The Fiat 126 is a rear-engined city car that Fiat built and marketed from 1972 until 2000 in a single generation. It replaced the Fiat 500 and used much of its mechanical layout, but with a larger body that seated four. Most examples were made in Poland as the Polski Fiat 126p, where the car became a national icon under the nickname Maluch.
Fiat 126 at a glance
| Production | 1972–2000 |
|---|---|
| Also called | Polski Fiat 126p, Maluch, FSM Niki |
| Replaced | Fiat 500 |
| Replaced by | Fiat Cinquecento |
| Layout | rear engine, rear-wheel drive |
| Engine | 594 cc and 652 cc air-cooled twin |
| BIS engine | 704 cc water-cooled flat-twin |
| Power | 23 hp (17 kW) |
| Seats | four |
| Built in | Italy, Poland (Tychy, Bielsko-Biała), Yugoslavia, Austria |
| Total production | about 4.7 million |
based on one source
History of the Fiat 126
Origins and design
The 126 shared its wheelbase and much of the mechanical underpinnings and layout with the Fiat 500. Its bodyshell, revised and slightly larger, was designed by Sergio Sartorelli with improved safety and interior space. The extra room came partly from moving the starter from the top of the engine bellhousing to its side, which allowed the bulkhead and rear seat to move back by about 10 cm; the roof was also lengthened to give rear passengers more headroom. Fiat introduced the car in October 1972 at the Turin Auto Show.
Engines
At first the 126 used a 594 cc air-cooled twin. At the end of 1977 capacity rose to 652 cc when the bore increased from 73.5 to 77 mm. Claimed power stayed at 23 hp (17 kW), but torque rose from 39 to 43 N·m. Cars with the 594 cc engine were still being built in early 1983. The 652 cc unit was later used in the Fiat Panda 30, but there it was mounted in front and drove the front wheels.
The 126 BIS
In 1987 FSM introduced the BIS, produced until 1991. Replacing the air-cooled engine with a horizontally mounted, water-cooled 704 cc flat-twin of 19 kW (26 hp) made room for a rear hatchback and extra cargo space. The BIS used some parts from the Fiat Cinquecento. For a brief period in the early 1990s a German company called POP offered convertible versions of the BIS: a basic POP 650 and a more luxurious POP 2000.
Production outside Italy
Fiat built the 126 at its Cassino and Termini Imerese plants until 1979, for a total of 1,352,912 cars in Italy. It was also made under licence by Zastava in Yugoslavia. In Austria Steyr Puch assembled 2,069 cars through 1975 as a successor to the successful Puch 500, and in Greece an attempt to produce a small car called DIM, based technically on the 126, ended after ten examples.
Polski Fiat 126p
From 1973 to 2000 the Fabryka Samochodów Małolitrażowych built the car in Bielsko-Biała and Tychy as the Polski Fiat 126p; some 3.3 million were made there, and total production reached about 4.7 million. Early cars differed from the Italian model in a higher chassis, a modified rear grille and front indicator lenses that were orange rather than clear white. The letter p distinguished the Polish car from the original.
The 1980s brought continuous changes: upgraded brakes and new wheels from Italian Fiat, hazard warning lights, and in 1984 a facelift with plastic bumpers and a new dashboard, the 126p FL. A rear fog light and reversing light were built into the rear bumper in 1985, electronic ignition arrived, and around 1987 an alternator replaced the undersized generator. A further facelift in 1994, using some Cinquecento parts, produced the 126 EL, and the 126 ELX added a catalytic converter. The factory battery had a 35 amp-hour capacity that the small generator struggled to keep charged; fitting the 45 amp-hour battery of the Fiat 125p improved cold starting.
The 126p was exported to many Eastern Bloc countries and for several years was one of the most popular cars in Poland and in Hungary. It also found a minor market in Australia between 1989 and 1992 under the name FSM Niki.
End of the line
Fiat stopped marketing the 126 in 1993 in favour of the front-engined Cinquecento, although Polish production continued until 2000. The Maluch nickname became so popular that in 1997 the manufacturer accepted it as the car’s official name, and badges to match appeared on the rear. In Western Europe the 126 never repeated the success of the 500, because the rear-engined layout had been overtaken by better-packaged front-wheel-drive cars. It was among the last rear-engined small cars made in Europe, outlived there only by the Volkswagen Beetle, and no other such car appeared until the Smart Fortwo. In early 2020 Autocar counted its 28-year production run as the twenty-sixth most long-lived single-generation car in history.
Design and features
- Rear-engined layout: the 126 kept the 500’s small air-cooled twin behind the rear axle.
- More interior space: a moved starter and a longer roof gave about 10 cm more room for the rear seat.
- Maluch: the Polish-built 126p became a people’s car and kept the nickname as its official name from 1997.
- BIS hatchback: a water-cooled flat-twin allowed a rear hatch and more cargo space.
- Long life: 28 years of production, with about 4.7 million cars built.
Fiat 126 versions
- 126 (594 cc): the original air-cooled model of 1972.
- 126 (652 cc): larger-bore engine from the end of 1977.
- 126 BIS: water-cooled 704 cc flat-twin with a rear hatchback, 1987–1991.
- 126p FL and EL/ELX: Polish facelifts of 1984 and 1994, the ELX with a catalytic converter.
- FSM Niki: the Australian market version sold from 1989 to 1992.
The 126 followed the Fiat 500 and was replaced by the Cinquecento. Its modern namesake, the Fiat 500 of 2007, is covered separately. More cars are in the Fiat collection.
Sources
- Fiat 126, English Wikipedia: production, engines, BIS, Polish production, end of the line
