Autobianchi History
Bianchi The company was founded in the late nineteenth century by Eduardo Bianchi. The initial products were bicycles, but also produced cars since 1905.
After WWII the company could not continue the production of cars for financial reasons. Bianchi founded in 1955 with Fiat and Pirelli Autobianchi brand. In 1958, Bianchi had to give his share of the company to other partners. The same year he started selling the first model of Autobianchi, the Bianchina, based on the Fiat 500.Autobianchi Bianchina
Since 1967 Autobianchi was part of the exclusive Italian Fiat consortium. Fiat used the Autobianchi brand to test market new techniques without damaging the reputation of the Fiat brand. Autobianchi cars were made more luxurious and better equipped than the Fiat, already serving a niche market and were therefore also more expensive.
In the 1960 Autobianchi Primula introduced and combined Giardiniera. The Primula was the first Fiat group car with front wheel drive, transverse engine and tailgate. Later would come the Autobianchi A111 and A112, whose engines were from the Fiat group. The A111 was similar to the Fiat 124 4-door front-wheel drive. The A112 was the most successful model of the mark and was manufactured for over 16 years. No other Autobianchi model matched his popularity. Both had the transverse engine and front wheel drive, the A112 was based on the Fiat 127.
Autobianchi A112
The A112 Abarth was improved by increasing the power at 58, 69 and 70 hp. However during the development phase of the A112 prototypes were produced over 100 hp, but these little fireballs would not have had a reasonable price, so that Carlo Abarth was content to initially increase power to 58 hp.
Autobianchi Y10
Lancia Y10
Outside Italy the A112 was the last model sold under the brand Autobianchi, until in 1982 it began marketing under the brand Lancia. From the standpoint of the Fiat group was a logical decision, since Lancia and Autobianchi served the same market, except that Lancia had no small car. Due to the increased popularity of Lancia, Autobianchi brand was eliminated. The successor models were the Lancia Y10 (which was marketed in Italy for some time as Autobianchi Y10), and Lancia Y Lancia Ypsilon.
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