SEAT 124

Start with what the SEAT 124 is: a 2-door coupé / 4-door saloon / 5-door estate with gasoline engine, built from 1968 to 1980, in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Oscar Montabone (sedan) / Mario Boano (sport coupe) / Giorgetto Giugiaro (1975 facelift).

The story

The SEAT 124 is a small family car produced by the Spanish manufacturer SEAT in its Zona Franca, Barcelona and Landaben, Pamplona plants between 1968 and 1980. The SEAT 124 was produced in four-door, five-door station wagon (Familiar) and two-door coupé (Sport) versions under various engines and trim levels; including a special, more powerful variant, called SEAT 1430. The car was very successful in Spain having sold 896,136 units.

What is underneath

The engine is gasoline engine. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 242 cm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.

Its place in the line

In the SEAT line-up the SEAT 124 has a clear place: it handed the line to the SEAT Ritmo; the factory was Zona Franca, Barcelona. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Toyota Hilux, the Peugeot 504, the Range Rover Range Rover. Nearby in the SEAT catalogue sit the SEAT 133 and the SEAT 1200 Sport.

Owning one today

MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the SEAT 124 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.