Today's car of the day is Poliguri's 1983 Fiat Uno.
The Fiat Uno is a supermini car produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat. The Uno was launched in 1983 and built in its homeland until 1995, with production still taking place in other countries.
For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Fiat Uno
It's been quite some time since we've had something really unique for Car Of The Day. So today I present a forgotten boxy hatchback by an obscure Portugese diecast firm that's been defunct for over two decades.
The Uno was launched in January 1983 to replace the ageing Fiat 127. Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro's ItalDesign company, its tall, square body utilising a Kamm tail achieved a low drag coefficient of 0.34 won it much praise for airy interior space and fuel economy. It incorporated many packaging lessons learnt from Giugiaro's 1978 Lancia Megagamma concept car (the first modern people carrier / MPV / mini-van) but miniaturised. Its tall car / high seating packaging is imitated by every small car today. It reversed the trend for lower and lower built cars. It showed that not just low sleek cars could be aerodynamic, but small, roomy, boxy well packaged cars could be too. In 1984 it was voted European Car of the Year.
Initially, the Uno was offered with the 0.9 litre (903 cc) OHV, 1.1 litre (1116 cc), and 1.3 litre (1301 cc) 138-series SOHC petrol engines and transmissions carried over from the 127. The 1.3 (1300 cc) diesel (not for the UK market) engine was launched a couple of months later. The Uno's badging was not by the commonly used measurement of engine size but by metric horsepower: 45, 55, 60, 75 or 90. The Uno was available as either a 3 or 5-door hatchback. It also featured ergonomic "pod" switchgear clusters each side of the main instrument binnacle, (that could be operated without removing the driver's hands from the steering wheel), although indicators remained on a stalk; an unusual arrangement similar to that used by Citroen.
The Uno had MacPherson strut independent front suspension and twist-beam rear suspension with telescopic dampers and coil springs.
From 1985, the 1.0 litre (999 cc) SOHC Fully Integrated Robotised Engine (FIRE) powerplant was offered. This was a lighter engine, built with fewer parts, and gave improved performance and economy. Also in 1985, the hot hatch version - Uno Turbo - was launched, with an IHI turbocharged Ritmo/Strada-derived 1.3 146-series engine, initially offering 105 PS (77 kW). It was priced to compete with the Peugeot 205 GTI. The Turbo variant offered phenomenal performance for a supermini-sized car and was capable of reaching 210 km/h (130 mph).
In 1987, a 1.7 litre diesel engined version - the 60DS -was launched.
Also in 1987, the Uno Selecta continuously variable transmission (CVT) automatic was launched. The CVT transmission was a co-development with Dutch Van Doorne and Ford, (Fiat owned 24% stake of Van Doorne at that time). The Selecta transmission should be avoided according to honestjohn.co.uk, which claims it can cause expensive repairs.
The car is still sold in Brazil in three versions: Mille Economy, Uno Furgão and Fiorino Furgão.
In the second half of the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s, the Uno had a sedan, a pick-up and a wagon version, called Prêmio, Fiorino Pick-Up and Elba, respectively.
The Brazilian Uno featured an independent, transverse leaf spring suspension at the rear, based on the tried and tested Brazilian Fiat 147 (similar to the Italian Fiat 127). The design of the hood was also unique, since the Brazilian Uno kept the spare tire located in the engine bay, like the old Fiat 147, and saving extra space for the luggage in the trunk.
The Fiat Uno family, in Brazil, had a turbocharged 1.4-litre four inline sports version in the middle 1990s. This car was sold as a normal production vehicle with 1801 units produced.
From the end of the 1990s to the middle 2000s, the car was sold as the Fiat Mille, as a budget entry-level model, and received its most recent facelift for the 2004 model year. The 2005 Brazilian range has received a Flex Fuel system, enabling the car to use ethanol or gasoline as fuel, both pure or in any proportion mixture; also, there is a version fitted for unpaved roads called Mille Way, which includes a more resilient suspension, larger wheels and side cladding. From April 1988 until 2006, up to 2,000,000 Fiat Unos were made in Brazil.
The year 2010 reserved a surprise for Uno fans: Brazilian Fiat started the production of a new Uno - actually, a Brazilian version of the European Fiat Panda, with two options of body (2 and 4 doors) and two kinds of Flex Fuel engine (1.0 and 1.4). But this new Uno is going to live together with the old one until 2014, when Brazilian's market will finally demand mandatory air bags in every new vehicle, and the 1980s design of the first Uno does not allow the installation of air bags.
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