Ibiza took all the credit, but Malaga also played an essential role in saving Seat after the breakup with Fiat.
There are cars that get all the glory, the tributes, the merchandising… and even their second-hand price soars to go down in history thanks to their design, their concept, their innovations, their exclusivity… Others, in change, they could even save a brand like Seat and today have almost fallen into oblivion. That is why we bring you the incredible history of the Seat Málaga.
As soon as you see it, it is likely that you have been a victim of the ‘ahhhhh effect!’, either because it is an unlocked memory either because you have not thought about it for a long time… Seat, of which there were numerous units and it is likely that you even got on one that your family, a neighbor had…
And if we are already in luck and you yourself were one of its owners, then you will agree with us that the Seat Málaga deserves a much higher place than the one unfairly given to it, because it offered at that time a design of the most functional, a lot of space, a certain range of engines and finishes… and in the national brand it turned out to be a real lifesaver.
Engine System Porsche 1.2 or 1.5, carburation or injection (Injection -don’t miss our test of this Seat Málaga-), diesel, from 55 to 100 hp, with access or luxury finishes (GLX)… it was a five-seater very spacious, affordable, with certain luxury touches depending on the version (such as the air vents in the rear, the rear center armrest and even the option of air conditioning).
At the wheel, as we have been able to verify on numerous occasions, it was an apparent car, comfortable, with a certain relief, a well-resolved interior and with certain concessions to the design to devour kilometers alone or accompanied by up to four more passengers, with great lateral space. , for the head and legs… and a level of comfort to match or exceed some of its rivals.
Among these were, without hesitation, the Renault 9, the Seat 124 FL ‘Pamplona’ itself, which it replaced (but which could continue to be a perfectly feasible option on the used market, even though its aesthetics, rear-wheel drive, its side fuel tank or its interior finishes), the Opel Kadett, the Volkswagen Jetta, the Fiat Regata…
But why did Malaga see the light? Why was it so important? Because it arrived in 1985, just at the time when the Spanish Society of Tourism Cars (SEAT) had run out of support from the Fiat parent company and, in turn, had to be ‘appetizing’ enough so that customers continue to trust their products and, perhaps, some other car giant.
Thus, with a more functional than aesthetic design (although we remember that in that decade its edges were very much in line -and never better said- with the trends of the moment, Giorgio Giugiaro managed to create a ‘berlinetta’, a sedan to replace to the last 124 from the base of the compact Seat Ronda, and with the aesthetic codes that it would have also printed on the Seat Ibiza I.
And with 231,946 units produced since June 1985 when it was officially launched at the beginning of 1991, when its production definitively ceased, with great acceptance for families hungry for habitability, taxis… and even as a contest car on the program ‘Un, two three…’ on TVE, it can be said that the Seat Málaga project more than fulfilled its dual mission.
For this reason, although others take a greater part of the glory, the Seat Málaga also contributed to the VW Group acquiring Seat in the mid-1980s and keeping this four-door three-volume in dealerships until the beginning of the following decade, in which it was replaced by the first generation of another medium-large car: the Seat Toledo.