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Fiat surprised the entire sector at the Brussels Motor Show with this sports car in 1993.

It had not been baptized, it was presented as a Fiat Coupé, although it came out of that Hall with the nickname of the "Macchina".

 

Everyone was surprised by the design of Chris Bangle, responsible for an attractive angular and futuristic exterior, "Aggressive elegance", as it was advertised, and this design was ahead of its time. In 1985, he joined Fiat and began his career as a body designer,  at the brand's Centro Stile in Turin, Bangle worked under the guidance of Ermanno Cressoni and became head of exterior design and then responsible for the Centro Stile.

After almost three decades since its presentation, it still has a body according to other current vehicles without being a model that looks outdated. Bangle has noted in interviews that Gandini's innovative designs at Bertoni were a key inspiration, and it definitely shows in the crisp lines.

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On the other hand, Pininfarina made its interior luxurious. This was the result of an internal competition between Fiat's Centro Stile design division and Pininfarina, and actually marked the first time in years that Fiat's in-house team won the design battle.

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On May 20, 1994, sales of the Fiat Coupé began in Spain and it was available in three colors, of which red and yellow stood out.
It was offered in three versions of 4 cylinders and 1995 cc, called here: Coupé 16 v 142 hp din, Coupé 16 v Turbo 195 hp din and Coupé 16 v Turbo Plus.

• The 142 hp 16 v Coupé reached 208 km/h and accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in 9.2 seconds, with a price of 3,555,000 pesetas.

• The 195 hp Turbo Coupé reached 225 km/h and did 100 km/h in 7.5 seconds from a standstill, costing 4,015,000 pesetas.

• The Coupé Turbo Plus came simply with leather upholstery and its price was 4,265,000 pts.

In its second version from 1996 there were eight colours, some as expressive as ginestra yellow, electric blue and moon grey, colors that illustrated the coupés in the catalogues. Se  made small changes to its front end and dashboard, but the biggest change came in its engines.

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In 1996, a 1.8 L 16V engine (130 hp) was included, along with a 2.0-liter five-cylinder and four valves per cylinder in naturally aspirated 147 hp and turbocharged 220 hp variants.

With 0-60mph acceleration time of just over 6.0 seconds, the 2.0 turbo being the European car con front-wheel drive fastest of its time.

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In 1998 the 2.0 L 20V 5-cylinder received a variable intake system VIS (Variable Inlet System) which increased power to 154CV.

The 2.0-liter turbocharged five-cylinder received a six-speed transmission and a large satin-finished engine start button.

In addition, the letters of the Turbo version were colored in the same color as the bodywork.

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In 2000 Fiat launched another special version of the Fiat Coupé, it was the 1800 '2000 Special Edition'. Offering the 1.8 L engine, it was only available to Continental Europe and was marketed as a sleek, budget edition.

 

Fiat again made changes to the rest of the range; new seats, side skirts and wheels for the 2.0 L 20V model, 'Plus' edition wheels on turbo models and Recaro-made seats on the 'Plus'.

The 2.0 L 20VT model was capable of accelerating from 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in 6.3 seconds with a top speed of 156 mph (250 km/h).

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When production finally stopped in September 2000, a total of 72,800 units had been produced.

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