The mission was to compete against the most important marques in the executive saloon segment. For this reason, in 1969, after five years of development, the Fiat 130 was born. A year from the launch, however, the saloon’s sales were struggling to take off, due to the design—perhaps a tad outdated—and the diffidence of potential buyers, who didn’t consider the Turin marque prestigious enough for the production of premium cars. In March 1971, the 130 Coupé was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show, strongly advocated for by Gianni Agnelli and designed by Pininfarina—more specifically by Paolo Martin, father of the Lancia Beta Montecarlo and the Rolls-Royce Camargue (to mention a few).
It was simplicity that guided his pencil, as it often happens with timeless masterpieces. Fiat’s new creature came into the world showing off a stylistically original minimalism: zero frills and only a few, taut lines wisely traced for aesthetic purposes, as well as mechanical and structural. For instance, due to the raised position of the engine, the front box was rather cumbersome and compromised the harmony of the profile. Martin decided to lengthen the nose and bend it downwards to make the profile more pleasing to the eye. Likewise, the character line running along the side was meant to make it look slimmer. The result was a streamlined body, with a total length of 484 cm—9 cm longer than the saloon. The sharp profile was complemented by the 14” Cromodora rims that, at the time, were considered oversized. The head and tail lights, slightly oversized, lent the front and rear view a feeling of solidity.
The 130 Coupé was therefore created nearly from scratch, with no reference to the saloon or its predecessor, the 2300 Coupé, built a decade prior by Ghia following completely different stylistic trends.
Production was split between the Fiat Rivalta factory (body) and the Pininfarina factory (painting and assembly), and each vehicle was entrusted to a driver tasked with testing its proper functioning. Fiat spared no expenses for this coupé, and the first sales results were promising. The price of 4,950,000 liras, cheaper than the German competition, initially tempted the sceptics and stole more than a few customers from Mercedes and BMW. Fiat was on the right path, but due to the 1973 oil crisis the three-litre segment saw a drastic decrease in orders, and the 130 Coupé followed suit. It lasted on the market until 1977, with 4,500 vehicles produced, 980 of which had manual transmission. Virtually a limited series.