Fiat 130

Fiat 130
1976 Fiat 130 saloon
Overview
Manufacturer	Fiat
Production	1969–1977
Designer	Paolo Martin for Pininfarina (Coupé)
Body and chassis
Class	Executive car
Body style	4-door saloon 5-door station wagon 2-door coupé
Layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Powertrain
Engine	2.8 L V6 (petrol) 3.2 L V6 (petrol)
Transmission	5-speed manual 3-speed automatic
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,720 mm (107.1 in)
Length	4,750 mm (187.0 in)
Width	1,803 mm (71.0 in)
Height	1,473 mm (58.0 in)
Kerb weight	1,550 kg (3,417 lb)
Chronology
Predecessor	Fiat 2300

The Fiat 130 is a large six cylinder executive car produced by Italian car manufacturer Fiat from 1969 to 1977. It was available as a 4-door saloon and as a 2-door coupé.

The saloon was launched at the 39th Geneva Motor Show in March 1969, replacing the previous largest and most exclusive Fiat saloon, the Fiat 2300. It was a thoroughly modern car, with four-wheel independent suspension (torsion bars in the front and coil springs in the rear), standard power steering and four-wheel disc brakes, and was the first Fiat to adopt an alternator instead of a direct-current generator.

The Coupé, based on the same platform, was introduced in March 1971 having been designed by Paolo Martin of Pininfarina, who also manufactured the car. With a unique interior design (adopted in the saloon when it was upgraded to the 130B version which also featured the Coupé's enlarged 3235 cc V6), it featured a button-operated mechanism allowing the driver to open the passenger-side door. In addition to this model, there were two one-off variations built, a 2-door estate named Maremma and a 4-door saloon named Opera.

Production of the saloon ended in 1976, with 15,093 produced. The Coupé continued until the following year, and 4,294 were built in total.

Using the "128 type A" motor as a basis, a new crossflow V6 engine, with a 60° vee angle and rubber-toothed-belt driven twin overhead camshafts was developed for the model by Aurelio Lampredi. It became known as the "130 type A" engine with a capacity of 2,866 cc and a power output of 140 bhp (104 kW; 142 PS) at 5,600 rpm.

The engine was uprated to 160 bhp (119 kW) for 1970, which involved raising the compression ratio from 8.3:1 to 9.0:1, increasing the size of the carburettor choke from 42 to 45 mm and reducing back pressure by extending the portion of the exhaust manifold that used individual pipes on each side of the V format engine. This provided useful performance improvements in a market-segment where relatively new models from Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar north of the Alps were setting an increasingly competitive pace.