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The 128's basic and boxy styling (inspired by the larger Fiat 124), betrayed the advanced design that lay beneath.

Like the Mini, the 128 has a front-wheel drive design with a transverse-mounted engine, a layout which has since become ubiquitous for small cars. The 1972 128 3P version also was the first hatchback with this drive-train layout (other 128 models retained the more conventional boot). However, it was the later VW Golf, rather than the 3P, that first caught the public imagination for cars of this type and sold in significant numbers worldwide.

It was elected Car of the Year in 1970. The 128 was still a pheonomenal success for the Italian manufacturer, and continued until 1978 when it was replaced by the Fiat Ritmo/Strada range, and formed the basis of the Yugo range of cars made by the ZastavaZastava is a Serbian automobile manufacturer based in Kragujevac, 86 miles south of Belgrade. The company began collaborating with Fiat in 1955 to assemble versions of its cars for Eastern European markets. The company is best known for its locally built company.