(EXPANDED FROM 10/5/2023)
A few years ago Curbside Classic reposted one of my favorite articles — a magazine-length piece by Don Andreina (2023) about the 1972-77 Fiat 130 coupe. Although the car never made it to U.S. shores, the author shows how it influenced many designs such as General Motors’ 1977 downsized big cars.
I do have one follow-up question that may sound rather odd: Was the Fiat at least indirectly influenced by a pair of American cars — the 1963-64 Rambler Classic/Ambassador and 1964-65 American?
At least to my eyes, the 130 coupe represented an updating of the Rambler’s design language in key respects. Most notably, the upper-fender crease stretched from the rear of the car to almost the tip of the front fenders, whereupon it wrapped around the hood. In addition, the wheel openings arched forward and the C-pillar was squared off on the sedans.
Despite these similarities, the Fiat 130 would never be confused with the Classic. This was partly because it came out nine years later, and so reflected newer styling trends. These included a greenhouse with more rake and a mid-level side crease that gave the car a less upright appearance.
The Fiat also had a fairly level beltline rather than the Rambler’s more teardrop shape, which was a lingering vestige of the 1950s. And while the 130 coupe was roughly the same length and width as the Classic, it had a five-inch-shorter wheelbase. That allowed a longer deck as well as door-cutout proportions more appropriate for a coupe.
Fiat designer was in the field when Ramblers came out
The Fiat was designed by Paolo Martin. He started his automotive design career in 1960 at Studio Tecnico Michelotti and moved over to Carrozzeria Bertone in 1967. A year later he was appointed head of styling at Carrozzeria Pininfarina (Wikipedia, 2023). There he oversaw the design of the Fiat 130 coupe.
The concept cars and production models designed by Martin were largely for European and Japanese automakers. However, he presumably was familiar enough with U.S. design trends to have seen the mid-60s Ramblers. I have not seen any historical documentation that he consciously borrowed Rambler styling themes for the 130 coupe, but there are enough similarities that I would be surprised if it was purely coincidental.
Might Romney have championed international styling?
This brings me to one of my dreaded counterfactuals. (Quick — hide the children!) American Motors’ CEO George Romney stated that his strategy was for Rambler to continue offering practical, space-efficient cars “that still looked good, along the lines of a Mercedes-Benz” (Foster, 1993, p. 98).
That quote suggests that if he had stayed at AMC through the rest of the 1960s, he plausibly might have pushed for styling that was more international in flavor. That might have even led to a renewed association with Pininfarina, which Nash — one of AMC’s predecessor companies — had worked with in the early-50s.
In other words, a car in the same ballpark as the Fiat 130 coupe might have been in American Motors’ future if Romney had lost his bid for Michigan governor and returned to the automaker. Instead, Romney won, his successors embraced Detroit groupthink, and we got the likes of the 1974 Matador coupe.
Could AMC have internationalized without big costs?
James Duvall (2023) argued in a comment below that to “’internationalize’ the styling along the lines of the Fiat 130 likely would have required major changes” to AMC’s body, “including the cowl.”
I disagree — “emulating” is not the same thing as copying. The 1964-69 Rambler American was moving in the direction of a more international look and the Argentinian-built, IKA-Renault Torino hinted at a path forward (Wikipedia, 2025).
The main problem with the American was that it needed a complete reskinning in order to tone down the teardrop shape and update the greenhouse and side contours. By the same token, a similar treatment could have been given to the Classic — which originally was naught but a stretched and widened American.
NOTES:
This story was originally posted on Oct. 5, 2023 and expanded on Aug. 15, 2025.
Share your reactions to this post with a comment below or a note to the editor.
RE:SOURCES
- Andreina, Don; 2023. “Curbside Classic: 1972-77 Fiat 130 Coupe – Bill Mitchell’s Regards.” Curbside Classic. Posted Oct. 5.
- Duvall, James E.; 2023. Commentator in “Was the 1972 Fiat 130 coupe influenced by mid-1960s Ramblers?” Indie Auto. Originally posted on Oct. 5, 2023.
- Foster, Patrick R.; 1993. American Motors: The Last Independent. Krause Publications, Iola, WI.
- Wikipedia; 2023. “Paolo Martin.” Page last edited Sept. 17.
- ——; 2025. “IKA-Renault Torino.” Page last edited May 18.
ADVERTISEMENTS & BROCHURES:
- oldcarbrochures.org: Rambler (1960, 1963, 1964); Rambler American (1965)
PHOTOGRAPHS:
The following photos were drawn from Wikipedia via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike International license. Photos have been lightly edited to reduce background shadows.
- Banner image of Fiat 130 coupe by Maxwell61 (CC 3.0)
- Fiat 130 coupe by Calreyn88 (4.0)
- IKA Torino coupe by Tomsbatz01 (4.0)
First of all, to update the Rambler / Rebel platform to “internationalize” the styling along the lines of the Fiat 130 likely would have required major changes to the unit body, including the cowl. Fiats of the early 1970s were notoriously rust-prone. I had a radio colleague who owned a 1974 Fiat 141 sedan: Unreliable, easy to rust and noisy. In his opinion, a terrible and flimsy car. I think the idea of A.M.C. trying to emulate Mercedes-Benz aims too high for a domestic manufacturer. The brand to emulate was Volvo, as in the Volvo 240-series.
You can’t be serious!
The FIAT 130 was a logical progression of Pininfarina design language going back to the 1950s. Look at the FIAT 1500, BMC Oxford/Cambridge and most all the Peugeot 404. I’m afraid Rambler had little influence other that being in the era. Martin also designed the almost identical Rolls-Royce Camargue. Less said about that the better
Why not? Designers can absorb ideas in all kinds of ways. For example, note how the character line just below the beltline on the 1963-64 Rambler wraps around the hood. It’s not exactly like on a 130 but it is close enough that I could see how the designer of the Fiat might have been inspired by the Rambler.
The main reason I bring up this subject is that Romney later talked about what he would have wanted to have happened to the Classic if he had stayed at American Motors — that it remain a relatively compact size and sport styling with the simple quality of a Mercedes. What might that have looked like? By the late-60s I would think that could have been something vaguely like a 130, with clean lines rather than elaborate gingerbread.
I asked ChatGPT to do a rendering of what a 1970 AMC American would have looked like if the 1969 floorpan were rebodied with Pininfarina styling along the lines of the 130 coupe and the results were rather attractive. And something that would have seemed fresh longer than the Hornet.
That’s not surprising; the 130’s lines strike me as reasonably flexible. Is there a way for you to share the image?
I’ve sent you the images by Facebook messenger.
Very nice. Do you mind if I post them (with appropriate citation)?
Not at all.