At the end of the 1960s, the majority of cars still had rear-wheel drive. This is no different at Fiat; the large models have the engine in the front, the small ones have it at the back, but they always drive the rear wheels. This changed in 1969. After gaining a few years of experience with the front-wheel drive Primula from subsidiary brand Autobianchi, Fiat believes the time is right to present its first model with this drive concept: the 128. It is a compact four-door sedan, just a size smaller than the 124. with a completely new 55 hp four-cylinder engine under the hood. The 128 is a success and when the last one rolled off the production line at the Rivalta factory near Turin in 1985, the counter stood at 3,107,000 units. And then we are only talking about the Italian versions. Fiat 128 assembled globally Fiat also assembles the 128 in Morocco, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Egypt and Argentina. In Spain the car was assembled by (then) Fiat partner Seat and sold as the Seat 128. This way you can save on import duties and labor costs in the countries mentioned are usually also lower. This is also the case in Yugoslavia. Various Fiats have been built under license by Zastava in Kragujevac (Serbia) for years. The 128 was a nice addition to the Zastava range in 1971. But… unlike Fiat’s foreign branches, the 128 is not completely assembled at the independent Zastava from Italian parts, but they make a lot themselves or purchase components from Yugoslavian suppliers. And that’s not all, Zastava presented the car at the 1971 auto show as Zastava 101 with a slightly different body. Broadly speaking, this is still the 128, only now equipped with a hatchback that is strongly reminiscent of the hatchback butt of the Simca 1100. At Fiat they see something in the Yugoslavian body variant and the plans to import the 101 into Italy and marketed as Innocenti are already ready. Only… the car does not meet Fiat’s quality requirements and the whole story is canceled. Zastava also in Western Europe However, this does not in any way prevent Zastava from exporting the car to the rest of Europe, both West and East. The 101 is available in a three- and five-door variant, but not as a Zastava 101 on export markets. Peugeot claims the right to three-digit type designations with a zero in the middle, so the Zastava 101 is known to us as Zastava 1100 (or with larger engine 1300). In some countries it appears on the market as Fiat 128 Z or Fiat 1100 Z, but usually it just says Zastava. Over the years the car undergoes some minor cosmetic changes and the name also changes every now and then; including GTL 55, 311, Skala 55 and Yugo 1.1 GX. However, nothing changes at the basis. Egyptian kitsThe production of the Zastava is not limited to the factory in Kragujevac. The Polish FSO assembled it from 1974 to 1976 as a 1100p. This is part of compensation for the assembly of the FSO 125p by Zastava. In the early 1980s, production peaked at almost 230,000 cars per year, all hatchbacks. Only when Fiat stops production of the 128 in Italy will they start building the sedan in Yugoslavia. And that is also the moment that Zastava will export the car as a kit to Egypt where the El Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Company will screw it together. Nasr previously built 128s from Italian parts, from now on from Yugoslav parts. Four decades After the introduction of the more modern Yugo 55 and the Yugo Sana, production numbers dropped considerably. Nevertheless, the 101 remains in the range and the millionth copy rolls off the production line in 1991. During the wars in Yugoslavia, production came to a standstill and when the country fell apart, the supply of parts became more difficult because many components came from now isolated parts of the former republic. But they don’t know about giving up yet in Kragujevac. Even in the spring of 2008, Zastava presented an update during the Belgrade Auto Show with an electronic dashboard, an improved engine and an LPG system. But it is a final convulsion. On October 14, 2008, the state-owned company Zastava ceased to exist and became Fiat Automobili Srbija, 33 percent owned by the Serbian government and 67 percent owned by Fiat. Production switches to modern Fiat models and on November 20, 2008 the last Yugo Skala 55 (as it is called) rolls off the production line. After 1,273,532 Zastavas based on the 128, it’s over. Or well, almost. A handful of Skalas will be assembled from remaining component packages in 2009 at Nasr in Cairo. But then after 40 (!) years it is finally over with the once so progressive Fiat 128.
Source: www.autoweek.nl
