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The car was first exhibited at the Barcelona Motor Show in May 1974. Noteworthy at that time was the compression ratio of only 8:1, which permitted the car to run on 85 octane petrol/gasoline. This was still appropriate in Spain, but elsewhere in western Europe even "regular" fuel grades by now generally guaranteed a higher minimum octane rating. The 133 effectively replaced the SEAT 600 which had been produced in considerable numbers with around 800,000 built - almost exclusively for the domestic market - by 1974. Initially the 133 was only sold in Spain and did not enjoy great success, since it suffered from frequent overheating problems. However, it enjoyed success in other parts of the world, like Egypt for example, where the car is still in service. Reflecting the rear engine lay-out, there was just a small well for parcels behind the back seats, with more room for luggage under the 'bonnet/hood' at the front of the car. Up to 200,000 SEAT 133s had been produced by 1979 in Spain. A further 15,821 were made in the Fiat/Sevel Plant at Córdoba in Argentina between 1977 and 1982. In April 1977 it was announced that Egypt was about to become the world's 32nd car producing country. This followed the signing of an agreement for the shipment of ckd kits from Seat's Barcelona plant to the Helwan premises of the Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Company for assembly, in order to supply the Egyptian market and for export to Iraq. The SEAT 133 was exported to Germany from the Autumn/Fall of 1974: here it found some success among rear wheel drive-loyalists in the mid-seventies. It was also sold in Britain from June 1975. These countries had no SEAT dealership network at the time, and the cars were branded as Fiat 133s, to be marketed alongside the Fiats 126 and 127. |
