Fiat 1200

Fiat 1200 was the name of three distinct models produced by the Italian car manufacturer Fiat, all based on Fiat 1100 mechanicals. The first two were introduced in 1957 and replaced the TV, or Turismo Veloce, variants at the top of the 1100 range: the 1200 Granluce, an upmarket small four-door saloon derived from the 1100, and the 1200 Spyder, an update of the earlier 1100 TV Trasformabile two-door roadster. The Granluce was shown at the Turin Motor Show in November 1957 with a new 1221 cc engine of 55 PS, a bored-out version of the old 1100 engine that Simca had used in France since 1948. It had a wider windscreen, larger side windows and a rear panoramic window, hence its name, which Fiat's English sales material translated as full-light, and it took on the fins and longer boot of the 1958 1100. About 400,000 Granluces were built before it ended in September 1961, and the 1200 Trasformabile and Spyder gave way in 1959 to the Pininfarina-designed 1200 Cabriolet.