“Rediscovering the Fiat Croma: A Hidden Gem from the 80s”

In the 1980s, Fiat offered a large Argenta sedan, but its age could hardly be disguised. It was actually just a facelift of the Fiat 132, which began to be sold in 1966. That is why the development of a new car was started, which was also to be taken over by sister Lancia, which would dilute the costs a bit. The car manufacturers Saab and Alfa Romeo also joined (at that time it did not belong to Fiat), so the new platform 4 served four new cars – Fiat Croma, Lancia Thema, Saab 9000 and Alfa Romeo 164. Today let’s talk about Fiat, which it arrived in 1985 as the cheapest of its siblings.

Although the Croma looks like a rather angular liftback, it has a relatively decent drag coefficient of 0.32. Maybe a little more, because the car is equipped with headlight wipers. Or maybe less, because the Chrome is decorated with an additional Abarth accessories package, which beautifies the car with side skirts, a spoiler on the fifth door, fifteen-inch wheels and smoked taillights.

It is quite easy and comfortable to get inside because the doors have a large opening angle. The interior is spacious and well-lit thanks to the large windows. In addition, it makes a bigger impression thanks to the light fabric upholstery with a period striped pattern. The interior parts are of high quality, and even after all these years, nothing squeaks or creaks, which would certainly disappoint many who do not love Italian cars.

The second row of seats is also decently spacious, and the trunk has a volume of even 500 liters. You can easily increase it by folding down the rear backrests. And thanks to the fact that the Croma is a liftback, you can load really big items.

The equipment is not bad, the particular car has electric front windows, mirrors and a sunroof, remote central locking, automatic heating and an adjustable steering wheel. It was replaced with a period tuning one, and the wooden head of the gear lever is also different.

The seat is also height adjustable, although the lever is a bit fragile. The lumbar support can be adjusted in the backrest. There is no air conditioning in the car, the previous owner did not pay for it and fought the heat only with blinds against the sun. There is a large panel on the square black dashboard to the left of the steering wheel. Láďa immediately explains to me that he should signal when something is not working in the car. However, since nothing lights up on it, it is clear that this Fiat does not suffer from any of the diseases of Italian cars and is in absolutely perfect condition. It is said that in those eighteen years, the fuel pump has gone bad only once.

So when the car is in perfect order, we can drive it around a bit. I’m in luck because this is no poor Croma, but a sharper variant of the Turbo ie, powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder Lampredi. Compared to the naturally aspirated two-liter, it has modified injection and ignition, an intercooler and an overboost function. Thanks to this, the Croma offers 155 hp (116 kW) and 247 Nm, so that the maximum speed is 215 km/h.

This is the same as the much more expensive Lancia Thema 8.32 offered with the eight-cylinder Ferrari. However, the Croma Turbo accelerates a lot faster and reaches 100 km/h in 7.9 seconds. Acceleration will be complicated by the turbo effect, but that simply belongs to supercharged cars from the eighties. Consumption is around eight liters of fuel, the tank holds 65 litres.

The engine can cope with a ton and relatively large car, so I immediately notice very good cornering behavior. There, the car tilts, but it keeps nicely in the selected track and gives a stable impression. Fiat owes this to the independent suspension of all wheels. The clutch is very easy and the brakes are quite sensitive and sharp. And because the steering is communicative, the Croma can be driven briskly and use the full potential of the turbocharged engine. If only the steering wheel were bigger, I would drive a lot better.

But at the same time, the designers didn’t even care about that, they mainly wanted a comfortable car, not a racer. The engine is balanced and, thanks to careful storage, almost no vibrations are transmitted into the cabin, and thanks to high-quality noise reduction, not much sound from the drive unit. This up to above 4000 rpm, when fortunately it sounds quite pleasant.

Thanks to its low price and large interior space, the Croma was especially liked by taxi drivers. Thanks to them, it remained in the offer until 1996 and underwent modernization in 1988 and 1991. However, Fiat did not announce a direct successor, the sales figures of large sedans fell towards the end and SUVs entered the family car market. Customers were satisfied with the smaller Marea model derived from the Bravo/Brava types. The Croma name appeared in 2005 on a strange crossover station wagon, but even its sales did not meet expectations during five years, and so it disappeared without a successor.

Today, you rarely meet both generations of Croma. The first is due to corrosion, although this liftback suffered less than is believed, but it is already quite an old car, so it is actually entitled to problems with the red plague. You can find a Croma even under a hundred thousand, but the prices of the nicest supercharged versions will exceed 300 thousand crowns. But you can find decent ones for around a third of this amount. You will be rewarded with a spacious and comfortable car that is not too unreliable.