It’s been a while since we last held our collective noses and descended into our dark cavern of decay to peer beneath the boulders of history in search of yesterday’s mouldering, whiffy treasure. Welcome back to The Carchive.
Last time it was the Mitsubishi Tredia that came under scrutiny. Today we’re sticking with the ‘eighties and taking a glimpse at the SEAT Marbella: a car that fulfilled that brief of delivering ‘just enough car’; which doesn’t seem to be a thing any more.
“The SEAT Marbella is a distinctive blend of chic design and down-to-earth common sense. It combines utility with agility, and is manufactured to the highest standard to meet the need for a reliable small car that is simple to maintain and fun to run”
There’s a great deal of truth in the above. The SEAT Marbella was about as simple as cars got, thanks in no small part to being a kissing cousin of the Fiat Panda, which was covered in The Carchive way back in 2013. Time flies when you’re thinking about tiny Italian-designed hatchbacks.
The Marbella actually started out as the SEAT Panda. SEAT had an age-old relationship with Fiat, which saw it producing badge-engineered versions of the Italian brand’s models as part of a ‘technical partnership’, which gradually dissolved in the early 1980s, and came to loggerheads after SEAT released its Ronda – which was eerily similar, though crucially not quite the same as, the Fiat Ritmo. Anyway, the SEAT Panda had been born before the divorce, and continued to be built well after the breakup.
SEAT’s Panda never received the updates that Fiat’s version did, and the second generation was christened Marbella, splitting it from the Fiat Original for good. However, it was still easily recognisable as a Giuigiaro masterpiece.
“This Flagship of the Marbella range comes with the 900cc engine. A dependable performer with a five speed gearbox that helps it towards a top speed of 83mph and over 60mpg at a constant 56mph”
Since the above figures were published, the folly of quoted fuel consumption statistics has become truly apparent. Yes, 60mpg is possible at a constant 56mph, but just where can you drive at that speed? Try it on a UK motorway and you’ll be the target of abuse from faster traffic of all shapes and sizes. Holding up 38-tonne trucks really isn’t much of a pleasure. But try holding 56mph on twistier byways in a car like this, and the cornering limitations mean that 60mpg is a bit ambitious – you’ll be doing a lot of braking and accelerating to keep that kind of pace. Still, at least they didn’t bother quoting a constant 75mph figure.
The “prestigious” GLX designation meant you got carpets! Not only that, but opening rear vent windows. “Stylish” full wheel covers provide the final touch of elan. Note that the Marbella did without the 4×4 version offered within the Panda range, and which somehow elevated the latter from mere budget runabout to serious no-frills mobility tool.
“The Marbella Designer opens the door to chic, stylish affordability. The 850cc engine and four-speed gearbox produce an economical 57.6mpg at a constant 56mph”
Yes, it was hardly surprising that a feeble 33bhp made the 850 less economical than the 39bhp 900, and 80mph was no longer attainable, either. It’s rather a shame that this brochure doesn’t have a handy ready-reckoner table for standard equipment – with four trim levels in the range, yet none exactly lavishly furnished, there wasn’t a huge variation of spec from the top to the bottom of the range, and I rather enjoy looking at the incremental changes in perverse detail. The Marbella Designer was, though, the undeniable bottom rung of the ladder, and its “Designer” label seems justified only by the gaudy red tape-stripe that adorns its belt-line.
It’s interesting to ponder just how far SEAT has come since the Marbella days. Now part of the VW empire, its model lineup is rich with SUVs and hatchbacks with a reputation for enjoyable driving manners and a fashionable image. I’ve never been especially convinced, though, and the brand has never really engaged with me for me. In my mind, today’s SEAT has never really explained its case for being. If the company was to suddenly disappear, I suspect the mourning would be brief, and everybody would just buy a Volkswagen or a Skoda. Back in the Marbella era, though, value was everything for the Spanish brand, and the Marbella was a regular fixture in the top five list of cheapest cars you could buy in the UK.
(All images are taken from original manufacturer promotional material, photographed by me. Copyright remains property of Volkswagen Group. And it took until I was well into my teens to realise that Marbella isn’t, in fact, pronounced Mar-Bell-a)
The Carchive: The SEAT Marbella
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17 responses to “The Carchive: The SEAT Marbella”
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Seat tries to market itself in the UK with the ‘Auto Emotion’ tagline; but everyone over 30-ish remembers Seat in it’s original badge-engineered-FIAT days as illustrated by this Marbella. Nothing from the current range expresses ’emotion’ enough to overcome the current image — plus ca change — of badge-engineered-VAG. Sure, there some warmed-up hatches (Cupra, Bocanegra, Bocacupra, Cupranegra, whatever) but too much is niche-positioned mass market with no apparent evidence of where all the ’emotion’ went.
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I do agree by large, and I think that the company served as low price high quality assembly lane for the mothership for quite a bit. Also, people who make a point of not buying German were okay with the brand for a while.
Maybe when Audi moved to an old-people brand (by keeping their aging customers) there would be a better opportunity for Seat to become what BMW was in the 90ies or something.-
Funny you should say that about Audi, the Seat Exeo was a very lightly facelifted Audi A4 B7, a great way to keep using the tooling. Only slightly more than badge engineering, they did grille and headlights too.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/SEAT_Exeo_%2822878336791%29.jpg/1280px-SEAT_Exeo_%2822878336791%29.jpg-
To close another circle: the first A4 bearing the awkward “two-storey grille” (de Silva’s most prominent alteration of the Audi design language) was the B7 indeed.
Curiously enough, the grille of the Exeo (didn’t know it until now) looks more like a B6 A4.
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I wonder how fast the two cylinder Panda 30 was? I wish there was someone left in Italy with original ideas about how small cars can work and look.
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The turnaround of Seat is often credited to de Silva, but he joined a little late to transition from this Marr Bay ya to today’s Cupras. Appointed by his Highness von Piëch he could repeat his success from Alfa Romeo and rejuvenate the design language (didn’t work as well for Audi after that, I think). It definitely helped that the build quality and driving dynamics delivered what the looks promised – but that was a process that began 15 years before de Silva joined. There is a story for ateupwithmotors in there…
Somehow, Seat is the hot hatch brand of VW now, and hard to develop from there into something upwards the corporate doesn’t have already. But I am not a manager, so better listen to me -
Seat wants to be seen as the sporty VW brand but they don’t make a sports car. Maybe they should have gone ahead and put the 2001 Tango Concept Car into production
http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/concept/large/2001_Seat_Tango_design-sketch_03.jpg
http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/concept/large/2001_Seat_Tango_design-sketch_04.jpg
http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/concept/large/2001_Seat_Tango_01.jpg
http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/concept/large/2001_Seat_Tango_02.jpg
http://www.carstyling.ru/resources/concept/large/2001_Seat_Tango_06.jpg -
Being an American, SEATs are a relatively obscure marque for me. Today I just think of them (as with Skodas) as rebadged VWs, but I’m sure that’s an over-simplification. I assume that this Marbella– given its Fiat origins, was a model offered before VW influence? Was the name retained for a later VW derivative?
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Spot on, Fiat bailed out in early 1980ies, with some legal ties dangling for a couple of years. VW moved in quickly, like two years after the divorce.
This car was conceived as Seat Panda and continued as such until a facelift (VW was in the house already). They also lifted the name to be Marbella.
Any deputy archeologist of the Carchive can date today’s brochure to be MY1986 or younger.
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When I grew up, these things were everywhere. The simplicity of the design is kind of appealing now, but to my mind, the Panda/Marbella twins are not old enough yet for their utilitarian approach to be desirable. After reunification of GDR and BRD, my mother got a Panda with a fabric roof as her first car. It was awesome. It used about the same amount of fuel as a Trabant, but it was better in almost every aspect. Except for rust. In early 1990s Germany, all used cars were swept up, so replacing the entire bottom half of the Panda was a reasonable investment. Back then though, the Marbella was seen as a worse quality alternative. I remember buying tires for one once, for a female neighbour who needed some assistance – they were priced just a tad above wheelbarrow rubber. Amazed me.
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I remember Fiat Panda owners replacing their rusted out doors with those from the Marbella. They, apparently, didn’t rust as badly. You could spot them quite easily, as the Marbella doors had a lot of plastic cladding.
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Nice. Rather like a Subaru Justy, I think.
I’m also really impressed with the upholstered dash. It looks pretty good there, and I niftiest the cabin.-
This was smaller and much cheaper than a Justy. Also, that dash is more like a hammock than ”upholstered”
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A Justy is like a Rolls Royce compared to this.
I think Marbella is the most cheap and essential car produced in a non-communist country.-
Having driven both of these cars, the Fiat Panda and the Subaru Justy, I would choose the Panda every time. The Justy is the worst car Subaru ever produced. I had to rent one when I flew to visit a family member as it was the only car available, the only one left. Since then I ALWAYS prebook. The Justy had 8000km on the clock and it was horrible to drive, with NVH of Triumph Herald proportions, and having driven a Daihatsu Charade of the time with it’s smooth triple cylinder engine, this wasn’t what I expected. I thought a plug lead was loose and tried to give the car back, they had another one there and it was the same, “they’re all like that sir”.
My relatives had recently purchased a new Lada 2104 station wagon. THAT was like a Rolls Royce, after stepping from the Justy.
And that was the worst car anyone in my family ever owned.
In contrast, the Pandas I’ve driven were merely cheerfully cheap. And much smoother to drive.-
That was damning. But I can’t help but notice…Lada has/had a sales presence in NZ?
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Yes, NZ has always had a diplomatic and trade connection with Russia, or the USSR. We are a trading nation and they wanted to buy our wool and dairy products. So through the NZ Dairy Board there was a barter, no currency involved, swap of milk powder, cheeses, casein etc for goods. Avtoexport facilitated this and the NZDB set up dealers. They were popular with people who could remember the Russian connections through WW2, like my stepfather, who had sailed to Murmansk many times.
The connection to Russia was handy when a NZer was looking for WW2 aircraft parts in the 70s, from planes that had been shot down, Spitfires and the like, and the warbird restoration movement was starting. Some parts had been made for servicing in the USSR and the offer was made to remake them. This culminated in the Yak 3 and Yak7 fighter being reproduced.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakovlev_Yak-9
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/REY_5911.jpg/1280px-REY_5911.jpg
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