Fiat 126, which was the successor of the legendary model 500, was first presented to the public at the Turin Motor Show in October 1972. The design of the then modern square body with an air resistance coefficient of 0.47 was the work of Sergio Sartorelli. Shortly before that, production began in September in his native Italy, specifically at the Cassino plant. 126 they were then also produced in the Sicilian Termini Imerese and Desiu. 500 Nuova, however, was created in parallel until 1975, the station wagon even longer. New? Sure, the first official “Cinquecentem” it was baby mouse! But unlike its successors, it had a classic concept – the engine at the front and the driven rear wheels.
The little one, which weighed at least 580 kg, received two-circuit brakes, synchronization of a four-speed direct-shift transmission except for the one, the fuel tank with a volume of 21 l was moved backwards. The chassis had transverse arms at the front and a semi-elliptical leaf spring, also placed across. At the back were trailing arms and coil springs.
At the northern neighbors
The well-known production of the 126p type in Poland began in the seventy-third, specifically on June 6. The Warsaw government has expressed interest in licensing the car with the aim of raising the country’s industrial production and raising the living standards of the population. The exchange of the man at the head of the country had its merits: Władysław Gomułka was replaced by Edward Gierek.
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The expansion of the production line in Bielsko-Biala and the construction of a plant in the city of Tychy were one of the largest investments in Poland in the 1970s, so they had big plans north of us with a small car from the very beginning. They were leaving the gate of the plant in Tychy little ones since the mid-1970s.
With a few changes
The modest volume and performance of the rear-mounted air-cooled in-line twin-cylinder has been increased several times over the years. It started at 594 cm3 and 16.9 kW, ie 23 horses, in 1977 a re-drilled unit 652 cm3 / 17.6 kW (24 hp) appeared, but the production of the original was stopped only in the mid-80s, mainly exported. It is necessary to add that the Polish fiatas had a modified chassis compared to the Italian ones, mainly increased ground clearance. However, the technical changes were not great during the long-term production, and the same was true of the visual ones.
Limited editions of Silver, Black, Red and Brown with more luxurious equipment, including head restraints at the front, folding rear side windows and, among other things, an alternator, remained reserved for Western markets. Efforts to modernize first resulted in improved brakes and new wheels in the early 1980s. Gradually, the noise decreased, in June 1983 a new cylinder head and a modified engine block, camshaft and modified ignition (version 650E) appeared.
The original chrome-plated bumpers were replaced with plastic ones in December 1984 (FL version). At that time, a new dashboard found a place in the interior, and the electric starter replaced the old lever mechanical one. The exterior mirrors rounded (basically only one!), The backrest of the rear seat could be folded down. However, the plastic from the outside has been used by the Italian Personal model since the end of 1976. A fog lamp and reversing light soon appeared at the stern. However, cars with older parts were available until 1988, the warehouses had to be emptied first.
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Liquid
FSM has long offered only a two-door variant. In April 1987, she came up with the Bis version, which had a folding third door and a liquid-cooled horizontal engine 704 cm3 / 18.5 kW (25.2 hp). It was its assembly that allowed greater variability in the back. However, the bis with ridge steering instead of the original worm gear lasted only four years on offer. “Airbags” the Bis inherited larger ventilation grilles on the sides. July 1992 brought changes to the 0.65 liter engine, which managed to burn unleaded gasoline with 95 octane. Other and last body changes came in September 1994, when the EL model appeared with parts from Sixteenth century including steering wheel and gear lever. Fifty-six received electronic ignition.
In January 1997, the exhaust system even had a catalytic converter installed (ELX version), before which it did not have one at all. It could thus meet the Euro 1 emission standard. The last modernization was represented by headrests as standard and at the rear (1998). Rarely seen was the Bosmal convertible, which was created in the number of 507 pieces, the applicant could pay extra for higher engine power (22 kW / 30 hp). For the German client, the company Pop 2000 converted to open versions of Bisy, the conversion was performed on about five hundred cars.
Prototypes
Other modifications remained only in the prototype phase. Bombel pick-ups with laminate superstructures were born from 1974 to the second half of the 1980s. They carried 300 kg, were used in FSM factories for in-house transport of materials and in the sports department as service cars. The Maluchy drove rallies. Long (1975) had a wheelbase stretched by ten centimeters, ie from 1.84 to 1.94 m. Like the station wagon (1976-1977), it increased to 3.3 m and carried up to 1000 l of cargo.
The attempt to equip the truck with front-wheel drive (type NP, several prototypes in 1978-1981) turned out to be similar. In the 1980s, due to the Polish fuel crisis, the installation of a diesel engine was considered. The Japanese liquid-cooled four-cylinder Kubota 0.8 l had 16.2 kW (22 hp). But then the value of the yen increased and imports lost their meaning.
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The 126 Giardiniera station wagon was created in Italy. A prototype of the 126 City Michelotti body shop from Turin was built on mechanical groups in 1974. It attracted attention with a single pair of sliding doors. Cavaletta (1976) was created directly by the Italian carmaker in style Mini Moke, similar to the Minimaxi body shop Moretti looked more mature and made it into small series production (1977-1980). In Poland, the LPT military six-wheeler and the Wszędołaz crawler were born again. The Wader from the early 1990s had a Fibra Studio laminate body. Metal-Incar eventually built a maximum of forty.
(In) security
For many, the Fiat 126 was the first car they ever drove. And there would certainly be a number of those for whom he was unfortunately the last. Barrier test conducted by the German magazine Auto, motor und sport ended tragically. It was completed by an even older chrome model. in addition from Italian production. However, the results of the frontal impact without overlap were devastating.
The cracked seat belt holder caused the manikin’s head to pierce the windshield, which would be fatal to a living person. The front hood, under which the luggage compartment was hidden, was short and could not absorb kinetic energy even at 40 km / h. A reserve and a battery had to fit upright across. The bikes were better with the luggage, there was room for 55 l at the front, but at 110 at the rear and the rear bench could still be folded down, so the two-member crew could load up to 480 l.
The target of jokes
Not only the safety, but also the reliability of the Polish Fiat 126p was poor. Many owners have been convinced of it. The bad tongues even claimed that their manuals were thicker than other types of cars because bus timetables were inserted for safety. Compared to more modern minivans “One hundred and twenty-six” does not brake or turn.
The tiny Polish Fiat remained a frequent target of ridicule. A popular joke, for example, was how the owner wanted to show the toy car to a friend. At the roar of the engine, he drives forwards and backwards several times, then frantically describes a few small wheels, and only then goes forward. And the cause of the unusual start? A dandelion trapped in the door, the stem of which the car could not tear, therefore had to be twisted.
Almost three decades
Nickname Maluch (Czech literally „Maold child “, “something small” or simply “Little one”) were given to the car by our northern neighbors. It has spread so much that it has even become an official name since 1997. It was also called a Polish Trabant or a shopping bag on wheels. The cart was one of the symbols of socialist Poland and played a key role in its motorization. The car, which, despite its miniature dimensions (it was at least 3.05 m long, 1.38 m wide and 1.3 m high) often replaced the function of a family car, is remembered by a number of Poles with a certain nostalgia, even though they had to do it for several years wait and the application was still approved by the competent authorities.
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More or less believable stories about how many passengers and how much cargo the Fiat was able to carry are kept in circulation to this day. The author of the article was also convinced of them, his relatives traveled a short distance in four people. However, he himself did not share their enthusiasm in the only way in the back seat. But that doesn’t mean anything at all. The square mini with a mostly bubbling two-cylinder, despite its considerable vices, including the absence of usable luggage space, simply cannot be missed.
Happy End
At the beginning of the 21st century, the obsolete Fiat 126 could no longer keep up with the competition or the increasingly stringent standards. The last specimen saw the light of day in a factory in Bílsko-Bělá on September 22, 2000, after twenty-seven years. The final thousandth series in red or yellow bore the distinctive name Happy End. It was numbered, the last piece was taken over by the Fiat factory museum in Turin. Less than 3.32 million units were built in Poland, with the vast majority ending up at home.
But he also imported to the former Czechoslovakia and other socialist countries of the time, such as Hungary and even Cuba. It was very popular in Australia, where it was sold as FSM Niki, Ireland, Great Britain and Latin America. He earned a nickname everywhere, or even a few.
While in Italy it was replaced in 1980 by the first Panda, the Polish plant with the original name FSM (Fabryka Samochodów Małolitrażowych) also supplied Western markets. Including that on the Apennine Peninsula, of course. The original Italian Fiat 126 without a small p, which had white turn signals instead of orange, was produced over 1.35 million. Total production exceeded 4.67 million pieces.
Also in Austria and Yugoslavia
A lesser-known fact is that a small number, namely less than 2.1 thousand of these cars, also came from the workshops of the Austrian company Steyr-Puch. It installed an engine of its own design, an air-cooled boxer 643 cm3 / 18.4 kW (25 hp), in the supplied bodies. But these cars are out “Eastern Empire” practically did not get. The same was true of the Licensing Stops of Kragujevac, Serbia, which were intended exclusively for the republics of the former Yugoslavia.
In the Polish production program, the Fiat 126p was to replace a similarly simple, but significantly more modern Cinquecento model with a concept “Everything in front”, but he only had a short seven-year career (1991-1998) and replaced his predecessor only in Western markets. True, Tychy was made in place of the toddler Bis. In fact, it became the rightful successor of the Type 126 Six hundred (1997-2010).
Zdroje: archive auto.cz, Motor1, Wikipedia, Auto motor und sport, Auto World Press
Photo: Fiat, archiv FSM
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