Author Topic: Definitive 126 list  (Read 1578 times)

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Xylaquin

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Definitive 126 list
« on: October 21, 2016, 12:03:17 PM »
Hi guys, I'm trying to compile a list of all the different models of 126. Would appreciate your knowledge here:

Year, Name, Engine type and size

1972 - 1977, Standard, Aircooled 594cc
1977 - 1984, Standard, Aircooled 652cc
1984 - 1994, FL, Aircooled 652cc
1987 - 1992, BIS, Watercooled 704cc
1994 - 1997, EL, Aircooled 652cc
1997 - 2000, ELX, Aircooled 652cc

  • Where do the Brown, Silver, Personal, DeVille fit in?
  • Are the years above correct?
« Last Edit: January 12, 2018, 05:46:10 PM by Xylaquin »

drcdb15

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Re: Definitive 126 list
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2016, 06:10:42 PM »
I don't know if you've already consulted the Wikipedia article here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_126 and this item too: http://www.gizmohighway.com/autos/fiat_126_history.htm

Wikipedia gives a lot of information, and especially if you click through to reference 1 you'll find others have been there before you. You might also try posting on the general Fiat forum and the Fiat 500 forum, see what the folks there come back with.

It's a popular pastime, to try to create "definitive" lists like this, and I wish you well, don't get me wrong, but the motor world is so complex and fast-moving that even manufacturer records are typically incomplete and have errors. The 126 was produced in millions, over 3 million in Poland but only a million in Italy (so is it in fact a Polish car rather than Italian ... ? [discuss]) with only a couple of thousand in Austria and who knows how many by Zastava in Yugoslavia.

So your first task will be to define your region - cars imported into the UK only, or *all* cars produced? And then what about cars made in, say Italy, but with their own specification for the German market (there may be other examples but the German one I know is documented)?
Then there's the Seat 133 made in Spain, is that a 126? FSO made an estate version, and the Bis was apparently never actually made by Fiat (is that true?)
And do you include also the after-market customisers who did convertible and beach buggy style conversions?

 It's a Herculean challenge, and a great basis for pub quiz experts to come out of the woodwork and say "ah yes, but I think you've overlooked ...."  :P

Good luck!





Xylaquin

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Re: Definitive 126 list
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2016, 08:05:42 PM »
Good grief, perhaps "definitive" was the wrong word.

Regarding branding and nationality, I've always considered the 126 an Italian Fiat car. Being built in another country doesn't make it of that country (for example don't Nissan have a factory here in the UK?) I say it's a Fiat car because... well it is. "Polski Fiat" is to Fiat, what Vauxhall is to Opel. Just a localised rebranding.

Perhaps a better wording for this thread would be "main 126 versions", since we're not going to take custom efforts into consideration. I'm talking main production efforts.

For the sake of simplicity, let's stick to Fiat/Polski Fiat only (I'm pretty sure the Seat and Zastava are just rebranded late 80s aircooled)