weighing under 600 Kg and equipped with a diminutive 770cc twin-cylinder direct-injection turbodiesel engine mated to a CVT automatic transmission, the Fiat X1/75 could reach a top speed of 135 Km/h but, most importantly, could do 40 Km on a single liter of diesel.
The 850 City Taxi was displayed at the 1968 Turin Motor Show, and the many novel solutions of this innovative prototype were covered by 15 new patents. Although some were subsequently used on production cars, the City Taxi itself would remain just an experiment.
Presented at the 1976 Turin Motor Show and based on the Fiat 126, the prototype "Cavalletta" (the Italian for grasshopper) was Fiat's own foray into the open "beach" cars genre independent coachbuilders like Savio and Moretti had been exploiting for years.
My articles on Medium: / membership
My automotive books:
Lancia Gamma Berlina & Coupé 1976 - 1984
ENGLISH: www.amazon.com/dp/B09TN45L8Q
ITALIAN: www.amazon.it/dp/B09YVJRKH6
Six Appeal - The Story Of The Alfa 6
www.amazon.com/dp/1793931046
Alfa Romeo Alfa 6 - La Storia 1979-1987 (ITALIAN)
www.amazon.it/dp/B0BHT3PCC7
Alfa Romeo Giulietta - The Story 1977 - 1985
ENGLISH: www.amazon.com/dp/1983393746
ITALIAN: www.amazon.it/dp/B098GVJ7RK
Alfa Romeo Arna - The Full Story 1980 - 1987 www.amazon.com/dp/1656632500 - Auta a dopravní prostředky
Your channel is such a hidden treasure. I hope one day, I’ll be to say that I’ve owned an Alfa Romeo
Thank you very much! I hope this channel will remain a treasure, while becoming less and less of a hidden one! ;)
As an Alfista I wish you so!
Once you have one, one is not enough! I have 5!
I’ve had 3! You won’t regret buying an Alfa!
You are right, it is something that goes beyond a mere relationship between man and machine.
This fact was described very well by the elderly president Luraghi; well, at the time Alfa was truly something unique, special, genetic, in the world automotive scene
Great video again, Matteo - as we expected.
Sadly the very talented Pio Manzù didn't get the chance to show the world more of his great ideas. I'm sure he would have created some classics.
Indeed. Losing Pio Manzú when he was just 30 years old has been a tragedy. The world was robbed of a brilliant mind way too early.
The X1/23..."impossibly cute!...so adorable!" Never a truer word spoken!
Super video as always Matteo..
Fiat. One of the true greats in the automotive world!
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it :)
Fiat has always been better than any other company in making beautiful, modern and satisfying small cars. These are some brilliant examples!
1974?!My God the X123 looks so current, a minor crime they didn't do something with at least the styling. Lots of Innocenti in their. With modern drive train, and at a good price, I would absolutely buy that as a stylish City runaway. Fist need to get their Mojo and ability to infuse ' cuteness ' into a range of small Cars.
Excellent Video.
Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it! Yes, the X1/23 is perhaps more relevant now than it’s ever been!
My brother had the Fiat 850 on which the City Taxi was built. What a wonderfully iconic car. I also did my first driving lesson in it. Though he sold it in 1988, it is still talked about with such love in our family all these years later.
Once again, excellent. Never heard of any of them. The XI/23 and the Cavalletta could go into production today and few would realise the designs were decades old.The XI/75 looks part Uno, part Renault 5.
Glad you enjoyed it :)
Yes, particularly the X1/23 has stood the test of time very well indeed, and would probably sell better now than it would have done in period.
I'm reminded of the taxi in Total Recall by some of these beautiful prototypes. Love the channel and always look forward to the videos 👍.
Yes, it does have a kind of sci-fi movie prop vibe to it, I thought the same. Thank you very much for your appreciation! :)
I always loved the X1/23 thanks for this lovely informative presentation
Glad you enjoyed it, thank you!
Glad to see you back. Excellent video as always.
Thank you!!!!
Thank you very much, this series has great videos and your explanations are very informative and interesting. Great cars.
Oh man, I'm seeing that Gamma in the background again. Just finished reading your book on them Matteo...now I want a Series II Gamma Coupe even more than before!
I’m glad you enjoyed my Gamma book, thank you for your purchase! It truly is a classy automobile, one I’d quite like to own myself, if I was in the position of collecting classic automobiles! My choice would be a Series II Coupè too, with the fuel-injected 2.5 engine and those nice alloy wheels…
You're the greatest. I love prototypes and concepts, and have learned a lot here again.
Thank you!!!
Buonjiorno Matteo! Painfully short but none the less supurb video. Reminds me of the shear talent that Fiat had when they were the 24ct FIAT Spa. And not the watered dowm Ministroni soup of today. Wonderful examples of the prototypes where echos of other models can clearly be seen. Thanks for the deep field shots too. They make me want to drive my Barchetta to the Museum. Please let me know the next time you will be visiting Britain as I would like to organize something for you. Take care mon amis. Keep those videos coming. Bw Mike.
Hi Mike, thank you for your appreciation. I’m planning a short trip to the UK actually, but it’s still a few months away :)
@@Matteo_Licata Try and remember to let me know and I will do my best to arrainge things. Bw from the Black Forest Mike
40 kms per liter is very impressive. Need that today!
More FIAT fascination, love it! 🇮🇹
I do not know what it is about small cars but I love Fiats and Mini Coopers. Something about zipping around urban traffic in a manual gearbox tiny car seems fun. Despite not having much power, these small cars are fun to drive.
Neat! Please feature some of the other prototypes in the background!
Thank you! Sure I will cover some of the other prototypes I filmed there in the near future :)
X1 75 is brilliant and we need it,today.
I always thought that the X1/23 was a one-off. You can imagine how exited I was to see 2 of them at the Heritage Hub, and 1 day later seeing another one displayed at the Padova show. So at least 3 of them must have been built.
Yes, the Heritage Hub has two because the car originated in 1972 as a city-car study powered by a conventional combustion engine, and that prototype has been preserved as well. Some more were then built to study electric propulsion and batteries… But I wonder how many exactly!
Awesome! The 860 Taxi was so cool. It would have made a great "PopeMobile".
Always superb videos!
Especially for whom love FIAT..ALFA..LANCIA...❤️
Thank you!
Thanks for this insightful video - hope that it will inspire Fiat under Stellantis to continue developing interesting and clever solutions, especially as all car manufacturers seem to be converging to put out similar looking cross-over vehicles. The X/23 and 850 City Taxi are so relevant today, nearly 50 years after they were first shown!
Thank you, glad you liked it! Yes, I hope Fiat will come up with more than retro cars in the future
Excellent video Matteo. Is the heritage hub open to the public?
Yes it finally is :)
Been there three times already, you can buy your tickets here: www.vivaticket.com/it/ticket/heritage-hub/186516
Amazing,and there were a few other cars in the background worthy of another video...👍
They’ll feature in future installments, rest assured :)
@@Matteo_Licata cant wait👍
I would buy a Fiat X1/23 heartbeat if they ever made them.
Me too!
Is more known about the X1/75, particularly the 2-cylinder diesel engine and if it was loosely based on the Panda or another model? It also brings to mind the Citroen ECO 2000 as well as theRenault Vesta and Vesta II series of prototypes, IIRC some ECO 2000 concepts actually made use of early iterations of the FIRE motor.
Unfortunately there isn’t much information available on the X1/75. I didn’t know of its existence before I saw it in the Heritage Hub, but I don’t exclude asking Fiat’s archive for more info on it, one day.
Thanks, Matteo. Extremely interesting. Is it fair to say that at 1:38 I can see hints of the upcoming Ritmo in the ESV2000?
Thank you! Yes, I would imagine that the Centro Stile Fiat's work on the ESV 2000 did eventually influence them on the Ritmo project, which would have begun shortly after. But we will probably never know for sure, as most of the Centro Stile material was lost or thrown away in 2007 when it was transferred from its original location to its current one. A truly barbaric disregard for the company's history and the work of Fiat's stylists over time.
Looking forward to seeing other cars in that group Matteo.
The MGB with the rubber bumpers looks positively sublime when compared to the ESV,
and that's saying something...maybe make good dodgem cars though.
Thank you for your appreciation. Sure I’ll include some of the cars you’ve seen in the background in future videos :)
Sometimes I think you Italians look at what other people are doing and say to themselves: "Right. You've done something weird, we're going to do something more weird." 😁
It may be a bit like that, yes! :)
1:31 now we know where the idea for the front design of the 1975 SEAT 1200 "Bocanegra" came from! PS: 0:47 I like this typical Italian "Impossibly cute or beautiful" expression,very much made made known to none Italian speaking countries in Europe in the 80ies by legendary Singer Gianna Nannini and her hit "Bello Impossible " LOL
Speaking of Gianna Nannini, I still remember a German car magazine comparing her voice to that of Alfa’s boxer engine in a 146 review 😁
@@Matteo_Licata 😁
Great stuff, Matteo
Thank you!
As usual, great video, since this video talks about never seen Fiats, reminds a brand people never talk, Autobianchi, any interesting history behind the brand you can tell us?
Thank you! Coincidentally, I was thinking these days about a video charting Autobianchi's whole history... I'd like to make it and I got most of the footage I need, but I'm doubtful about such a video's potential in terms of views.
One of those would look great in my living room!
Eccelente!
Behind the 850 city taxi and next to the 500 there was a gorgeous prototype that seemed to me like a prototype for a Lancia Delta or more probably, for the Ypsilon.
That car looked amazing!
I guess you’re referring to the Lancia Nea, a prototype from over 25 years ago that foreshadowed many of the features we now see on current cars. It deserves a video, come to think of it!
@@Matteo_Licata oh yes! That's exactly right, the Nea. I would say that it still looks so good that is just a matter of Lancia putting BEV power train and mass produce it and it would be ready to sell!
I was about to suggest you covered it in one of your videos!
Thanks for the info and the great videos! Keep it up!
Great video again. Love these little cars. 😍👍👍
Thank you!
Very interesting stuff. I just wish someone could provide subtitles.
Where is this museum,i see so many amazing cars on video???
It’s in Turin, and it’s the Stellantis Heritage Hub. Truly an amazing place, chock full of great cars
@@Matteo_Licata tx so it is in Torino for us in Croatia?
Yep :)
Great video. What is the open, brown car behind the Cavelita?
Thank you! That's a prototype for a "beach car" made from a Fiat Fiorino van
5:35 is that a goddamn convertible Fiorino?!
Yes indeed. A “beach car” based on a Fiorino
Way before Smart for Two Was Invented ..the Italian Was Thre Earlier .. ..🇮🇪🇮🇪🏁🏁
Once again , great work. Love from ireland 🇮🇪
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it and cheers from Italy :)
The dedicated taxi model could be put to good use especially if it had an electric version which can be take from the 500.
Biggest problem I see with the City Taxi is that unless there's a jumpseat beside the driver that folds away to make that cargo space, there's not enough seating to carry two couples home from a night on the town or a family of 4 between hotel and airport. With 20/20 hindsight, going to an FF layout with five conventional doors and seats would create a cab that could carry 4 passengers +driver and be saleable as a mass-market tall wagon.
The City Taxi does have a foldable jumpseat and could transport up to four paying customers… But that would severely reduce the amount of luggage they could bring. Not ideal for a trip to the airport, sure. I agree that using a FWD layout would have made for a better vehicle.
Brilliant!
Thank you!
While I abhor many of the Bloated vehicles in the American market, I am also taken aback by some of these designs.
I REMIND MYSELF, they represent considerable innovation.
What is the silver car in the background on the right at 2:32?
That’s a Lancia Gamma Coupè. If you’d like to know pretty much everything there is to know about it, I wrote a book about just that: www.amazon.com/dp/B09TMWP9ZS
The ESV 1500 passengers may be safe, but pedestrians lookout
I've had two fiat 850sport spiders
Cool! Love that little car
@@Matteo_Licata hence why I've had two there so under-rated and just gorgeous
Those last two vehicles should have been put into mass production.
Some funny little cars that I don't think anyone would have missed but a great video.
CityTaxi was preceded by the 600 Multiplas and the X1/23 EV would hardly make it to the corner shop and home without a full charge.
il city taxi e' geniale... piccolo per girare nei nostri centri storici, spazio a bordo per 2 passeggeri di qualsiasi "dimensione", ingresso comodo.
peccato che questa italia sia ormai perduta per sempre...
Davvero ben congegnato, senza dubbio. Ma in assenza di qualunque incentivo e/o iniziativa governativa volta a “standardizzare” i taxi, era destinato fin dal principio a rimanere un esperimento.
“Manager”???? I match your opinion on that!!!!!
Dovrebbero farle fare a te le visite guidate dell'Heritage Hub! Io mi sono beccato una ragazza che confondeva cavalli (cv) e centimetri cubi (cc)...
Dev’essere la stessa che ha fatto da guida al nostro gruppo. Beh, in sua difesa posso dire che era piuttosto ben preparata riguardo alle vetture esposte negli spazi principali, e la sua presentazione è sicuramente piú che sufficiente per soddisfare la curiosità della maggior parte dei visitatori. La guida all’Heritage Hub comunque io la farei con piacere, lo ammetto :)
X175 looks like a Citroën AX
Vaguely, yes.
@2:50 take that VW, 40 km/L in the eighties, why did VW get attention for getting 33 km/L in the late nineties?
I guess because VW actually went into production, while the Fiat remained a prototype.
Pity it's all crossovers now. Extreme disappointment