Here’s a Fiat Viaggio S, seen in the far east of the Chinese capital, Beijing, parked next to a Hyundai Elantra taxi. The sporty Italian sedan was in great shape, with its bright red paint shining in the summer sun.
About Fiat in China
Fiat tried twice to crack the Chinese car market: First with Nanjing-Fiat, which folded in 2006 after disappointing sales. Fiat tried again in 2012, with the GAC-FCA joint venture. This company produced the Fiat Viaggio sedan and the Fiat Ottimo hatchback. It didn’t go much better. After some initial success, Fiat didn’t introduce any new models, and sales went down. In 2019, it was all over once again.
The Fiat Viaggio S
The Fiat Viaggio S was a sporty variant of the facelifted Fiat Viaggio. The S debuted in 2017. It looked quite racy, with a black grille, black bumper inserts, black mirror housings, darkened headlights and windows, and chromed door handles.
It also had these super cool Italian-flag badges on the front fenders. The bright red was exclusive to the S.
Finally, Fiat fitted the Viaggio S with special alloy wheels and a sharkfin antenna on the roof. It definitely looked a whole lot cooler than the standard Viaggio sedan.
The interior of the Fiat Viaggio S
Fiat sexed up the interior as well, with black-red leather-suede sports seats, red stitching on the dashboard and doors, and a leather-clad steering wheel. Atop the dashboard is a mobile phone holder.
Very nice in the back as well, Fiat really tried hard with this one. Even the bench seems sportier than normal.
Specifications
Fiat based the Viaggio on the Fiat Compact Wide platform. It shared much of its underpinnings with the Dodge Dart. The Viaggio’s dimensions were 4679/1850/1471, with a 2708 millimeter wheelbase.
The Fiat Viaggio S was a front-wheel drive car. Power came from a Fiat T-Jet 1.4-liter turbocharged gasoline engine with an output of 150 hp and 230 Nm. Fiat proudly displayed the horsepower number on the back, in a special “T–Jet 150 HP” badge. The gearbox was a 7-speed DCT, which was quite advanced for China at the time. Fiat claimed a 207 km/h top speed and 0-100 in 7.3 seconds. The fuel consumption was relatively high: 7.3 liters per 100 kilometers.
Price and legacy
Characters: 广汽菲亚特, Guǎngqì Fēiyàtè, GAC Fiat. The Chinese name of the Viaggio is 菲翔, Fēixiáng. In 2017, Fiat asked 141,800 yuan for the Viaggio S. That was a reasonable price for what you got. The S looked great, had a lot of power, and it was fast!
Unfortunately, the S model’s sales were hampered by the same issues that plagued other Fiat offerings: a sparse dealer network and weak brand recognition. As a result, it sold in very low numbers.
Today, the Fiat Viaggio S is exceptionally rare, largely because it was on the market for just two years. However, this rarity hasn’t translated into desirability among most Chinese car enthusiasts, making it unlikely to earn a spot in museums anytime soon.