In the early 70 Seat, hand Fiat, put within the reach of Spanish motorists an excellent coupe in which most of the elements that so many years had been waiting for our market were present: a sport in which you could actually travel fast, practical and highly attractive body moved by a mechanical engine with double overhead cam shaft, a separate supply for each cylinder (Coupe 1600), five-speed and braking equipment with four discs.

Probably the Barcelona Motor Show 1970 go down in history for being the protagonist of the official presentation of Seat 124 Sport 1600. Until that year the sporting activities of all domestic production remained at the 850 Sport Coupe and Spider thereof Seat the Mini 1275 GT AUTHI the Alpine A110 and the R-TS Renault and Simca Rally GT. Vehicles undoubtedly attractive, each in its own way, but in general a quite far end performance of promising new Seat with engines of 1600cc, its head with dual overhead and power by two twin carburettors Weber announced a performance of 110 hp, a figure of power, except for Dodge, no one in those years was made available to the Spanish motorist. These charged 110 horses even more important if one considers that had to pull a set whose final weight was slightly below 1,000 kilos. In other words, Seat offered the possibility of shooting in a nice coupe with a power to weight ratio of 9 kilograms per horse to arrange for anyone at that time of 243,500 pesetas to use them in buying a car. A privilege that until then was reserved for a lucky few who had been able to buy cars like the Alfa Romeo 1750 GT Veloce, the BMW 1600 GT and some other European coupé, because to lose 9 kg / CV had to go brands price much like Porsche, Maserati, Ferrari, etc.

With 31 years completed the 124 Sport Coupe 1600 he has surprised us by their good gait. Specifically, the unit tested a 1600 belonging to Alberto Pérez González perfectly preserved and the engine untouched, with some little detail regarding units series as body side door commissioned by its first owner, a senior manager Seat and tires 185 / 70-13 instead of 165-13, has allowed us to appreciate its qualities and defects.
Naturally a great series coupe inside we found many luxurious details, predominantly plastic all around us. Despite this, when entering the Sport we find an environment that does not lack sportsmanship, achieved thanks to low seats, driving two spokes and rim imitating wood (practically the same as the 850 Sport Coupe), the dashboard with a hood featuring speedometer, tachometer, fuel level, oil pressure, water temperature and clock. The driving position is not particularly good, and the pedals are close to the seat forcing out the shrunken legs if you do not want to stay far away from the steering wheel. Another point that immediately catches the eye is the great light that permeates inside, due to the large glazed surface. It is also appreciated the space for the rear seats since, although no trip back as a tourist, can acomodrse two adults, something rare in most coupes of his time. The reality is that the Fiat Style Center did a good job when designing this coupé whose forms may miss them a little personality, but they knew really well solve its sporty image with practicality.
The first contact with the controls leaves a good impression; smooth clutch drive direction Chunky standing and excellent touch of the shift lever. Commissioning with cold engine requires a little patience until the engine has taken a bit of temperature and two double bodies begin to function without the help choke. From this moment the engine’s revs easily allowing even circulate smoothly, while recognizing that the independent power supply to each cylinder starts to operate really well above 3,500 rpm. Accuracy and ease of handling of the shift lever and the willingness of the engine to lap up encourage squeeze 110 hp that we have under the hood. In the first marches increases laps are flashing, appreciating the Sport Coupe still does very well against most of the cars circulating around us. If we hurry the engine to 6,400 rpm, regime which achieves its maximum power quickly reach 120 km / h in 3rd, 160 in 4th and up to 180 in 5th realizing good chance the car to move freely in any type of road. In modern expressways we notice that the 5th us falls a bit short, as its 28.2 km / h development forced to turn to the high engine turns. A less rapid change in areas the car moves with great agility, even if we do not often resort to the gear lever.
The behavior of the Sport 1600 you were quite critical, especially the lack of capacity of the rear axle to digest the irregularities of the road and the number of horses available. Today, with a much better paved roads, the rear axle does not have to work so hard and usually Coupé maintains its natural behavior in a car loaded with more weight on the front axle; slight understeer its front end at the entrance to the curves and tendency to oversteer, easily controllable, off if abused power in lower gears. In any case, the basatidor is slightly below the potential of DOHC, remaining half between the behavior of a sedan and a sports due to their suspensions scheme and a relatively soft tared. As for the brake system, which they also made some criticism at the time, the reality is that the 4 assisted disks perform quite well with their mission. The pedal has good touch, are sufficiently assisted and the car stops on reasonable spaces, although the size of the disks is a fair bit if abused them in tacking areas, but it is a car made 30 years ago met well its purpose. Perhaps the point where most over the years is the direction note, whose accuracy and information is quite far from that achieved with a good zipper.
In general the 124 Sport 1600 offers a behavior and a lot more sport than many other cars of its time performance, while recognizing that in those years other manufacturers, especially the British and the Italians, offered more personal bodies and racks something better. In any case, over the years he has been in charge to revalue forms 1600 124 Sport boasts clean lines predominating simplicity and elegance. Long bonnet with clean panels, door pillars and the very thin front windshield and a mouth on her four headlamps are housed.
The behavior of the Sport 1600 you were quite critical, especially the lack of capacity of the rear axle to digest the irregularities of the road and the number of horses available. Today, with a much better paved roads, the rear axle does not have to work so hard and usually Coupé maintains its natural behavior in a car loaded with more weight on the front axle; slight understeer its front end at the entrance to the curves and tendency to oversteer, easily controllable, off if abused power in lower gears. In any case, the basatidor is slightly below the potential of DOHC, remaining half between the behavior of a sedan and a sports due to their suspensions scheme and a relatively soft tared. As for the brake system, which they also made some criticism at the time, the reality is that the 4 assisted disks perform quite well with their mission. The pedal has good touch, are sufficiently assisted and the car stops on reasonable spaces, although the size of the disks is a fair bit if abused them in tacking areas, but it is a car made 30 years ago met well its purpose. Perhaps the point where most over the years is the direction note, whose accuracy and information is quite far from that achieved with a good zipper.