Concept
Before the Primula, all Fiat Group passenger cars were rear-wheel drive; the larger models followed the classic FR layout (front engine powering the rear axle), and small cars were rear-engined. Meanwhile, a practical concept emerged, namely the front-wheel drive layout with the engine mounted transversely, which allowed for very efficient space utilization. First popularized by the Mini, it also found its way to other, bigger models, starting with BMC's Austin/Morris 1100.
Fiat's chief designer, Dante Giacosa, recognized the potential of the concept, but the company decided to experiment without risking damage to the image of its popular Fiat-branded cars. Thus the Autobianchi Primula emerged—a car marketed under a less crucial nameplate, for which it was an entry into a whole new class of vehicles.
Read more about this topic: Autobianchi Primula
Famous quotes containing the word concept:
“There is a concept that is the corrupter and destroyer of all others. I speak not of Evil, whose limited empire is that of ethics; I speak of the infinite.”
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)
“Teaching Black Studies, I find that students are quick to label a black person who has grown up in a predominantly white setting and attended similar schools as “not black enough.” ...Our concept of black experience has been too narrow and constricting.”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)
“The nearer a conception comes towards finality, the nearer does the dynamic relation, out of which this concept has arisen, draw to a close. To know is to lose.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)