Italians at the time were happy driving a non premium brand as the risk of kidnapping was so high… Also, Fiat had always covered the market top to bottom so people weren’t as surprised to see them making the 500 and the glorious Dino Coupe! It’s only us Brits who are so hung up and shortsighted!

I've known about this car for years and have never seen anyone do a review of it. Most people are very dismissive of it, and that's why I like this channel. You have your own opinion and offer refreshing views on cars that have been written off by the automotive press. Also being from the US, I love learning about cars that we never saw here, and how different cars are built and equipped for different markets.

I've always been a fan of 'square' cars rather than curvy cars. Despite this, as a kid I never really hankered after the 130 saloon but looking at it now I'm in awe. It looks absolutely magnificent. To me this is exotica.

Fiats of that era were rusting when new on our forecourt. As a youngster, I remember an early 132 rusting away behind my fathers garage (along with a number of other traded in Fiats). What amazed me at the time was how the little light clusters and dash lights were illuminated by fiber optic cable from one bulb.

One of the most beautiful vehicles ever but it faced the same problems as mass-market brands trying to sell expensive up-market models. It's easier to sell a base-spec Mercedes Benz to a Ford owner than a Ford to a Mercedes Benz owner. Most people aren't going to pay a premium price for a mass-market nameplate.

MacPherson invented the strut suspension for a Chevrolet project in England. When the car was shelved, he left and went to Ford, taking his patent with him. Ford used the struts first on the Consul, followed by Zephyr and Zodiac. Colin Chapman liked the idea because it added lightness, so he modified the design to be used in the rear of Lotus cars. That is one lovely car indeed. Just to show how different things are this side of the pond, this "large" car, with its 107 inch wheelbase is smaller than the smallest domestically produced Chrysler product in 1974, the Dodge Dart/Plymouth Valiant twins, which were amongst the least expensive domestic cars. Back then cars were bought by the pound, and import duties added a bunch to the prices. Still, an unusual and very lovely car indeed

I find this era of Fiat captivating, and intriguing I owned a 1983 Fiat 131 Mirafiori Panorama (estate) the car mechanically was first-rate, the engine was wonderful and magnificent! started the first time every time! very reliable! but was let down by bodywork door panels rusting at the sills steel was made from recycled Russian steel at the time. I replaced the car with a 1985 Fiat Uno 70S 4-door a superb small car! rust/corrosion was sorted out by that year, most cars I've owned since never gave me the same feeling or fun factor!

Never heard of or seen one of these before. You can definitely see the looks of the 131 and 132 that came later.

That grill and twin headlights remind me of late 60s Vauxhall Victor . I read years ago that Hilda Baker (remember her anyone?) had a 130 but not sure if it was a saloon or coupe.

My first car was a Fiat 132 with a very revvy 1800cc dual overhead cam (as I recall it), in any way: It had the same type of "cruise control" (manual, lockable trottle) as the 130 and it was a kamikaze feature; Setting it on a speed on level road meant it would slow down substansially in any uphill but go wild crazy in the next downhill. Fun car on winter roads (snowy - I'm Swedish) with the weight distribution front/rear something like 80/20 (a bit subjective). The italian metal did not like Swedish climate so it slowly desintegrated spreading bit's and pieces of itself in the surroundings as we travelled between home and the univeristy where I studied. Electronics - metallurgy possibly would have been better, atleast for the Fiat.

A friend of mine had a new one when I worked in the Middle East, it had sublimely comfortable blue velour seats, it was smooth, quiet and comfortable. A truly great car.

I was about to buy one like this when I was in the military 43 years ago. Had an errand in town and ended up with a car salesman who had one like this for sale, previously owned by a ship owner. This was on a Friday, so I couldn't fix the finances just then and when I arrived on Monday, luckily it was sold, but I've always liked the sedan and especially the coupe.

When I was a kid there was a timber yard near where we lived. The owner had a silver one of these. I remember it being parked out front every day. It had blue velour seats and tinted glass. I was suprised Fiat made such a posh car. Fast forward 2 or 3 years and it had been relegated to the field at the back of the timber yard along with a Commer PB pickup truck. I went over the fence one evening for a look. The sills and wing tops had vanished and a couple of the doorskins were falling off. There were big rust holes along the top of the windscreen and around the sunroof. I found the whole business quite depressing as presumably did the owner. It had been such a beautiful car and it was only 5 or 6 years old by then. Such a shame. In spite of that I've always had a soft spot for them. Big, comfortable, respectably fast and very classy. Just my kind of motor.

Stunningly beautiful, much more so than the coupe. Absolutely gorgeous car!

Punkah Louver is the correct name for the round vent on the dash. First introduced on submarines, then used on buses and transfered to cars. Just an interesting fact you might like. 😊😊

That mixed strip and dial dash - plus the radio and heater controls - absolute mish mash of fabulous design - wonderful

The 130 was a rare sight on UK roads but I was lucky to see one. However, they were rust buckets. I owned a 132 which is the only car that you could hear rusting while you drove it.

You would be surprised just how many of the coupes are in Australia - running and in good condition. I love their orange interiors and the Ferrari connection engine. They are not small. Quite a lot of it, equates with the Australian standard family car basics, but obviously in a far more upmarket and more engineered way. Melbourne is a good place to see soooo many restored European cars.

Looks like a MK2 Cortina at the back and sounds lovely as well.

What a delicious engine note, LPG makes it all the more of a tempting proposition and I agree, rather that than the coupe version, just for the corpse carrying capacity alone lol

In my 2nd year Italian class for retired people, today we found the expression 'cucire la bocca a qualcuno' (to shut somebody up). I thought...very Mafia-like, and I also thought: HubNut's just reviewed the luxury Fiat with the perfect boot for disposing of grasses (English slang for an informant) - see 5:23. Mamma mia! Che bella macchina. So nice to see one intact apparently not chewed by tin-worm.

Watch The Mechanic from 1972 to see one of these at full chat. A very cool car indeed. Thanks Ian for showing it to us.👍

Ian, in 1982/3, I owned a beautiful 130 Berlina 3200. Metallica Blue with opulently piped tan fabric seats. It was a ‘74 (N reg) model, and I just loved it! One of my regretful mistakes was selling that car; the other was selling a ‘64 Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint that I had in 1974. If only we could rewind the VHS Tape of Life…

I agree never will that sound get old, beautiful sound track.

I think the coupe was one of the most elegant cars of its time and, to me it looks still stunning today. Maybe I need glasses.

About 10 years ago the local auto electricians in my town was working on one. It was rough and I later saw it advertised in Classic Car Weekly for under a grand!

It is so classic, I've never seen befor. Thank you.

This is such a beautiful car, I agree with you that it looks more timeless than the coupé version

I had one too... sorry Ian, I know, but I've owned SO many weird and wonderful cars in my time. Mine was Mediterranean Blue, with the 3.2 engine. I think it ended up with Martin Buckley, but I might be mistaken. Mine had a rotted out exhaust, which was beyond my means to have specially fabricated (Fiat had destroyed spares, possibly out of pique). so I cobbled up a system from aftermarket cherry-bombs, expansion chambers, and cross-pipes about half-way down, which I judged was needed. The outcome was louder than standard, but what a glorious wail, just like a Ferrari ! As a 'spirited' driver back then (I drove everything nine-tenths, everywhere), I can attest that it had excellent handling and grip. In fairness, it wasn't that thirsty either, by comparison with, say, Jaguars of that time. I seem to recall I had ribbed velour seats in matching blue, and chrome bezelled round dials. Mine was one of very few, I imagine, right-hand drive examples, ever made.

My walk to school back in the early 70's took me past the local Fiat dealers, I only ever spotted a couple of 130 saloons and just a single 130 coupe(one of the best ever Pininfarina designs IMO). I seem to recall reading that the engine was deliberately under tuned so as not to upset Ferrari! Sadly I have never seen a 130 saloon or coupe since those school days.

The 132 was my favourite in the 80's. You can see the evolution from 130 to 132/131 in it 👍

Perhaps the duplication of electric window switches and manual winders was because even Fiat themselves didn't trust their own electrics 🤔

In 1990 or so CAR magazine ran a series of articles entitled “Lemons” which gave a brief, tongue in cheek, retrospective review of cars which never really quite hit the mark or were as good as they could have been. The Morris Marina, TR6, Mercedes w123 250 all featured. The Fiat 130 was included. I don’t recall ever seeing one on the road but it looks quite a cool motor in your video!

Love the review !! Though I loved and owned the coupe for many years, I love the memory of seeing one in my street when I was 10-12? Even my father (also a bit of a petrolhead) went berserk. But the saloon really deserves some serious attention too, thank you !!

Fun to see you drive from zaltbommel to Brakel and back over the Waaldijk. Greetings from inhabitant of Zaltbommel

Love this car. My 1970 FIAT 500 also has that hand throttle/cruise(!) control. A little ’ring pull’ down under the dash, a bit of a reach. Pull the cable and the throttle pedal moves with it. I think it’s intention was a warming up aid rather than cruise control. Took me several years to even spot it there.

Can't be more than 10 or 20 of these here in the US of A or Canaduh. COOL car. Thanks for the review, mang! GREAT to see so many people on bicycles there!

In 1983 my father had the 3.2 liter version with manual transmission. I was just a kid, but I loved this car and its engine. It was very comfortable also compared with German premium brands. But there was issues for spare parts availability also in '83-85 and even for my father that was the owner of an official Fiat Service. He sold it after two or three years mainly for this reason and because high fuel consumption. But he always talked about Fiat 130 as a very high end car. Usually we had summer trips with a very large caravan towed by 130 and I clearly remember my father enthusiast about the stability also towing the caravan. I have very good memories related to this car! ❤

I've always liked the look of the 130 sedan. It's the very definition of classy to me. ..and even young me, a kid in the 70s, thought so btw. Such a shame it didn't become a success.

There is one of these sitting in an open barn 5min from my place. I didn't know what is was until I saw this-thank you HB!

Few of these still here in Arizona/New Mexico. We have a 71 stored in the back of the property...it has March of 1982 Plates on it. An original Quebec car, which is somewhat odd. It's Rust free to boot 🥾👢😜!

I have seen only one of those in Finland, and it was owned by Headconsul of Italia in Turku. And he was Eero Kestilä. Very rare vehicle indeed.🇨🇮

God that's stunning... gotta say I've always loved the 132 aswell. Friend of my brothers had a 2litre 132 with an Alfa sud exhaust system, sounded immense!!

So nearly bought a dark blue 130 saloon back in the 80’s. It was beautiful. Got a p6 v8 rover instead. Great review, thanks.

Learning so much from you. My passion for older unique car. Felt if I were road testing this grand fiat.. well done..

Never seen one. Seen a couple of coops which are very lovely. Very cool. Well done for finding this one Ian.

A friend dad in junior school had a 130 Berlina. Metallic blue with grey velour interior. First car I had been in with electric windows and automatic transmission, it was fitted with an 8 track/ radio with an electric aerial, would love one today.

I was six when my dad's 130 was delivered: I loved it. The interior is much sparser in reality than in my memory. I remember the blinds, the electric windows and the amazing comfort!

Lovely styling on the grille. So rare to see a fiat of that age that hasn’t rusted away. In know my old Regatta didn’t last so long 😅

Great car and great video. One remark though: the 2300 certainly wasn’t a larger version of the four-cylinder cars, it was rather much the other way around. It came out as the 1800/2100 with a 6-in-line as one of those cars that Pininfarina designed in the late 1950s by photocopy (Peugeot 404 and BMC Farinas being the others), and it was a fairly large car. It was restyled after just two years because the difference between the 1800 and the 2100 proved too small on the market to sell the bigger engine. So the 2300 got beefed up by 200 cc and got a quad headlight face, while the 1800, now called the 1800 B, retained the original design with just 2 headlamps under the characteristic eyebrows that marked the fenders from the hood. Probably in order to make producing the large body shell less uneconomical, the 1800B was then given a four cylinder sibling, the 1500L, which had the engine of the compact 1500C, in an operation similar to the Simca Chambord V8 being turned into the Ariane. That’s why I say it’s the opposite of what you say at the start. And just as the Simca Ariane, these four cylinder cars were destined to the taxi market, where they were very popular in a way that the 1800 could never have been. The six cylinders had ungodly thirst, but not equally impressive performance, although the 2300 engine made the corresponding Coupé a very capable car on motorways...

Fiat 130 was more on the margin of all salons in the 70s, I remember Vergleichtests in Auto Motor Sport magazine. When I saw the engine compartment I was thinking, there would be enough space for a small V8, combined with a manual transmission, sports road gear, that would make the Fiat 130 a real sports sedan.

Great video Ian, haven't seen one of these for many decades. The square Fiat 130 saloon looks even better than I (vaguely) recall, and it sounds fantastic! Passes the wiper test with aplomb too!! No triangle of doom, and limited valley of dispair, Forza Fiat!!!

Great presentation, lovely car, almost forgotten.

What a gorgeous looking car. Absolutely stunning 😊😊😊😊

The coupe is better looking with that orange draylon interior. The lines are better on the 2 door as well. I've always loved these but hardly anybody knows of them. They look great in that metallic blue.

My Father had an (L reg) 1973 version - The later 3.2 model in blue. I recall a very different interior and dash. A dash board in black with many round dials - Like being in an aircraft cockpit - - And the thing was very quick over south Devons rolling hills - Unfortunatly at 6 years old it was already being attacked by the tin worm.

Glorious car I had posters on my wall as a kid of the coupe and saloon thanks for bringing this review years since I've seen a real one 😀👍

I prefer the Fiat 131 myself being a 1980's teenager Mr HubNut. Now I've not seen one of those in many a year now, as most of them disintegrated within a couple of years from manufacture. Great video, as its nice to something very different than the normal classic car show gathering.

That's so good looking car, i think there isn't bad angle to look at it, and yeah it sure make right noises 👍 I have to agree, this saloon looks much better than coupe, but coupe would be nice to own too, but never gonna afford either of them...

Absaloutly brilliant video Ian ❤👍what a beautiful car I love it beautiful piece of Italian history love that v6 noise what an amazing car brilliant

130 coupe, was a dream..

It's like a large Fiat 125 but that V6 sounds beautiful. I think i still prefer the look of the coupe though. It's a shame that Fiat have never made a really successful large car in the UK at least, even the excellent Croma didn't sell many.

GORGEOUS!! It is NOT "HubNut" but understand your rationale... I'm just glad you did a review on these, it seems best of both worlds (ie sports and sedan)

One Aussie race car champ was given one of these as part of an evaluation on its release and he murdered it.

A gorgeous looking Car, a Fantastic Presantation. Congratulatios and Thank you for this intelligent, interesting video. Warm Regards, A.

Another fine vid - love the almost regality of these big fiats - I remember back in the late 80s a few being in autotrader. That radio is mad. Lovely to see one on the road - great test. Thanks, really took me back.

Beautiful styling, nice motor, thanks for the video, enjoyed it a lot!

A truly fantastic car. I remember an article by Quattroruote of the time: it told of the unique 130 imported by the Italian ambassador in the USA and of the disbelief it aroused around

I love the sound of that engine, beautiful

Fabulous review of a perennial underdog, so glad you featured it and concluded that it's excellent, I'd always hoped it would be! Thankyou.

Thank you Ian for bringing back fond memories of my brief career at Knibbs Fiat. The engine sound of the 130 was fantastic.

What a great video again to shine light on one of the most underestimated cars ever. I know them well, very well. My father bought one brand new back in 1973. From that moment I was addicted to these cars. It´s like a red line in my life. Till now I´ve owned about 80 saloons and I´m on coupe number 58.... the one shown here in this video was also mine and I restored it years back. I´ve had them in curious shapes and forms, Recently I got my second armoured saloon, the first one was registred on Umberto Agnelli´s name. Also a hearse version and I even lived for one year in the one of camper 130!! I guess it will continue till I take my last breath and that´s ok. You got to have to do something in life right? Cheers to all and should you seek a nice sample, contact me, Glad to help fellow 130 lovers

The 130S Coupe, was exquisite, but the 4-door had its own charm. A thing of beauty that looked years ahead of its time. Pity about quality control issues.. .

Lovely. These always seemed to appear in Italian 70's news photos. Usually a body or two beside them and peppered with bullet holes.

Wow, rare car, thank you for showing us

Ian i had a 132 Gls ,loved it Great car.

Really enjoyed this vid Ian. This is the type of content that 1st attracted me to the channel 4ish years ago 👌

I can’t believe you got your hands on one of these. My sentiments echo yours, what a cool car. I’ve only seen one at a car show

25 years ago i found one in Pamplona SPAIN, I had ever seen one of this fiat model. This fiat it wasn´t in the spanish market, it was a incredible surprise for me, it is beautiful, ,,,,,later on I investigated in browser of this times, ...congratullations

Coupe was a beauty! Saloon/sedan looked like a bigger and more imposing and special 132. I wouldn't mind either but the Coupe would be my choice. I only ever saw one in the flesh - and that was when they were nearly new.

At the turn og the late '70s and early '80s, The Fiat 131 and 132 are clear in my memory as very attractive cars. I was a young lad growing up in England at that time, and Fiat had a very comprehensive range from 600 to the 132. I would wish FIAT offer today such excelent designs and a full range of cars.

What a great road test. 😍 I am very impressed that you got to drive this Ian and I'm a bit jealous too. The 130 saloon is one of my favourite classic cars. It has a spot in my 'fantasy garage' alongside a mark 1 Citroen CX and Porsche 928 GT amongst a others. 😎 The saloons are like a stretched and widened 124 or 125 with a sinister look at the front. I think there are perhaps 6 or less of these in the UK. Pretty sure they were replaced by the 132 in 1976. I am sure that the styling of the 130 coupé influenced the design of the Ford Granada mark 2. 🙂

As a child the family had it's little brother a 125s with real mag wheels the colour Old Ivory (coined dead elephant by my brother). That thing could corner umbelievably.

They can be something of a Money-Pit . I owned one LONG ago now . Australian Delivery . 3.2 . They DO go well and Handle REALLY well . Just some crazy design decisions in them , make them Nightmarish when things go wrong . Overall a Lovely car . Classic looks and Comfort . That Engine SCREAMS OUT for a 5-speed Manual however . That would improve the Fuel Mileage as well .

Thanks, great video - I can't remember seeing one of these before, they probably dissolved rather quickly up here in Scotland ☹

Beautiful! Thanks Ian.

Great to see,my friend actually has 3 of them,one is the actual sales brochure model...if you ever in Ireland,look him up..

Ooh, cords and sandals- suitably retro, Mr Hubnut!

My grandfather had a rather pompous friend who had one of these (think Arthur Lowe!) Due to the links with Ferrari due to the engine designer he thought it fair to refer to his Fiat 130 as ‘the Ferrari’! Hmm. Not quite!

I was offered a 130, at a good price, in the late '70s; it was well maintained, same anthracite colour as the one in this video, and rust free (we don't salt the roads in Australia). I took it on approval for a week (private neighbourhood sale) and was very impressed with its driveability. However, true to my expectations, the electricals let it down too many times (Italian auto-electrics were the continental twin of Lucas Prince of Darkness) so I decided against the purchase.

I owned a 3.2 litre version of the saloon back in the late 1970s. It drank petrol but was a beautiful car with some lovely touches. It looked much plusher than the one in your video but, like all Fiats of that era, it rusted badly. I ended giving it away, as I couldn't afford to keep it on the road.

Great looking car.

2 minutes walk from my house there are a pair of 130's that have been sitting on a drive since the 80's, one blue in remarkable condition and the other in silver in a more advanced state of decay but still amazingly intact.

I have never heard of this car and find it appealing with nice style. I wish they would have brought them over to the States. I would love to take it out on one of our highways for a blast.

What a car! Nearly bought the coupe 30 years ago.

Always loved the 130, it had such style but was sadly quite rare here in the UK. We had a new 125S twin cam and a 132 back in the day, they were happy, great handling cars. Sadly our Fiats and Alfas rotted away within just a few years.

That engine sounds grunty, purposeful and fab. In fact any V6 (or straight 6) sounds fab, even my own Lexus sewing machine when I welly it. Such an unusual car, this one. I love the dashboard and controls, but I'd have to go for the coupe I'm afraid. 😜

This Fiat looks surprisingly like a BMW of the Era. IT really has a great presence I have always liked a big boxy sedan.

I had an orange Miriafori 131 Sport and a 132...both manual 2000 twin carb cars, both went like the clappers.....or seemed to back then, I suspect they would feel a bit pedestrian nowadays

I love that car, one of the most awesome cars from FIAT