In addition to exhibiting its current modern and efficient range of models (Ibiza, Arona and Leon), Seat is offering an interesting retrospective at its stand that reviews its brilliant history as a manufacturer. The celebration of the company's seventy years coincides with the three decades since the inauguration of the Martorell factory.
The space set aside for this exhibition recreates a time tunnel with the presence of the Seat 1400, Seat 600, Seat Ibiza I and a spectacular Seat 850 Sport Spider models. The first Seat in history was registered on November 13, 1953 and marked the starting point of mass production of passenger cars in Spain.
The Seat 1400 was a very luxurious vehicle in its time, an advanced car that used a self-supporting body, combined with an American-style design. It was equipped with a four-cylinder engine with a displacement of 1,395 cc, associated with a four-speed gearbox.
The maximum power was 44 CV and the maximum speed reached 120 km/h. The fuel tank had a capacity of 48 liters and the average fuel consumption was 10.5 l/100 km. In total, 98,978 units of the model were sold.
The 1400 was the only Seat model until 1957, the year of the debut of the Seat 600, the model that democratized the use of the car in Spain. At a time when a motorcycle with a sidecar was already considered a family vehicle, the Seat 600 was a real luxury with its doors, roof and heating. Its acceptance was so great that the waiting list reached more than two years and during its production, the power went from the initial 18 CV to 25 CV.
The Seat 850 Sport, designed by Bertone and also known as Spider, was born in 1969. It was a beautiful convertible two-seater, in charge of completing the range of the popular Seat 850. Equipped with a 903 cc engine and 52 CV of power, this unique model It was the only mass-produced convertible in the history of Seat and a total of 1,746 units were registered, until production ceased in 1972.
The year 1984 marked a before and after in the history of the Spanish brand. In October, within the framework of the Paris Motor Show, the first Seat Ibiza was presented worldwide. It was the first car developed entirely by Seat as an independent company.
The Martorell Technical Center raised the entire Seat Ibiza project and had the collaboration of prestigious firms in the sector, such as Italdesign for the design, Karmann for the industrialization and development of the bodywork and Porsche for the technology applied to the engines. In 1993 it would be the turn of the second generation of the Ibiza, presented in Barcelona and becoming the first model produced in the Martorell factory.
The Seat exhibition is completed with the presence of a very special model, an electric Seat Toledo that the Spanish brand built for the Barcelona Olympic Games held in 1992. It had a power of 22 CV, accelerated from 0 to 70 km/ h in 28 seconds and was equipped with a 500-kilo battery, necessary to accompany the athletes in the 42 km of the marathon test.
The Martorell production plant was inaugurated on February 22, 1993. In this way, Seat transferred its production, which to date had been carried out at the Zona Franca facilities in Barcelona. Since then, Seat has produced more than 12 million vehicles, distributed in a total of 45 models.
