40 years ago, the Fiat Uno really was the vehicle from the future changing the way cars were designed and produced. This compact European hatchback delivered many automotive firsts and what Fiat did ensure a step change in manufacturing quality which everyone else followed.

Extensive research, a massive design and development budget and Robogate, this was a significant investment for Fiat and the development of the new processes made the Uno the car with the best construction quality in its market segment.

Now, we don’t mean quality as in expensive materials, leather on the seats and wood on the dash. In engineering and manufacturing terms, it means minimal deviation from the target spec, dimensions, fit, alignment. panel gaps. I could go on. Take a body panel from a Mk1 Fiesta and offer it up on another, not bad and better than earlier more hand built cars. But with the Uno it would be impossible to tell one from the other. This ability to produce parts that are more alike than before means less scrap, rework and better fit and build than before.

The Uno was launched with great fanfare with its technological innovation to a suitable backdrop of Cape Canaveral in the USA on the 19 January 1983.