Top 10: Forgotten Italians
There have been plenty of brilliantly successful Italian cars launched over the years, models that have either sold in huge numbers or have gone on to achieve iconic status – particularly amongst British enthusiasts. And then there’ve been others that have sunk without a trace. Well, almost…
So we thought we’d celebrate some of the Italian-badged underdogs that failed to make it big. Not all of them were officially sold in the UK, but even those that were have long since been forgotten by your average Brit. The sad part is, not all of them were terrible. Let us know your thoughts!
Paul Guinness, Contributor
Alfa Romeo 33 4x4 Estate
When Alfa Romeo began selling the 33 Estate in Britain in 1985, it went the unusual route of offering it only as a four-wheel drive, leading Alfa to boast: ‘It’ll drive other estates up the wall’. It was no off-roader in the Land Rover sense, but a useful vehicle when weather or road conditions got bad. The problem for Alfa, however, was that Britain’s small army of 4x4 estate buyers preferred the Japanese competition (Subaru’s 4WD DL Estate was £300 cheaper), leaving the all-wheel drive 33 as a forgotten oddball in Alfa’s UK line-up.
francdever on 23 May 2016
Hi, i was living in italy in those years and i cannot remember a fiat 133 or anything that looks like the car in the photo. I think it was a Seat that was never sold in Italy, if it was sold in Italy it must have been sold in very small quantities. More likely it was built and sold in Spain as Seat.
Fiat named with higher numbers like 130-131-132 used to be big cars, the higher the number, the bigger the car. Of course the 500 and 600 are not from the same period.
And of course i could be wrong, it was a while ago.
Kind regards
Giuseppe
PG1234 on 23 May 2016
Hi Giuseppe
Yes, as the article says, the 133 was a SEAT built in Spain - but it was sold in Britain (for a very short time) as the Fiat 133.
The 133 was based around the platform, engine and running gear of the old SEAT 850 (the same as the Fiat 850 but Spanish-built), albeit with all-new bodywork.
The Fiat 133 wasn't a success in the UK and remained on sale for just a few months.
Hope this helps?
Best wishes
Paul
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