Seat Ibiza – A German-Italian from Spain

Seat Ibiza: The Spanish company’s first own development gives hope – a pretty small car at prices of around 12,000 Marks.

Unnoticed by many, a partnership that had lasted for over 30 years came to an end in May 1980: Fiat had parted company with Seat – the Spaniards were left with a model range that could only be used to a limited extent. The Ronda, with which they have been trying since last year to achieve sales figures here as well, is nothing more than a modified Fiat Ritmo – accordingly, it was complicated to make it clear to the buyer that he should visit one of the still rare Seat dealers and not the established Fiat dealer.

The Spaniards themselves described their future at the time quite drastically: “We lacked our own technology – we had no plans to develop the products further – we had lost our export markets – we had invested a lot of money in previous years, which we now lacked.”

BACK ON THE SUNNY SIDE WITH THE SEAT IBIZA

Now, four years later, things are looking a little rosier: With the support of the Spanish government, own distribution systems have been set up in the European countries, 32,000 workers have been able to keep their jobs, and the first independent new product, the Seat Ibiza, was presented these days.

Since Barcelona – where the Seat models were built, whereas the group headquarters were in Madrid – was still suffering all too much from the withdrawal of Fiat technologies, the management decided in May 1980 to commission the first self-developed Seat from outside companies – and they immediately employed the development departments of internationally renowned firms: The Italian Giorgetto Giugiaro was chosen for the design, and Porsche had the opportunity to create a 1.2 and a 1.5 litre engine at its development centre in Weissach.

This method was very successful in acquiring – on the basis of cooperation agreements – technology that was eminently suitable as a starting point for a product family of its own.

PORSCHE KNOW-HOW FOR THE SEAT IBIZA

The first kilometres with the Ibiza showed that the involvement of the Porsche engineers had paid off: The 1.2-litre four-cylinder with 60 hp (the 1.5-litre version with 85 hp was not yet available) proved to be extremely agile, already providing plenty of power even at lower revs, and those who know how to use the five-speed gearbox – also developed by Porsche – correctly, reach a top speed of 155 km/h after 16 seconds the 100 km/h limit. The figures for the 25 hp more powerful 1.5-litre Ibiza are 12.2 seconds for the spurt to 100 km/h and 175 km/h.

Porsche has not only ensured that the new Seat engines are spirited, they are also equipped with the latest findings in fuel consumption optimisation: the DIN consumption figures for the 1.2-litre are 4.9 litres (constant speed 90), 6.6 litres (constant speed 120) and 9.0 litres (in the city cycle) – the corresponding figures for the 1.5-litre 4.8/6.4/9.0. All figures refer to 100 kilometres. While the smaller engine gets by on regular petrol, the 85 hp engine requires premium petrol.

The Seat Ibiza was packaged by Giugiaro, the most important and successful designer of the past 15 years. And once again, the Turin native has succeeded in putting a balanced and handsome body on the wheels. The Ibiza looks good from all sides, the slight wedge shape allows for a high boot (which is easy to load via a large tailgate), the short bonnet makes for a pleasantly manageable size, and the short dimensions of just 3.64 metres in length make finding a parking space in crowded city centres appear under a friendlier light.

Fortunately, a large part of the exterior length has also found its way into the interior, but it is less pleasing that Spaniards apparently assume that a driver must not be taller than 1.70 metres. Anyone taller is squeezed behind the steering wheel in such a way that the pleasure of driving is quickly lost. There would still be room enough for an extension of the seat rail, which would give taller people more pleasure in this car. In addition, the steering wheel has been moved too close to the clearly arranged dashboard, but even this minor detail should be solved by the time the car goes on sale in Germany.

However, it is only a few details that somewhat call into question the sensible design of the Seat Ibiza: In principle, the Spaniards and their co-creators have succeeded in creating a car that – provided there is a suitable dealer network – should also sell in significant numbers in Germany.

The Ibiza sits well, drives well, looks good and will most likely be quite cheap: Prices have not yet been fixed (rumour has it that the base price is around 12,000 Marks), but they will certainly be lower than those of comparable Fiat models – Spanish pride alone dictates that.

This text first appeared in the Süddeutsche Zeitung No. 183 on 9 August 1984.

Pictures  SEAT Deutschland GmbH

Author: Jürgen Lewandowski

Jürgen Lewandowski schreibt seit mehr als 40 Jahren über Menschen und Autos - und hat mehr als 100 Bücher veröffentlicht. Traumklassiker: Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Touring Spider und Lancia Rally 037. Eigener Klassiker: Alfa Romeo R.Z. von 1993. View all posts by Jürgen Lewandowski →