Autobianchi A112: Italy’s Mini

Fiat allegedly leant on Vespa, not least by apparently threatening to get into scooter manufacture itself if Vespa went ahead with its car.

In the end, it succeeded in banishing construction of the Vespa 400 to France – where it eventually sank, largely without trace.

This time, though, Fiat decided to get even rather than get angry.

It had the means to do so – to take the fight to BMC’s Italian proxy by offering its own front-drive small car.

Having already developed a pioneering transverse engine installation with end-on gearbox, for the Autobianchi Primula, the firm’s engineers felt comfortable with front-wheel drive cars.

When BMC’s Mini started competing on Fiat Group’s home turf, the Italian giant returned fire with the Autobianchi A112

In 1966, while pressing on with a front-drive replacement for the Fiat 1100, engineering boss Dante Giacosa’s team accordingly decided to extrapolate a smaller model from the same basic mechanical layout.

The Mini was the acknowledged target, and the new model, to replace the 600 and 850, was intended to be no longer than the 10ft 5in 500 Giardiniera estate – a target it missed by about two inches.

Against Giacosa’s instincts, it was decided to have subsidiary Autobianchi make the car, in relatively small numbers, while Fiat would offer the same mechanicals clothed in a more capacious body.

The Autobianchi A112 Abarth’s alloy-head ‘four’, with the radiator to one side

Coded X1/2, the Autobianchi emerged at the autumn 1969 Turin Salon as the A112.

Its Fiat sibling, project X1/4, only arrived in April 1971, as the 127.

Common to all three models was strut front suspension and an independent rear, using a transverse leaf spring and upper arms.

It was a cheap, compact and elegant solution, and one that eliminated the need for a rear anti-roll bar.

Whereas the 128 had a new single-overhead-cam engine, the A112 and 127 used the 903cc Sport version of the pushrod Fiat 850 power unit, mated to a smaller and lighter gearbox.

The Autobianchi A112 Abarth has some sporty touches

But if the A112 was broadly conventional in its engineering, it was contemporary in its body design: the crisp little hatch featured a tailgate and a fold-flat rear seat, a layout then unique in its class.

The style, with a modest bustle added at the last minute, was a happy one: neat, unornamented and not overly austere.

This was all just as well, because the Autobianchi – latterly badged as a Lancia in some countries – was destined to be a long-running success story for Fiat.

Manufacture continued until October 1986, through seven series, and production amounted to 1,245,274 units, including a peppy, bigger-engined Abarth version introduced in late 1971.

The Autobianchi A112 Abarth’s interior includes map pouches on the doors and a perforated black headlining

With so many made, the A112 soon became a familiar sight on the roads across Europe, especially in France, where it was sold by dynamic importer André Chardonnet.

Never, though, was the little car marketed in the UK, a state of affairs that might well tempt British enthusiasts to dismiss these Autobianchis as mere marginalia.

Sampling an early Abarth and a later Elegant suggests this to be a grave misjudgement: the A112 is a fine car.

Nicolas Cheyrouze’s 1973 Abarth is a Series II model, so it boasts the original, longer-stroke 982cc Abarth engine, delivering 58bhp at 6600rpm.

The Autobianchi A112 Series IV got a full-width grille and bigger tail-lights

In single-tone beige, it looks discreet and tasteful, lacking as it does the matt-black bonnet and rear panel that could be specified.

If this understatement recalls that of the Mini Cooper, the interior is well ahead of the BMC/BL game – although in fairness Innocenti made considerable efforts to give its own Minis a more upmarket cockpit.

With its two large, round, white-on-black dials, the dashboard is so very Italian, and in SII form features padded inserts and a centre console with three vertical-stacked auxiliary dials – smart, even if you can’t read the gauges very easily.

The rally-style reclining check seats are nicely supportive and have cheerful fabric inserts with well-stuffed horizontal pleats; they are good chairs, far more comfortable than those in a British 1275GT Mini, and each seat has a neat little moulded tray beside it.

The Autobianchi A112 Series IV Elegant’s brown plastic trim represents a typically Italian approach for the era

A sharper cam, raised compression ratio and twin-choke Weber carb mean that the engine’s specification ticks all the right boxes – and with a nitrided crank and forged pistons it was clearly designed not to blow up in the hands of over-exuberant Italian boy-racers.

In the Cheyrouze car it has been balanced and is a lovely, smooth little powerpack – zinging up through the revs with real urgency, while being torquey enough (helped by low gearing) to pull well in top.

There is a sharp-ish clutch and a fairly ropey gearchange: rubbery, vague and with a first cog that is sometimes difficult to engage.

Once in the groove you get used to it, and at least there’s a decent round gearknob.

The Autobianchi A112’s peppy 965cc engine returns 50mpg

As is only reasonable to demand, the rack steering is quick, with decent heft, enhanced by a smart, leather-rimmed alloy wheel.

You sit relatively high and benefit from a comfortable and confidence-inspiring driving position as you explore the Abarth’s comportment.

There’s instant turn-in – no running wide, no fat on the handling. Nicolas sounds a note of caution, all the same: as in a Peugeot 205 GTI, he says, if you lift off mid-corner the car is likely to change ends.

Maybe. But you can at least modulate matters with an exemplary braking system: the servo disc/drum set-up with front-rear balance valve is well dosed and progressive, with a pedal action that is neither too firm nor too soft.

No matt-black bonnet on this Autobianchi A112 Abarth

The final colouring of the Autobianchi’s complexion is a ride that is firm without being Mini-like sharp or bouncy.

Any special tweaks for the Abarth? No, all A112s share the same set-up, including a front anti-roll bar.

Turning to Vincent de Fresquet’s ’79 Series IV Elegant, you have a right to feel disappointed: plasticky facelifts inside and out, plus a mild 48bhp from the newly enlarged 965cc engine suggest this mid-life A112 will be flabbily off the boil.

Whatever you think about the full-width grille and bigger tail-lights, however, the exterior is less clumsy than that of the heavily plastic-clad later series.

The Abarth version of the Autobianchi A112 was announced in September 1971

Inside, it’s all very late-’70s Fiat, with square-head window-winders, rounded-corner square dials and hard plastics, bringing back memories of Fiat Mirafioris I’d rather forget.

But, again, you sit high and comfortable, in adequately supportive seats; the feel is sporting and reassuring.

In the back you find yourself quite upright.

From the Series IV onwards, the A112 was homologated as a five-seater thanks to clever hollowed-out rear window sills that gave 1½in extra width on either side, plus a squarer cut to the roofline that made it higher by 2cm.

The Autobianchi A112 was popular in Europe, however it’s all but unknown in the UK

All the same, there isn’t a lot of headroom or legroom: with the driver’s seat pushed back, knees are splayed and it’s difficult to get out.

There’s less room than in a Mini, in other words, and unlike in the BMC offering there is no stowage space under the seat and no door bins.

Take to the road and there is the same firm, agreeable, fairly quick steering as found in the Abarth; on reflection, it has a bit less incision than a Mini, but again there’s a pleasantly thick-rimmed wheel.

Even with just 48bhp the engine seems throatily sporty, inciting you to give it a go.

The Autobianchi A112 Series IV is tight in the back

It is insistent and linear, and hits 65-70mph swiftly; there is plenty of low-down torque, but it is less relaxed than a later, high-geared Mini can be.

Gearing, indeed, feels on the low side; unsurprisingly, top was raised for the Series V Elegant, which carried on with a four-speed transmission.

Not that the engine is thrashy and noisy: it’s just that it’s turning over pretty fast. General refinement is, in fact, reasonably impressive.

Verdict? The Elegant is set up for bombing around town – and that’s what it was designed to do, so why complain?

This Autobianchi A112’s single-tone beige paintwork conceals its Abarth modifications

The gearchange is better than on the Abarth but still no paragon: sticky in action, it is nonetheless firm and quite fast, with a close-set gate typical of small Fiats of the time.

The brakes feel wooden at low speeds and need a good lean, but once you are familiar with them you discover that they respond well, with an Alfa Romeo-style solidity.

All things considered, though, I’d be happier with the servo fitted to the first three series of the Abarth.

The sporty Autobianchi A112 Abarth has its auxiliary gauges ahead of the gearlever

Chassis behaviour is largely unchanged. The Elegant holds the road securely, with roll well checked and a neutral stance.

Again the ride is not uncomfortable, but it can get a bit agitated on poor surfaces. Firm, but not bouncily sharp, it adds to the sporty, cobby character of the A112.

It’s a genuine little charmer in this rather unpretentious, non-Abarth format. 

Ten years after its launch the A112 remained a valid proposition: still very endearing, still competent in all the key areas, still with a crisp edge conducive to spirited driving.

For those after a more compact alternative to bigger superminis such as the Fiat 127, Renault 5 or VW Polo, the Autobianchi had a lot going for it. 

The Autobianchi A112 didn’t simply imitate BMC’s Mini; the Italian hatchback was a true pioneer in the supermini class

With its hatchback practicality, additional refinement and ‘proper car in miniature’ feel, the A112 is a better take on the Mini than most of the rivals that followed. And, at 7in longer, it is closer to the spirit of the BMC baby.

That it is what a new Mini could have been is underlined by Innocenti’s decision to go its own way and come up with its Bertone-styled hatchback.

Equally, Mini designer Alec Issigonis was sufficiently unblinkered to regard the A112 as a yardstick when developing his canned 9X Mini replacement.

What a shame that such a quietly significant car should be near-extinct, rust and European scrappage schemes having sent most examples to the junkyard.

Images: Tony Baker

This was first in our July 2012 magazine; all information was correct at the date of original publication

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