In the second of a short series, I will remind readers of what was on sale in 1984, courtesy of the much missed “World Car Guide”.
In 1984 Bertone offered a cabriolet version of the Ritmo, with its own badge on the grille. By 1984 Fiat had restyled the Ritmo slightly: the air intake on the bonnet vanished in a tidying frenzy. The car had a roll-hoop to add rigidity, probably a necessity for a vehicle as fundamentally light as the Ritmo. Another Ritmo cabrio option existed: the Pink Panther, also put together by Bertone.
For the interior colours and materials Bertone collaborated with Gian Franco Togno, a furrier. As a result the Ritmo Pink Panther has leather, suede and mink inside it. The paint looks like a reddish-gold pearlescent. I wonder how many exist. The car is not well represented on the net. The image I found (above in black and white) does not hint at the mink and suede glory of the car. The furrier, Mr Togno, is also not referenced. This is a genuine obscurity, I think.
Fiat, is of course, a huge empire and its Brazilian outpost offered the Oggi which is a saloon version of the 127. Like the European 127, the Oggi had transverse leaf-springs. I rather like the car’s decidedly chunky proportions; more perplexing is why the 124 could not do the same sort of job. The two vehicles’ dimensions and weights are probably within a one or two percent all around.
The Oggi looks good indeed:
Not sure what you mean by this though – “more perplexing is why the 124 could not do the same sort of job”?
I meant that Fiat could have sold the one car in two markets.
Probably because the 127 was produced in Brazil, and the 124 wasn’t.
Laurent: by “good’ do you mean “bad”? Because that’s what I would’ve said the Oggi looks like. Really, really bad.
I quite like the rugged simplicity of it. Of course it’s no patch on a 131 coupé:
I’ve always been very fond of the original Ritmo for some reason. I don’t like the Bertone vert half as much, in fact I think it looks pretty mediocre compared to e.g. a MK1 Golf cabriolet.
As with all Fiats, as Melle suggests, it looks far better in pre-facelift form
Are there more pictures of this Ritmo Pink Panther – i would like to see the interior with those seats.
Not many, Markus. A brochure would be worth a pretty penny. Isn’t it simply an odd concept?