Autobianchi A112: The Italian Mini 

Correction: The Abarth 58HP and the 70HP version were sold alongside one another until 1976. Sorry for the mistake in the video!

The A112 is one of those rare cars that at no time looked un-cool.

A golden Era for small cars and the A112 was definitely one of the best.

20 years ago, Italian villages were full of these beautiful machines. Now, they are so very rare.

These turn up every now and then in the most unexpected places. I remember when I was last in Tokyo, I saw an orange Abarth parked in an expensive area of Shimokitazawa. Worldwide fans!

My first car was a 1978 A112 Abarth and I was spoiled forever. Great memorys. 😀👍

A112 Elegant, was my first car (1979) in my life. I loved this car so much.

This little gem was received very well not only in Italy. I recently came across an early test in a German car magazine - enthusiastic is not exaggerated! They called the A112 the perfect mini car. And German car magazines were not famous for being too friendly to Italian cars...

Α112 was unbelievably popular in Greece, throughout its life-span! Most new drivers learn how to drive in one of these! So popular it was, there was even a song called "I 'll never again do it in an Autobianchi!" (yes, "do it" is referring to what you guess!)

Apart from the mechanics and the engine with rocket acceleration, the attractiveness of that little one is all in the nose, very Italian

Had an early chrome bumper model in green and found a later model Abarth in my favorite Scrapyard, so took the carburettor airfilter, exhaust manifold and the steel 'Abarth' wheels and fitted them to my car, I had a rev counter on the dashboard (of course ) and it looked stunning for me. Of course we always had a Fiat 850 a Special or Coupé in the family as spare car, since these were so cheap to run. What I remember is a friend who drove a 6 cylinder Camaro and while he tried to show off at the traffic light accelarating away, my A112 was next to his big American, unfortunately where we were racing there was a tunnel with a fast left right, I was the smart one to hit my brakes and let him go, very lucky because he needed arms and legs and all of the road to keep his big floating boat under control away from the tunnel walls. I sold the Autobianchi for another Italian : a real Innocenti Cooper 1300, but as Matteo would say, that is another story for another time but I loved the grasping sound the A 112 exhaust made, a great little drivers car, technically far superior to an 850 Fiat. By the way, for me the Abarth is the real first ever made hot hatch, the rest joined the party much much later ! Ciao !

I wanted one of these (A112 Abarth) as a teenager and early young driver, but because I lived in London, I bought an Alfasud 1.3 4 door instead. So I got my ´Fix´of a nice rorty exhaust anyway. A112 was always handy threading thru´the very narrow streets of Italian towns and villages, as I remember.

I now have a Series 5 1982 A112 Abarth in Spain. Wanted one since I was a teenager visiting family in Italy. Great fun on a twisty mountain road.

Thank you for this video. The A112 Abarth is a car I always wanted to own, but were hard to come by in the US. Such a lovely, well-proportioned design.

For me this is one of the most beauty small car ever designed!!

I was really in love with this car....

I used to love seeing these on the roads when I went on holiday to Lake Garda a few times in the 1990s.

My mom and grandma had one... Great cars. Greetings from France

My sister bought a second hand Autobianchi A112 (base) from 1970, with the chrome bumpers. I think I drove more kilometers in it than she did. I drove all over Europe with that car from the Netherlands. North Cape, Germany, Belgium, the Alps. Everywhere. No it was not comfy, but it was fun. It was not fast, but it was fun. And we only had a generator failure and excessively worn brake pads in all those vacations. It used barely any oil and the fuel consumption was about 7.5 l/100km which was excellent as we drove it in a spirited way and there was no aarodynamics in those days. It survived 166000 km. It succumbed to rust, but the engine was still as good as new.

Been waiting for this video for a long time! 😃😃😃The A112 is on the top 3 of my favorite cars of all time! My dad had a red series 5 back the in 80s. Great memories! Thanks for posting, great video as always!

My high school car back 86 in Jordan It was an Abarth had soo much fun 👌👌👌

Niiiice... I am actually welding up my 1985 A112 Abarth right now !

I don't know all that much about Italian cars but the more of your videos I watch, the more I kinda want something like this for driving around town

Remember racing one with my Triumph Dolomite 1850hl in 1983, somewhere in northern Italy, and just couldn’t keep up. Great film and entertainment - thanks

Thanks for sharing. My father owned one when I was in my teens and it brings back so many sweet memories.

Haha finally the video I have been waiting for! The Autobianchi A112 was such a fantastic and underrated supermini, especially the Abarth version. I met loads of people who foster good memories about this car, and literally noone with bad memories. It was just loads of fun! With this one you have now covered in total 10 cars that I actually own or have owned, after the Alfa Giulia, Alfa 33, Alfa 75, Fiat X1/9, Fiat 500, Lancia Delta (original one), Lancia Fulvia coupé, Fiat Coupè, and last but not least the Citroen DS. Thanks Matteo for this great but too short video! The A112 would merit a 2-hour long documentary to cover its full story. Fun fact: the A112 Abarth was in 1971 the first ever hot hatch, years before VW, Ford, Renault or Talbot!

I don't know how I survived my first years after taking the driving licence driving one of those (Junior from 1985), driving it out of town and not always wisely... but using it within the limit of a city car it was very agile and practical, provided you didn't want to carry more than one passenger AND do the shopping.

Thank you! This has always been a favorite of mine and I've been just waiting for you to do it! Grazie!

Our dear friend, another informative video. I had no idea of the existance of the Autobianchi brand until now. In Australia we are so far away from Italy, my favourite country. I have visited Italy before, and love its history. I had no idea Mini were made in Italy. Please keep these wonderful video's coming.

I had a a112 junior. This car was a blast

GREAT A112 THE BEST OF MY FAVORITE CARS!!!

Absolutelly lovely car and nice video!

Great video Matteo! Hope more tourists are taking to the great Italian roads now.

Another exceptional video from you, my friend! I personally adore this little car! Still fresh and underrated, in my opinion!

These are nice looking cars that have aged gracefully. The rear bustle is slightly reminiscent of the Simca 1100. The blue colour of the one featured appears to be the same used by Zastava/Yugo in the late 1980s-90s. The successor Y10 was sold in the UK but only under the Lancia marque.

Fond memories for me Matteo as I had both the first series Abarth and the last series Abarth while living in Italy in the mid 80's. Fantastic pocket rockets with lots of appeal and always put a smile on your face. Would love to have one again but now are vey collectable and hard to get in Australia as it was never offered, especially in RHD.

abarth was so unique in motorsport. top quality engineering for 500 cc - 1 litre... the a112 and abarth 126 is just amazing.

One of my favourite cars ever! Thanks for another great episode!

Thank you for another lovely Video about a great italian car. It´s always nice to watch you videos. Very great

another interesting story. thanks

It’s a shame that FIAT neglected several fine car brands as Autobianchi, Innocenti, Lancia and Alfa Romeo throughout the time. Just to protect their own business

There is something to be appreciated in these comfy, four seater modest machines that are tastefully appointed and fun to to drive - maybe we have lost touch

Another great review. Thank you! Your videos make me realize how many great cars I foolishly neglected to consider when buying a set of wheels in those days.

The Autobianchi Looks Nice and a Cute Car ..My Late Dad Firsts Car Was a Fiat 850 Berlina ...Tq for the Video ..

Very nice video.

I always liked the original Mini, but would chose an A112 anytime over it. Thanks a lot for this interesting video. Ciao 🙋‍♂️

What a lovely car, how Italian sounds!

Excellent video, Matteo 👍👍😀

stupenda! bellissimo video complimenti !

The Y10 really captured my imagination as a kid. Would love to hear your take on the “last autobianchi”

This was my first car I bought in 1978 when it was 4 years old. 2 years later the frame was rusted through. It would never start after it was raining. Fun to drive in the summer but overall a total lemon.

Such a cheerful car, sadly the world no longer has a interest in characterful and interesting cars

Great job. Nice looking small car

Another instance of synchronicity with the 70s Honda 600

Buonissimo Ingegnere :) ... since you discussed the Innocenti in one of your former subtle sketches I am loaded with a comment of the major difference of the Bianchi to me .. I can actually sit 'behind' the wheel and ride like in a small sportscar rather than crouching on top of the column like commanding a shrunken Bedford .. and nowadays strictly into the factory design of the cars, back in the 80's I loved a friends Abarth refined by a german tuner named 'Angsten' (who did the 127 as well) .. it was a stunning wide and low missile for the old Brenner road and from Vipiteno we just caught the windshadow of a bighunk BMW to rev her into lipstickred . what a time :))))))

Eccellente!

Never heard about this model before but somehow the shape looked familiar so I was wondering about this while watching the video. Then at the end the Y10 was shown and it cleared things up.

Lovely little cars.........such a pity that Autobianchi’s importance as a car manufacturer is often overlooked though in automotive history.

My second car, was a -76 A112 Elegant....think it had the Fiat 127 engine 47 hp. I think, they were rebagded in Denmark, from _79, to Lancia.

Despite looking a little too like Alec Issigonis's creation the boot lid of the Autobianchi A112 is slantered at a reclined angle but overall it's a brilliant and perhaps charming small car of its generation.

Ottimo

A great little car. And as always, great presentation Matteo. Here in Norway those was sold by Saab dealers as Lancia. Currently one for sale for 31.000 nok now. But sadly i don’t have space for it. Are you going to do the bianchini soon? 🤓

Una sera di tanti anni fa stavo guidando abbastanza allegro in salita su una strada di montagna e ho visto nello specchietto due fari che si avvicinavano a velocità da rally. Appena possibile ho rallentato e accostato a destra con la freccia per fare passare questo deltone integrale guidato da chissà che manico. Mi sono visto sfilare da un'A112 ...

Very nice car, ideal for the straight street in city center....But now a Days moreau suitable like a collection objets

I immensely enjoy your videos, Matteo! So very well made, full of wonderful archive footage! Can you, please, tell me if the New Fiat Museum in Turin (Heritage Hub) is open to the public? Thanks in advance, Greetings from Israel, Yigal.

So there were others in the line before the X1/9? Never knew that.

speeding through every sharp corner was real fun on 3 wheels! i miss the lil abarth which was taken by the harsh German TÜV rules... but unfortunately they were right, because 700kg of rust were kept together by 7kg of paint! not the best balance D/A/G

Also, I much prefer the Autobianchi to the Mini. I have owned Mini and they are too dangerous in a crash due to design.

Considering the later Fiat Panda and Fiat Cinquecento were equipped with the 126’s 2-cylinder engines, could a case have been made for an entry-level 2-cylinder version of the Autobianchi A112 in place of both the 126 as well as Dante Giacosa’s other unrealised ideas to replace the Fiat 500 (one of which may have been a 850 flat-twin FWD city car)? Apparently a 2-door three-box saloon version of the A112 was looked at, either as a different bodystyle for a more direct visual successor to the Fiat 850 or proposed by a conservative minded anti-hatchback faction within Fiat at the time (hence why the 127 initially did not feature a hatchback and why Zastava / Yugo went on to build a hatchback version of the 128). Would have preferred a version of the A112 Abarth that in terms of displacement was a more direct rival to the 1275cc Minis, get the impression the 100 Series engine was capable of growing beyond 1050cc via the 1962 Simca Abarth 1300 since the Abarth built engine was said to have been derived from the architecture of the 100 Series-derived 982cc Twin-Cam Bialbero engine. Guess one consideration against further enlargement of the 100 Series engine (and possible conversion to OHC/etc like the larger 124 Series engine), was the upcoming OHC 128 Series engine that was to also form the basis of the 130 V6. Speaking of the Y10 project, actually prefer the facelift proposals of the A112 by Pininfarina, Giugiaro/Ital Design and even Zagato’s 1977 facelift proposal in place of the A112 Series 4. It would have also arguably made a better basis for the Yugo Koral instead of what was essentially the SWB Fiat 127 equivalent of the SWB Peugeot 104 Coupe.

Who else sold this on gran turismo 4 after the Sunday cup?

Thought the Innocenti Mini was the Italian Mini?

Great video as usual. Did the Y10 share a platform with the Fiat Cinquecento (Type 170)?

I saw an Abarth storming on the road during a car meet a few years ago. Little, but punchy :) A question though. The Y10 for me is a Lancia. Was it marketed as Autobianchi in Italy?

My Greek childhood

Matteo, I am struggling with a minor detail, you said that Innocenti cleverly market the mini as a....? To Fiat. I have watched and rewatched it but I can't get that word and that was stuck in my mind... Nothing really important but I am curious about what did I miss there.

Were these exported or were they only for the domestic market?

Imagine if Fiat had rebadged the A122 for the American market in the 70's when small cars were in demand?

I take it that this car didn't have power steering, since you can see the steering wheel is fighting with the driver as he's turning the wheel.

So Autobianchi effectively became Lancia?

Never heard of it but it's fabulous! Looks like an Italian stole plans from Morris and had it built at Lada

My cousin in Ragusa , Sicily had one of these little rockets. I visited him in 1977,and asked me if I wanted to test drive it. His was a 1977 model A112 Abarth, dark blue and very nice interrior. I was amazed at how quick and agile this car was, and it coped with twisty mountain roads with ease, I absolutely loved it and makes me sad that Autobianchi has gone forever.