Fiat 1300

The Fiat 1300 was one of a pair with the Fiat 1500, a series of front-engine, rear-drive automobiles that Fiat manufactured and marketed from 1961 to 1972, replacing the Fiat 1400 and the Fiat 1200 coupe, spyder and cabriolet. The two were essentially identical except for engine displacement, as their names indicate, and were offered in saloon, estate, convertible and coupe body styles that shared little mechanically with one another apart from the 1500 engine. They were conventional cars with longitudinally mounted front engines driving the rear axle through a four-speed manual gearbox with a column change. The 1300 had a 1,295 cc overhead-valve engine, and the 1500 offered 75 hp, lightweight construction, front disc brakes and rear alloy drum brakes. From 1964 the 1500 had a longer wheelbase as the 1500 C, whose floorpan was the basis for the Fiat 125. In the Italian range the Fiat 124 replaced the 1300 in 1966 and the Fiat 125 replaced the 1500 a year later. Zastava, Neckar and South African plants assembled them, and the Polish FSO built the Polski Fiat 125p.