Fiat stopped selling cars in the United States in January 1983, after just 14,113 sales the year before. For more than 15 years before that, though, American showrooms carried everything from the tiny Fiat 850 Spider to a hatchback called the Strada. Some of these cars sold in big numbers, while others found only a few thousand buyers a year.
Here are seven Fiats an American could walk in and buy new, roughly in the order they arrived. Every date, engine size and sales figure below comes from a period road test, a valuation guide or a published history of the brand.
1. 1967 Fiat 850 Spider
The little 850 Spider spent three years on sale in Europe before it reached America in 1967. Underneath, it shared its basic bones with the Fiat 500 and 600, plus a transaxle designed by Porsche. A new one cost about $2,000 in 1967, and the price had only climbed to about $2,700 by 1973.
US emissions rules shaped this car in an odd way. Engines under 50 cubic inches were exempt, so Fiat shrank the bore by one millimeter, which cut the engine from 843cc to 817cc for the 1968 and 1969 US cars. Then it raised compression to win back the lost power. According to Sports Car Market, more than 124,000 Spiders eventually found American buyers.
2. 1968 Fiat 124 Sport Spider
The 124 Sport Spider and its coupe sibling landed in the US in the fall of 1968. Fiat needed almost two years to certify them for American roads, so the wait was long. Even so, the arrival made a big splash. The Spider used a lively twin-cam four, and it came with a five-speed gearbox, while the coupe made do with four gears as standard.
The engine started at 1.4 liters, which was small for American tastes, and later grew to 1.6 and 1.8 liters, according to a vintage Road & Track test reprinted by Curbside Classic. In fact, the Spider outlasted Fiat’s own exit from the US. According to Autocar, it carried on as the Pininfarina Spider Azzura and stayed on sale in the US until 1985.
3. 1967 Fiat 124 sedan
The 124 sedan was the family car behind those sporty models. Road & Track tested one for American readers in 1967. The early US cars used a 1,200cc pushrod four, which was a modest engine for freeway driving. Still, Fiat gave the boxy sedan disc brakes on all four wheels, an ambitious feature for a cheap car at the time.
Testers liked what they found. A Curbside Classic look back at that road test says the brakes were excellent and the handling was as good as it got at the time. However, the engine grew buzzy at American highway speeds. The 124 had also won the 1967 European Car of the Year award.
4. 1969 Fiat 128
The 128 debuted in March 1969 as the first Fiat with front-wheel drive and its first with a transversely mounted engine. Aurelio Lampredi designed its 1.1-liter overhead-cam four. In fact, Lancaster Insurance’s history of the car quotes writer L.J.K. Setright, who credited the 128 with setting the pattern other popular makers followed. A toothed rubber belt drove the camshaft, and the cylinder head was aluminum alloy.
Judges named the 128 the 1970 European Car of the Year with 235 points, according to the award’s own records. In America, cheap prices helped it sell well. According to Old Motors, 1975 was Fiat’s best US year with 100,000 cars sold, and the 128 was the big seller at that time.
5. 1974–1982 Fiat X1/9
The X1/9 was a small, wedge-shaped two-seater with its engine behind the driver. Fiat sold it under its own badge from 1974 through 1982. Early cars used a 1300 engine. Then, from 1979, a 1500 took over.
That 1500 was the most powerful version. According to Hagerty, it made 75 horsepower from 1,500cc and four cylinders. After the Fiat-badged run ended, Bertone took over and built the car from 1983. As a result, Hagerty values the Fiat cars and the later Bertone cars separately.
6. 1975–1981 Fiat 131 and Brava
The 131 replaced the 124 sedan in America for 1975. It was a conventional rear-drive sedan that carried over the 124’s engine family. Early US cars used a 1,756cc twin-cam four. Later, in 1978, Fiat renamed it the Brava and Super Brava in the US and upgraded it to a 2.0-liter engine.
Fuel injection became optional in 1980 and standard in 1981. Buyers could pick a five-speed manual or a GM-built automatic. According to Old Motors, Fiat pulled the Brava from US sales in early 1981, and the 131 line lasted until the end of that year.
7. 1979–1982 Fiat Strada
The Strada arrived in the US in 1979 as Fiat’s new economy car. In Europe, the same hatchback wore the Ritmo name and had launched in 1978. Meanwhile, dealers still had leftover 128s to clear at big discounts.
It became the last of the line. According to Autocar, by 1982 the Strada was the only Fiat family car left in the US, alongside the 124 Spider and the X1/9. Then Fiat sold just 14,113 vehicles in America that year and pulled out in January 1983. The brand did not return until 2011.
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