Fiat Argenta

Manufacturer	FIAT
Main type	Sedan
Production	from 1981  to 1985
Replaces the	Fiat 132
Replaced by	Fiat Croma
Length	4430  m m
Width	1650 mm

The Fiat Argenta is a mid-high-class sedan produced by FIAT from 1981 to 1985 and is the last rear-wheel drive large-series car built by the Turin-based company.

History

At the end of the 1970s, the aging of the 132 (launched in 1972) raises the problem for FIAT to study an heir: for this reason, in May 1981, the Argenta will be born. The financial resources of the Fiat group, however, are at that time concentrated in the design of a new car in the B segment (the future Uno), so there is no possibility of studying a completely new medium-top segment car; so much so that the joint venture with Saab and Alfa Romeo, which will give rise to the Fiat Croma, the Lancia Thema, the Saab 9000 and the Alfa Romeo 164.

In the meantime, therefore, one opts for a deep restyling of the 132, of which the basic structure is preserved (platform, passenger compartment). Instead, fronts and tails are redesigned (both quite tall and square); is completed by the rectangular headlights (very large rear ones), the massive bumpers and plastic side bands, the thick shiny profiles and the abundant chrome frames. Even the interiors are completely redone, with a seat cover of a certain tone. Fully recovered from the 132, however, the outdated mechanical in rear-wheel drive, combined with the motor located in front position and rear axle with rigid axle. The derivation is so narrow that the design type code is "132-G".

At the debut the new sedan , named Argenta (as a tribute, it was said, to Argenta Campello , young daughter of Maria Sole Agnelli), available in "1600" versions (1585 cm³ , 98 CV DIN); "2000 ie" (1995 cm³, 122 CV DIN) and "2500 Diesel " (2445 cm³, 72 CV DIN, recognizable by the other models in the range for swelling on the front engine hood ), is warmly welcomed in Italy and coldly abroad .

Despite the rich range of accessories (power steering and standard control panel on the "2000 ie"), the new Fiat sedan was outdated, plagued by an uninspiring aspect, by modest road holding in the wet and by lacklustre performance at in the face of sustained consumption. Starting from October 1981 the Argenta was produced under license in the Zastava factories of Kragujevac . 

In 1983 the model underwent restyling: the plastic material of the bumpers and side bumper strips becomes semi-glossy (and without chrome frames), while the front grille, which incorporates the new FIAT logo with 5 oblique bars, has a different reticulation. Front, bumpers and bands are finally squared off. These changes have the merit of breaking away stylistically from the aesthetics of the ancestor 132 and making the car more "important", without being able to hide the age of the project. There is also the launch of the unpublished (for the Turin-based company) turbodiesel version. The new range includes the "100" (1585 cm³, 98 CV DIN), the "110" for foreign markets which in practice was a 2 Liter carburettor (1995 cm³, 113 hp), the "120 ie" (1995 cm³, 122 CV); the "D" (2445 cm³, 72 hp) and the "Turbo D" (2445 cm³, 90 HP), the first FIAT sedan with a turbocharged diesel engine.

In June 1984 the "SX" ("VX" for foreign markets) was also launched, equipped with the 4-cylinder four-cylinder unit of 1995 cm³ equipped with a volumetric compressor and a maximum power of 135 hp. However, it is a belated move to support a model that is by now obsolete, which in 1985 leaves the price list without any regrets, replaced by Croma.