CarBrandLogos archive · SEAT · 1974

SEATSEAT 133

SEAT's own body over Fiat 850 mechanicals, and its first step towards independence.

Photo: Charles01 · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in SEAT history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the SEAT 133, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The 133 was the car that replaced the 600 in 1974, and it mattered inside SEAT for a reason invisible from the outside: the body was designed in Spain rather than handed over from Turin. The mechanical package was familiar, an 843 cc four mounted behind the rear axle driving the rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox, taken from the 850 and later enlarged to 903 cc.

1976 Seat 133 Especial · Spanish Coches · CC BY 2.0

Design and engineering

What wrapped it was a squared-off two-door saloon in the idiom of the mid-1970s, more modern-looking than the curves it replaced and considerably more practical inside. Fiat thought well enough of it to sell the car in several export markets under its own badge, and versions were built in Cordoba, Argentina and by Nasr in Cairo.

1976 Seat 133 Especial · Spanish Coches · CC BY 2.0

In production

By the time production ended in 1981 the rear-engined layout was obsolete and the front-drive Panda took over. But the 133 is the first SEAT with a meaningful Spanish contribution to the product, which is where the road to the Ibiza starts.

Seat133 · Lampredi · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1974–1981

Engine

843 cc I4

Body

2-door saloon

Technical specification

The SEAT 133, in detail.

Production: 1974–1981 (SEAT); 1977–1982 (Sevel)
Class: City car (A)
Body style: 2-door saloon
Layout: RR layout
Engine: 843 cc I4; 903 cc I4
Transmission: 4-speed manual
Assembly: Spain: Barcelona (Zona Franca); Argentina: Córdoba (Fiat/Sevel); Egypt: Cairo (Nasr)
Manufacturer: SEAT