Do you recognize the dashboard in the image? It corresponds to the first generation of the legendary Seat Ibiza, which came onto the market in 1984 and this year turns a whopping 40 years old. It is the best-selling model of the Spanish brand and is also one of the best-selling in our country, which is currently in its fifth generation.
On the occasion of its fortieth birthday, the firm will launch the special edition Seat Ibiza FR Anniversary. We review the ins and outs of that first generation that was the seed of the current Seat Ibiza, an iconic car.
The Seat Ibiza was the first manufactured by Seat after ending its collaboration with Fiat. Since the company was in a hurry to bring something to the market in order to improve its economic situation, they started from the Seat Ronda platform to give life to the new Ibiza, which would belong to the B segment, a compact utility vehicle.
The design was the work of Giorgetto Giugiaro, who had presented the idea to Volkswagen for the Golf II, but they rejected it. Seat took over the design and the industrialization was carried out by Karmann. His design presented very characteristic straight lines and angles, in line with the aesthetics of passenger cars of the moment. It measured 3,640 mm in length, 1,610 mm in width and 1,395 mm in height. It weighed 840 kilos in its most basic version and had some recognizable details such as large rear windows.
Unlike all the redesigns that would come later, the first model only had a wiper blade, the tank cover was on the left, it had grilles on the hood and the spare wheel was next to the engine. Additionally, those who drove it will remember that it had particularly harsh power steering. In 1991 the design was updated, with headlights not as square as the original model.
For its part, Porsche took care of providing that first Seat Ibiza with an engine. Of course it had nothing to do with those that enhance the sports cars of the German company itself. The engine of the first generation Seat Ibiza was available in two options: a 1.2 with 63 HP and a 1.5 with 90 HP in the gasoline version; and a 1.7 naturally aspirated diesel with 55 HP.
The first Seat Ibiza was presented at the 1984 Paris Motor Show. More than 1.3 million units of that first generation were sold, more than 360,000 of these in Spain. The last production of the first generation was in 1993, before giving way to the second. It was, in fact, the last batch manufactured at the Seat plant in the Barcelona Free Trade Zone, before all the Ibizas were produced at the Martorell factory.
It is well known that Seat is known for naming its cars in honor of Spanish cities. In the case of the Seat Ibiza, the 80s were a time of splendor for tourism in our country. The choice of Ibiza was because the island embodied that Mediterranean spirit, carefree, youthful and fun. Precisely the attributes associated with the target audience to which the model was directed.
