The Premier 118 is the saloon Premier Automobiles of Bombay built on the Fiat 124, the small family car Fiat made between 1966 and 1974. The Indian car takes its shape and mechanical layout from the Italian model, so this page describes the design the Premier 118 was based on.
Premier 118 at a glance
| Base model | Fiat 124, 1966–1974 |
|---|---|
| Maker of the base car | Fiat, Turin |
| Indian maker | Premier Automobiles Limited, Kurla, Bombay |
| Chief engineer | Oscar Montabone |
| Body | four-door saloon; estate and two-door variants on the Fiat |
| Gearbox | four-speed, all-synchromesh, taken from the Fiat 1500 |
| Suspension | coil springs at the rear; five-link axle from the 1968 Special |
| Brakes | discs on all four wheels |
| Engines | 1.2-litre four-cylinder; 1.4-litre in the Special and Special T |
| Award | European Car of the Year 1967 |
| Licensed copies | built worldwide, including the Soviet VAZ-2101 / Lada |
Based on one source: the English Wikipedia article on the Fiat 124, the model the Premier 118 was built on. The Indian-built car itself is not covered there, so the page sticks to the design it was based on.
History of the Premier 118
A clean-sheet Fiat
The Fiat 124 was a clean-sheet design by Oscar Montabone, the chief engineer responsible for its development, and used only the all-synchromesh gearbox of the Fiat 1500 from the existing range. It offered a spacious interior, coil spring rear suspension, disc brakes on all wheels and light construction. Introduced in 1966 with a publicity stunt in which a car was dropped by parachute from an aircraft, it won the 1967 European Car of the Year award and replaced the Fiat 1300 in the range.
The range grows
A five-door estate, the 124 Familiare, and the 124 Sport Spider were shown at the Turin motor show in November 1966, and the 124 Sport Coupé followed at Geneva in March 1967; both Sport models used a new 1.4-litre twin-cam engine of 90 PS. In October 1968 came the 124 Special, a better appointed and more powerful version of the saloon with a 1,438 cc overhead-valve engine of 70 PS, a five-link solid rear axle in place of the original three-link layout, an alternator and servo-assisted brakes. Its rectangular grille with four round headlamps made it easy to tell from the standard car.
1970 revisions
At the Turin show in November 1970 Fiat updated the whole saloon and estate range and added the 124 Special T, whose twin-cam 1,438 cc engine gave 80 PS and a claimed 160 km/h. All models gained air outlets in the C-pillar and a split brake circuit, and features such as servo brakes, a reversing light and an alternator became standard throughout. A third round of changes in 1972 raised the standard 1.2-litre engine to 65 PS.
Built around the world
Fiat licensed the 124 for manufacture in many countries, most notably in the Soviet Union, where it became the VAZ-2101 Zhiguli, sold abroad as the Lada. Those Russian derivatives made up the great majority of all 124-based production, which is why the platform is counted among the five best-selling automotive platforms in history. In Italy the 124 was replaced by the Fiat 131 in 1974.
Design and features
- All-synchromesh gearbox: a four-speed unit carried over from the Fiat 1500.
- Modern suspension: coil springs at the rear, with a five-link axle from the 1968 Special onwards.
- Disc brakes all round: unusual in a small family car of the mid-1960s.
- Light and roomy: a spacious interior in a comparatively light body.
- Award-winning: European Car of the Year in 1967.
Premier 118 versions
- 124 saloon: the four-door base car with a 1.2-litre engine.
- 124 Familiare: the five-door estate shown at Turin in 1966.
- 124 Special (1968): 1,438 cc overhead-valve engine, 70 PS, new grille and five-link rear axle.
- 124 Special T (1970): twin-cam 1,438 cc engine of 80 PS.
- 124 Sport Coupé and Sport Spider: two-door models with the 1.4-litre twin-cam engine.
Premier’s better-known model is the Padmini, a Fiat 1100 built in the same Bombay plant. More cars from the maker are in the Premier collection.
Video: A drive in Premier 118 NE car
Video by Karthik Makam on YouTube.
Sources
- Fiat 124, English Wikipedia: design, versions, licensed production
