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Styling Icons: Fiat Barchetta

The Barchetta was developed by Fiat between 1990 and 1994, making its official market debut in 1995. It is a small front-wheel drive sports car, underpinned by the same chassis as the first generation Fiat Punto. At first, it featured a 1.8-liter engine, with 130 hp, 164 Nm of torque, and a first for a Fiat production car, variable valve timing.
Fiat Barchetta 8 photos
Photo: Simon Kern via Flickr
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However, what powered it, or when or where it was made are all irrelevant details, as its main selling point stems from the fact that it is a joy to look at, and while its proportions betray its front-wheel driven nature, it is still a very sporty car, with an excellent chassis, and only 1,056 kilos to lug about, thus achieving the benchmark sprint in 8.9 seconds.

Now, back to the styling. This car is unusual, in that it has the classic and well-regarded ‘coke bottle shape’, with an edge running along the side of the body, showing its curvy nature. The front is very clean, with excellently-proportioned headlights, and a very small grille opening. At the back, it features five individual lights, one of which is the third brake lights, which is placed atop the bootlid, getting its own little styling details.

As a package, the Barchetta (Italian for little boat) was flawed by poor reliability, a flimsy interior where normal-sized adults could never get comfortable, and the lack of a turbocharged version, which its roofed sister car, the Coupe, got. However, if you want a car which looks as good today as it did when it first came out, the Fiat Barchetta is a very cheap, stylish and fun entry into the world of drop-tops.
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