Fiat 127 D

The Fiat 127 D was the diesel version of the Fiat 127 small car, and the first small car to take a diesel engine of only 1,301 cubic centimetres, the smallest diesel in the world at the time. In 1980 Fiat was planning a small diesel that could stand up to the petrol engines of rival small cars while cutting fuel use and running costs, which in those years were made worse for diesel cars by a special surtax. The smallest diesel then on sale was the 1,500 cc unit of the Volkswagen Golf D. Fiat built the new engine from the block of the 1,050 cc Brazilian engine designed by Aurelio Lampredi, trying it first on the Fiat 147 L, whose sturdier body could take the vibration. It was an indirect-injection four-cylinder in-line unit with a pre-chamber, a compression ratio of 20 to 1, 45 CV and 76 newton metres of torque, and the car reached almost 130 kilometres an hour. It became the second best selling diesel car after the Ritmo D, thanks to its low price and running costs. A restyle in 1983 brought the new Fiat logo, better finish, a standard brake servo and a fifth gear. Production ended in 1987, and the engine lived on in the Uno D and Panda D.