Fiat 128

Fiat 128 at a glance

The 128 is part of the Fiat catalogue, and the company background is in our history of Fiat.

Giacosa's layout, tested on the Primula

The 128 replaced the rear-wheel-drive Fiat 1100 R. Fiat had been cautious about front-wheel drive and tried the idea first under another badge: the Autobianchi Primula of 1963 used a transverse engine with the gearbox mounted beside it on the end of the block, and Fiat tested that arrangement for five years before putting it into a Fiat. The BMC Mini of 1959 and the 1100/1300 of 1962 already had transverse engines, but with the gearbox in the sump.

The result was a 3,850 mm saloon on a 2,445 mm wheelbase, about 20 cm shorter and more than 100 kg lighter than the Fiat 124. Fiat claimed that the mechanical parts took up only 20 per cent of the car's volume. The bonded windscreens raised the torsional rigidity of the body shell by as much as 92 per cent, according to Fiat. Suspension was independent on all four wheels.

Rivals noticed. Volkswagen reportedly took a 128 apart in 1970 while it developed the front-drive Volkswagen Golf.

Lampredi's belt-driven engine

Aurelio Lampredi, a former Ferrari engineer, drew the 128's four-cylinder. It had an iron block, an aluminium head, a five-bearing crankshaft and a single overhead camshaft driven by a toothed rubber belt. The 1,116 cc version measured 80 x 55.5 mm, an over-square design. Valve clearances were set with shims that could be changed without disturbing the timing.

Torque values come from the German Wikipedia table; sources differ on the Rally (88 Nm in English sources, 92 Nm in German). US cars had 37 kW (50 PS) from the 1100. The same drivetrain went into the mid-engined Fiat X1/9 in 1972.

Rally, Sport Coupé and 3P

The Familiare, a three-door estate, joined the saloons in 1970. At the Geneva show in March 1971 Fiat added the 128 Rally: a two-door saloon with the 1,290 cc engine, a twin-choke Weber carburettor and a top speed of about 160 km/h (100 mph). It won the Canadian Winter Rally four times between 1971 and 1974.

The Sport Coupé followed at the Turin show in November 1971 in S and SL trims. It used a shorter 2,223 mm wheelbase and offered 47 or 55 kW (64 or 75 PS). In 1975 Fiat replaced it with the 128 3P Berlinetta, a three-door coupé with a hatch that stayed in the range until 1980. Facelifts came in 1972 (new grille, bumpers, dashboard and brake servo) and 1976 (rectangular headlamps, with the estate renamed Panorama). The 1974 Special put the 1,290 cc engine, detuned to 44 kW (60 PS), into the four-door body.

Period tests praised the packaging. Motor measured 137.4 km/h, 0-60 mph in 15.5 seconds and 27.5 mpg (10.3 l/100 km) in April 1970. At GBP 876 the 128 cost a little more in Britain than the Morris 1300 (GBP 830) and the Ford Escort (GBP 838).

Licensed 128s from Kragujevac to Cairo

The 128 had an unusually long second life outside Italy. Zastava in Yugoslavia built a hatchback version, the Zastava 101: 1,031,671 were made between 1971 and 2001, and the renamed Skala 55 continued until October 2008. A 128-type saloon was added in the 1980s. Zastava's later small car, the Zastava Koral, sold abroad as the Yugo, came from the same Kragujevac plant. In Poland FSO assembled 58,541 Zastava 1100p cars between 1973 and 1982.

SEAT in Spain built 31,893 of its own 128 3P between 1976 and 1980, including a version with a 1,438 cc engine. Fiat Concord in Argentina produced the 128 from 1971 to 1990, including the five-door Rural estate and the Europa and Súper Europa saloons, with 255,110 cars in total. Colombia assembled the 128 from 1973 to 1980, and Nasr in Egypt kept building the 128 from kits until 2009.

In Italy the Ritmo arrived in April 1978. By the end of 1978 the 1300 engine had gone from the saloon, coupés ended around 1979-1980, and the Panorama made way for the 127 Panorama in autumn 1980. The 1100 saloon stayed on sale until August 1985, when it cost 9 million lire.

Fiat 128 today: what to check when buying

Corrosion is the reason survivors are rare. A British classic insurer's retrospective says the 128's reputation for "corroding virtually at will was no myth", so start with the structure: sills, floor pans, front and rear wheel arches, the bottoms of doors and tailgate, and the front subframe and suspension mounts. A car with fresh paint and no record of welding needs a careful look underneath.

The Lampredi engine is sturdy, but its cam belt needs changing at regular intervals, so ask for receipts. Mechanical parts are generally easy to source, helped by the shared drivetrain of the X1/9 and the licensed cars, while trim, badges and Rally or Sport Coupé body parts are much harder.

Values: Classic Trader's overview for 2021 to January 2026 puts realistic prices for most 128s at about EUR 5,000-16,000 in 2026, with good Sport Coupé and 3P cars at about EUR 8,000-18,000; a few modified or exceptional cars are advertised far higher. More Italian and European classics are in the classic cars section.

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