After several years without a representative among small convertibles in 1994 Fiat began marketing the Fiat Barchetta as heir to the simplicity and economy of use of the Fiat 850 Spider but with fun and practicality offered by the Fiat X 1/9. Like its predecessors, this new roadster had a design inspired by Ferrari: in this case the 166 MM.
Fiat Barchetta: history and background
But the purposes of the Fiat Barchetta was not only to offer a sporty convertible price economical and fun to drive but, together with the Fiat Coupé, are supposed to have formed a new range of emotional vehicles within manufacturer Fiat. In fact these two vehicles were born called “pizza projects”: the Fiat Barchetta is a result of the project Marinara and Fiat Coupe project Diavolo.
The aesthetics of the Fiat Barchetta was dominated by organic lines emulating some marine animals. The front and rear were characterized by fine lines while highlighting the strong lateral line voltage wave form of sea naturally linking the front to the back and in a way that repeats the waistline.
The base of the Fiat Barchetta was the same as the Fiat Punto but with the wheelbase cut and was the only engine 1.747cc known tetra cylindrical 16v modular family of the Fiat 130 hp at 6,300 rpm (the power figure may vary slightly depending on market). This engine is characterized by the variable opening of intake valves for better relationship between consumption, emissions and performance and promoting the delivery of low-end torque and power at high engine speeds. This engine offered more than 90% of torque available from 2,000 rpm and the Fiat Barchetta allowed reaching 100km / h from standstill in just 9 seconds.
The passive safety of the Fiat Barchetta was committed to progressive deformation zones at the ends of an enhanced platform that had burglar bars on the doors and a ring of high strength tubular reinforcement under the windscreen. All this gave him a torsional rigidity of 50,000 kgm / rad, which means it, was the most robust in its class car.
All these technical innovations employed in the construction of the frame and body of the Fiat Barchetta complemented with airbag driver, seat belts with pretensioners, and switch inertia in the ignition system or the front seats with the sliding resistance accidents. The passenger airbag was optional equipment.
The braking system had four albums and a double cross-linked with checker to ensure control of the vehicle and had an option of ABS with four channels (in limited series was standard equipment). For its part, the suspension employed a MacPherson layout with stiffer spring’s front and rear suspension trailing arms and stabilizer bar.
The interior was chaired by a dashboard large black fully coated waterproof plastic material, but in the bottom of the door and could see inserts painted in the same color of the body. The interior design was so simple and practical and all the elements were at hand. As the digital clock at the bottom of the console could require the driver to move the seat to see clearly their indications.
As a point (very) important update of this aesthetic is that it began manufacturing the car plate 0.9 mm thick (before 0.7 mm) to give more strength to the assembly and to prevent elements such as front hood with praise continuous opening and closing. Another addition was sympathetic and original incorporation of the third brake light in the form of shark dorsal.
No changes other than those named, the production of the Fiat Barchetta definitely ended in June 2005. Luckily, spirit “spider” may be back in 2015 with a product related to the Mazda MX-5. Only time will tell…
Fiat Barchetta: history and background
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