Autobianchi A111

Autobianchi A111
Autobianchi
aka	{{{aka (Type here, not up there)}}}
Production	1969 – 1972
Class	Small family car
Body Style	4-door sedan
Length	4020 mm
Width	1610 mm
Height	1400 mm
Wheelbase	2363 mm
Weight	930 kg
Transmission	{{{transmission + drive}}}
Engine	{{{engine}}}
Power	{{{Horsepower and Torque rating}}}
Similar	{{{similar (competition)}}}
Designer	{{{Designer (lead designer if it was a team effort)}}}

The Autobianchi A111 was a small family car from the Italian automaker, Autobianchi (a subsidiary of the Fiat group), built from 1969 to 1972.<ref name="Italienske Biler">Template:Citation/core{{#if:|}} </ref> Despite rather modest dimensions, it was the largest Autobianchi ever made, as the brand specialized in small cars. A modern front-wheel drive (FWD) construction, it was launched concurrently with Fiat 128, Fiat's first own FWD compact car, and can be seen as a further development of the revolutionary Autobianchi Primula, Fiat's first "experiment" with the transverse engine/FWD setup.<ref name="carsfrom">Template:Citation/core{{#if:|}} (accessed via the Wayback Machine)</ref>

Design

A four-door sedan of little more than 4 metres, on the outside the A111 strongly resembled the Fiat designs of the era, especially the Fiat 124 and Fiat 128.<ref name="carsfrom"/> This comes as no surprise, as both the Autobianchi A111 and the Fiats were created under the supervision of Dante Giacosa, who was also responsible for the creation of the Primula.<ref name="Dante">Italian Wikipedia article on Dante Giacosa (Italian)</ref> Size-wise, the A111 slotted between the 128 and 124 sedans, being also significantly bigger than the previously-biggest Autobianchi, the said Primula.

Driveline

As was mentioned, the Autobianchi A111 was a front-wheel drive car with a transversely mounted engine, more specifically the 1438 cc straight-4 OHV unit that delivered 70 hp and could also be found under the hood of Fiat 124 Special - it should not be confused with a more powerful engine of the same displacement from the Fiat Twin Cam series, which was also fitted in some 124s, but not in the A111. The engine was mated with a 4-speed manual transmission with floor-mounted shifter. Neither an automatic or any other engine options were offered.<ref name="Auto Katalog">Template:Citation/core{{#if:|}} (technical data for 1970/71 models)</ref>

End of the road

As the 1970s progressed, Fiat has introduced an increasing number of FWD cars under its own brand, and thus the Autobianchis became redundant. The last car left the production line in 1972, making the total number of A111s produced 56,984.<ref name="Italienske Biler"/><ref name="carsfrom"/> The brand began to be gradually reduced to a single model (the Autobianchi A112 and later Autobianchi Y10) and thus the A111 remained without a direct replacement within the Autobianchi lineup.

External links

• Registro Autobianchi