Today we travel back in our series of ‘Great cars that did not succeed’ to pay homage to the badly named Seat 1200 as it deserves. 1200 Sport) and the nickname by which this car was known for its front molding, ‘Bocanegra’, it will be easier to achieve the ‘Ah…!’ effect.
And it is not precisely that many units were manufactured, which was a shame, since the Seat 1200/1430 Sport is one of the most genuine Seats in history, since it was the first to be projected and developed completely outside of Fiat ( in the Technical Center of Martorell), matrix thanks to which the Spanish brand manufactured models under license in Barcelona since 1953.
After the 1950s – of the economic recovery framed in the autarchy of the Franco regime – and of the so-called ‘developmentalism’ – of the 1960s, it is true that the following decade had started off on the wrong foot, given that the oil crisis of 1973 had turned to small and economical models by manufacturers and drivers.
The peculiarities of the emerging Spanish market had also made possible small dabbles outside of Italian designs. For example, the Seat 600 had been cut, stretched and provided here with four doors and had been sold as the Seat 800, for those families who needed a little more space and facilities to load their ‘Pelotilla’ to the brim.
The little ‘Seílla’ had done everything possible to grow, also transformed into a commercial and a van, with a box behind it or as a complete van, at the hands of coachbuilders such as Costa or Siata, not to mention those ‘luxury’ creations on the same base (600 Tarraco), both in the form of a mini sedan and a country car (600 Jungle) and even a sports car (600 Milton)…
Not to mention other Seat creations without an Italian replica, such as the four-door Seat 850 or the 127 idem, which would later have a three-and-five door and whose success of variants would also end up completing the catalog of that other country. Mediterranean. However, what was the point of making a vehicle like the Bocanegra?
Well, despite the sorrows and energy difficulties, in our country having a car was no longer a privilege reserved only for the wealthiest and there were other types of buyers who could afford cars more on a whim, no matter how much we see today to our protagonist car as an access sports car.
In fact, the project is conceived as almost a two-door compact with coupé lines that could seduce with its modern lines and bright colors a relatively young person or a couple with a couple of small children, even, who would like a somewhat handsome, with habitability for four seats (it was more than a 2 + 2), some trunk and some agility without triggered consumption.
And it all started at the beginning of the decade with a split in Costa, which led to the company from Tarrasa Inducar -hence the side logos ‘IC’- commanded by Antoni Amat, to make a new model on the 127 platform. Thus, the design was inspired by the prototype that Aldo Sessano had tried to produce for NSU… but was frustrated by the acquisition of this brand by Audi.
Finally, with Seat’s ‘OK’, Amat and Sessano gave birth to the striking ‘Bocanegra’ -a nickname that will take a long time to establish itself and will be especially outside of Catalonia-, presented in 1976 as Seat Sport, making their aspirations clear from the beginning benefits. And as it does with the basic block of the 124, with 1,197 cc and 67 CV, it is baptized as the Seat 1200 Sport.
This mechanical choice, transverse front and with transmission (four gears) from the 127 also to the front axle is due to the intention of clearly distancing itself from the Seat 850 Sport Coupé with a rear 903 engine, gearbox and rear-wheel drive, so that the jump would make sense. to a clearly more modern and superior model in terms of response, equipment, speed (155 km/h)… and price.
But although it was not exactly cheap for the time (270,000 pesetas for a GDP per capita in the year 76 of 219,463), it made people fall in love with its shapes, its sound, its features, its seats with integrated headrests and that command post with two large spheres for speedometer and rev counter and another three small ones more ‘racing’ for the temperature, the voltmeter and the oil.
To the greater glory of potential customers, from 1977, it was offered with the legendary ‘1430’ engine, with 1,438 cc, 77 hp and up to 165 km/h and some structural reinforcements. However, in addition to having to coexist and compete with other more powerful and multi-tree mechanics such as those of the 124, the real enemy was once again at home, although it also came from ‘outside’: the 128 3p.
Hiding behind strategic reasons, Fiat forced its Spanish subsidiary to manufacture the three-door version of the 128 in 1977 to place a surplus of bodywork and, furthermore, to overshadow the beautiful, sporty ‘Spanish Golf’ – as some Germans still call it today. in classic competitions-, which would cease production definitively in 1979, after a total of only 19,431 units.
