Fiat 130, 131 et 132 : livres - histoire, modèles et technique

When Fiat entered rallying in 1970, its ultimate aim was to become World Rally Champion - and the 131 Abarth of 1976-1980 provided the machinery to make that possible. Within the Fiat-Lancia empire, the 131 Abarth not only replaced the 124 Abarth Spider sports car, but was also favoured ahead of the charismatic Lancia Stratos.

By 1970s standards, the 131 Abarth was the most extreme, and effective, of all homologation specials. Compared with the 131 family car on which it was originally based, it had different engine, transmission and suspension layouts, was backed by big budgets and by a team of superstar drivers, and was meant to win all round the world.

Not only did it start winning World rallies within months of being launched, but in 1977, 1978 and 1980 the 'works' team also won the World Championship for Makes, and set every standard by which Rally Giants were to be judged.
The 131 Abarth was backed by a peerless team of engineers, so was there ever any doubt that successors like the Lancia Rally 037 and the Delta Integrale would eventually come from the same stable?

The Fiat 131, born as a tranquil family car, proved capable of transforming into a formidable rally competitor. This monograph draws on the testimony of the engineers who contributed to its creation and the numerous drivers and navigators who rallied it.

Engineer Sergio Limone was part of the team of engineers asked to define the 131 Abarth Rally project while the likes of Maurizio Verini, Michèle Mouton, Gigi Pirollo, Fabrizio Tognana, Dario Cerrato and Lucky Battistolli all, in various ways, contributed to making the Fiat 131 Abarth one of the most successful rally cars of all time with three World Championship titles to its name won in 1977, 1978 and 1980.
The entire technical evolution and the competition history of a rally car as glorious as it was "unexpected" is here enclosed in a single volume.

Having attained unwanted notoriety as a protagonist in one of the most dramatic episodes in Italian history - the kidnapping of Aldo Moro - the Fiat 130 was the last flagship model built by the Turin manufacturer and also the last Fiat with a six-cylinder engine.
The model arrived on the market with great ambitions and excellent credentials but at the wrong moment, on the eve of the 1973 oil crisis. It was not only the salon of choice for the powers that be in the Italian Republic, but also one of the Pininfarina's most beautiful coupé designs. It also provided the basis for a number of extraordinarily attractive one-offs.

Photos, many of which previously unpublished, and detailed technical files accompany the story of the genesis and evolution of the model. There is also a section devoted to restoration for those interested in acquiring an example of what is a true collector's model.

Text in Italian.

La 130 è stata un sogno nato nel momento sbagliato. La speranza della Fiat di poter competere a livello europeo nel settore delle grandi ammiraglie e delle granturismo di lusso aveva tutte le carte in regola per riuscire, ma la sorte ha deciso diversamente: berlina e coupé erano belle, eleganti, raffinate e attraenti, ma nessuno poteva prevedere la crisi petrolifera degli anni Settanta, che ha bruscamente interrotto la loro diffusione.

Dietro ad una delle Fiat più famose di tutti i tempo - la plurivincitrice 131 Abarth - c'è una famiglia quanto mai ampia di modelli e versioni. La 131 Mirafiori è stata la berlina della media borghesia nei difficili anni '70, ha fatto sognare con le sue derivate sportive, ma ha anche avuto successo come robusta familiare per il lavoro o, per i clienti più innovativi, per le vacanze.
E' stata esportata e costruita in tutto il mondo ed ha contribuito alla diffusione dei motori Diesel in Italia.

La 132 ha avuto il difficile ruolo di berlina di alta gamma in un momento di tumultuose trasformazioni e di grandi tensioni sociali. Dotata di una meccanica raffinata, ha dovuto evolversi rapidamente nei contenuti e nell'estetica per stare al passo coi tempi.
Insieme con l'Argenta, che ne è stata l'evoluzione nell'altrettanto difficile momento di transizione all'inizio degli anni Ottanta, hanno rappresentato il meglio dell'offerta Fiat per un lungo e travagliato periodo di tempo.