Fiat Croma

Fiat Croma
Fiat
aka	Fiat Croma
Production	First Generation - 1985-1996 Second Generation - 2005-
Class	Croma I - family saloon Croma II - crossover
Body Style	Croma I - five-door liftback Croma II - five-door wagon
Length	Croma I - 4495 mm Croma II - 4755 mm
Width	Croma I - 1755 mm Croma II - 1775 mm
Height	Croma I - 1425 mm Croma II - 1600 mm
Wheelbase	Croma I - 2660 mm Croma II - 2700 mm
Weight	Croma I - Croma II -
Transmission	Croma I - front-drive, five-speed manual Croma II - front-drive, six-speed manual, five-speed automatic
Engine	Croma I - 1.6/2.0/2.0 turbocharged/2.5 petrol, 1.9/2.5 litre turbocharged diesel Croma II - 1.8/2.2 MPI, 1.9/2.4 MultiJet
Power	1.6 petrol - 82hp 2.0 petrol - 89-120hp 2.0 turbocharged petrol - 151hp 2.5 petrol - 157hp 1.9 diesel - 91hp 2.5 diesel - 74hp 2.5 turbodiesel - 100hp 1.8 MPI - 138hp 2.2 MPI - 145hp 1.9 MultiJet - 118-148hp 2.4 MultiJet - 197hp
Similar	Vauxhall Sigma Ford S-MAX
Designer	Croma I and II - Giorgietto Giugiaro

The Fiat Croma was a large saloon car built by the Italian company from 1985 to 1996. The car was the top of the range Fiat, and was penned by legendary Italian Giorgietto Giugiaro. Despite laying dormant since 1996, the name was dusted off in 2005, and is in use on Fiat's current flagship, again designed by Giugiaro and sold throughout Europe.

The Croma I - 1985-1996

The first-generation Fiat Croma was unveiled in 1985, and was sold until 1996, when Fiat abandoned the large family car sector. Fiat chief Giovanni Agnelli pressed the other board members hard to commit to producing the Croma, insisting that the car would sell well.

The Croma was based upon the Fiat Type Four chassis, which had been developed in conjunction with Saab, Lancia and Alfa Romeo, and was the basis of their similarly aged saloons. The Croma was styled by Giorgietto Giugiaro, and was a very typical Eighties saloon. It had five doors, the rear-most a full-size lifting hatch. The car sold strongly throughout its eleven-year production run, especially in native Italy.

The Croma, being top of the Fiat tree, was given a very strong group of engines, and was in fact the first passenger car in the world to have a direct injection diesel engine.

After Fiat ended Croma production in 1996, it announced that the badge would not be used on an immediate successor - and it was believed that there would never be a place for such a large vehicle in the Fiat range. However, in 2005, the new Croma was unveiled, and would yet again top off the Fiat range.

The Croma II - 2005-present

It was with surprise that Fiat unveiled the Croma badge again in 2005 - many industry analysts thought that the badge carried too much baggage with it. Also, the car that it was attached to was launched into an unenviable position - it was to guide Fiat back onto more solid ground after years of poor sales and negative profits.

The Croma is based upon a platform which was spawned from the so-short-it-almost-never-existed link between GM and Fiat, and is identical under the skin to the Vauxhall Signum, and using the GM Epsilon platform also the Saab 93 and Vauxhall Vectra. The new Croma was intended to top-off the modern Fiat range, but instead of opting for a large saloon, a genre-mixing 'Comfort Wagon' was chosen - which is essentially a very high roofed estate car, which Fiat claim provide optimum conditions for passengers.

Major Options

The Croma, like every other Fiat model, is available in a number of trims. Each trim builds upon the one before, adding most optional equipment as standard fare. The trims are:

The Dynamic

The bottom of the range Croma is restricted only to the 1.8 litre petrol and 1.9 MultiJet engines.