Autobianchi Primula
Autobianchi Primula | |
---|---|
I4 (Berlina and Coupé) | |
Transmission | 4-speed manual |
Dimensions | |
Wheelbase | 2,300 mm (91 in)[1] |
Length | 3,785 mm (149.0 in) (Berlina) 3,715 mm (146.3 in) (Coupé)[1] |
Width | 1,578 mm (62.1 in)[1] |
Height | 1,400 mm (55 in) (Berlina) 1,350 mm (53 in) (Coupé)[1] |
Chronology | |
Successor | Autobianchi A111 Autobianchi A112 |
The Autobianchi Primula is a
The Primula was originally available with two or four doors, with or without a rear hatchback, referred to in Italian as "
The Primula was manufactured in the Autobianchi factory in Desio,[4] with production reaching approximately 75,000 before ending in 1970.[2]
Concept
Prior to the Primula, all Fiat Group passenger cars were
Fiat's chief designer, Dante Giacosa, recognized the potential of the concept and sought ways to improve on it - namely by removing the transmission from the sump. This would produce a larger overall powertrain unit but this was not essential in the type of cars Giacosa proposed. In return such cars would be easier to service and repair and benefit from greater refinement and lower noise levels. Fiat was cautiously accepting of Giacosa's proposal and decided to experiment without risking damage to the image of its popular Fiat-branded cars. Thus the Autobianchi Primula emerged—a car marketed under a less crucial nameplate, for which it was an entry into a whole new class of vehicles.[2] The key to Giacosa's design was a compact concentric clutch release mechanism using a hydraulic piston mounted inside a hollow gearbox input shaft, thus doing away with the traditional external clutch lever and release arm and the internal clutch thrust bearing. This allowed the powertrain to be short enough to fit across the Primula's engine bay while allowing for the required steering angles and the determined overall width. With the transmission mounted end-on to the engine and the final drive therefore offset from the car's centre line, the Primula had unequal-length driveshafts.
Driveline
Initially, the Primula was fitted with the 1221 cc engine from the
The Primula's particular configuration of front wheel drive and transverse engine, but with a gearbox on the end of the engine, ingenious Fiat-designed clutch release mechanism and unequal length drive shafts, rather than a gearbox in the sump like the Mini, has become universal among front-wheel-drive cars. The suspension used a single wishbone and upper transverse leaf spring at the front (which eliminated an upper suspension arm pivot and thus allowed space for the gearbox), with a "dead" axle at the rear. The Primula is thus a car design of far greater significance than is often realised, as its design influence spread, far beyond even the mainstream high volume Fiats such as the 128 and the 127 of the late 1960s which used its driveline layout combined with MacPherson struts (which also allowed space for the gearbox); to every front wheel drive transverse engined car in production today.
Reception
The Primula was favorably received in the marketplace and came second in the 1965
References
- ^ ISSN 0463-6589.
- ^ a b c d "The Autobianchi information site". carsfromitaly.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2005. Retrieved 3 August 2006. (accessed via the Wayback Machine)
- ^ a b c "Autobianchi Primula". Classic hatchbacks - 4Car Feature - from Channel 4. Archived from the original on September 9, 2006. Retrieved 3 August 2006.
- ^ "Storia". autobianchi.org (in Italian). Registro Autobianchi. Archived from the original on 24 August 2006. Retrieved 4 August 2006.
- ^ "Previous winners (1965)". caroftheyear.org. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ "Previous winners (1970)". caroftheyear.org. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
External links
- Contemporary Italian Autobianchi Primula brochures (Berlina and Coupé) at the Registro Autobianchi site (in Italian)
- 1965 Dutch Autobianchi Primula brochure