Welcome to the first installment of Italian 101, where we take a look back at fantastic old Italian metal. More you say? Well yes, in a sense. A little while back we used a picture of a Fiat 128 as the top shot in a post about the upcoming Chrysler-Fiat disaster partnership and the sporty little sedan that may come of the deal. Reader Kenneth Miller would, “love car more information on car.” You ask, you shall receive. As it happens, the 128 isn’t just a great looking little car, but historically significant, too. Jump it.

In 1969 Fiat introduced the world to its replacement for the seriously ancient 1100, first built in under the Fascist eye of Mussolini in 1937 and redesigned in 1953. The all new 128 was technically a supermini, but roughly the same size as its competition — rides like the Honda Civic and Mazda 808. And while the 128 visually resembled the larger 124 and 125 (though not nearly as dour looking), it had one key difference: Front-wheel drive. Not just FWD, but a traverse mounted engine with unequal length half-shafts. This allowed the small engine and gearbox to sit next to each other. You may not realize it, but this was a major, massive innovation. Why so important? Because all small FWD cars built today feature unequal length half-shafts. The 128 was just the first.

The engine was also quite ahead of its time (Fiats of the 1960s tended to be forward thinking — for instance, the 125 came with a five-speed transmission in 1966!). The 128 featured SOHC, and while this type of valvetrain became ubiquitous during Reagan’s first term, it was quite advanced for 1969. The 1100cc mill also sported an aluminum head that — you guessed it — was rare for the time.

All this tech added up to 55-65 hp, depending on lots of variables. Don’t scoff. The 128 weighed less than 1,700 pounds. A fatso Lotus Elise tips the scales at 1,965 lbs. Bore and stroke were increased throughout the years with the final two-door rally edition 128s getting 1290cc motors good for a relatively whopping 75 hp. The Fiat SOHC actually kept growing, peaking at 1600cc and 90 hp in 1997 when it was finally put out to pasture. Though in 1989 there was a high output 1372cc variant in the Uno Turbo MkII good for 112 hp.

Not content with just being cute, innovative and potent — a neat hat trick as it stands — the 128 was also a driver’s car. Sentiments like the following are not at all rare:

As a 15 year old learning to drive off road I thought the Fiat was fantastic. I could get it to jump. handbrake turn, understeer, and even four wheel drift round muddy corners. The 1200cc engine was a screamer, the gearbox slick and easy to use, and the controls seemed to all fall naturally to hand. I was in love with this orange rust pile.

In fact the 128 was voted the European Car of the Year in 1970. The press loved it. In fact, it was able to keep up with much newer cars, like the 1974 Volkswagen Golf according to reviews of the day. And could out run stuff like the Datsun B210 and Subaru DL, too. Weekend racers (and beyond) naturally took to the car’s fine handling as evidenced by some of the pics you’re looking at. Plus you could get it as a “Break,” or 2-door wagon. That’s what I’d take racing.

Fiat kept improving the 128 through the end of its production run in 1985, when it was replaced by the geometric, sin-ugly Ritmo. A car so ghastly that Fiat made the second version look like a VW Golf. And it was essentially a 128 anyhow. Few loved the Ritmo, especially not like they did them 128s.