Fiat 124 Saloon, Classic Used Car Review
The Fiat 124 was a mid range family car produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat between 1966 and 1974. It was the replacement of the Fiat 1300 and Fiat 1500. It arrived in Malaysia at a time when only a handful of Japanese cars were making an impact in our market. Brands like Ford, VW and Morris were the favourites and they provided the much needed high resale values at the time.
The 124 was introduced in an advertisement where it was dropped by parachute from a plane and it instantly won critical acclaim, including that year’s European Car of the Year award. It was praised for its spacious interior, advanced coil spring rear suspension, disc brakes and lightweight construction.
Power came from a 1197cc Fiat OHV straight-4, producing 65hp and 95Nm of torque. Its performance belied this small engine, though. British car magazines at the time praised the car’s acceleration, comparing it with cars in the 1800-2000 cc class.
The basic 124 saloon chassis was used in a multi chassis format and so it also spawned the Fiat 124 Sport Spider, and Fiat 124 Coupe, both sought after 1970s classic cars. A stretched and more luxurious version of the 124 sedan known as the 125 was also launched in 1967.
Despite its technological achievements, history has not been kind to the 124 where in later years it was labelled as a rust bucket, boxy unimaginative styling and problematic. Still, die hard classic Fiat enthusiasts will swear by its handling and easy to maintain engine.
In 1970, Fiat sponsored the building of the AutoVAZ car factory in the Soviet Union. The factory produced an adapted version of the 124 known as the Lada ВАЗ-2101 later named the Lada Riva. These cars, which look almost identical to the 124, and which were produced into the 21st century, currently suffer a bad reputation due to their outdated technology and basic equipment levels when compared with modern automobiles.
Production of the Fiat 124 ceased in 1974, paving the way for the Fiat 131 Mirafiori, although the Lada version continued until 1984. Several versions of Lada based on the Fiat 124 design are made to this day. Production by Fiat and Pininfarina of the 124 Spider continued until 1985. The asking price for a mint condition fully restored 124 will lie between RM7,000 to RM9,000. But owners of mint condition units will never sell. Running rusty units might see RM600 or so….then there is the long and tedious process of restoration. The choice is yours……or maybe not!
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