Do you still remember the Fiat Marea? If not, you're in great company. The Fiat Marea is almost unknown today and has almost completely disappeared from our roads and everyday life.
The A series with the internal designation 185 is celebrating a special birthday this year: exactly 30 years ago, in the late summer of 1996, the successor to the Fiat Tempra first rolled into dealerships. It is therefore worth taking a look back at the lower middle-class vehicle, which, as a classic sedan with a stepped rear and a practical van called the “Weekend”, embodies the automotive common sense of the late 90s. Marea, by the way, is the Italian word for tide.
Starting point: One class higher by deception
From a technical point of view, Fiat has made its job a lot easier with the Marea. The car is largely based on the compact Bravo (three-door) and Brava (five-door) models, which were introduced the year before. Up to the B-pillar, the visual and structural similarities are obvious. The cockpit has also been adopted.
However: The Marea is not only intended to replace the Tempra, but is also designed as a successor to the Croma. In order to position the Marea half a class higher in the mid-size class, where it competes with competitors such as the Opel Vectra or the Ford Mondeo, the Italian engineers resorted to optical tricks. More powerful bumpers extend the vehicle to a total length of 4,39 meters. The wider track, on the other hand, ensures a more solid appearance.
With a width of 1,74 metres, the Marea offers plenty of space inside, and the boot can hold 430 litres of luggage. While the sedan with a stepped rear end gets lost in the flow of traffic with its proportionate but unobtrusive design with three storage compartments, the 4,48 metre long Marea Weekend develops its own stylistic identity. Its unique feature is the detachable bumper under the tailgate, which it took over from its predecessor, the Tempra. This makes loading the boot, which has a capacity of up to 1.550 litres, considerably easier.
Engines: From a five-cylinder unit to a modern JTD
At launch, the Marea offers a wide range of four-valve petrol and swirl chamber diesel engines under the hood. The range initially ranges from 75 PS to 154 PS in the top model. The 2,4-litre five-cylinder turbodiesel is particularly interesting. With electronically controlled pre-chamber injection, it initially has 124 PS and is the second most powerful engine in the range.
ADAC was impressed at the time in the first test. Even at top speed (195 km/h), the diesel engine is said to be barely audible. At a speed of 120, a full tank (63 liters) is said to be sufficient for a full 900 kilometers. The TD 125 sedan costs 37.200 marks, while the VW Vento with 110-PS-TDI is a good 600 marks more expensive.
Among the petrol engines, the 2,0-litre five-cylinder 20V engine with 147 PS, later increased to 150 and finally to 154 PS, is the absolute highlight in terms of smoothness and sound. In the 1999 model year, Fiat significantly improved the range of power units. The old diesel engines were mostly replaced by the then state-of-the-art turbodiesel engines with the Common Rail system, called JTD. These are distinguished by their low fuel consumption.
The smaller 1.9 JTD engine develops 105 PS, which is increased to 110 PS at the end of 2000, accelerating the sedan to a top speed of 185 km/h, accelerating from zero to one hundred kilometers per hour in 10,8 seconds, and consuming 5,6 liters of fuel in the combined cycle. The larger 2.4 JTD engine is available by the end of 2000 with 130 PS, enabling a top speed of 197 km/h and accelerating in just 10 seconds, and consuming an average of 6,7 liters of diesel fuel.
Pioneer: Marea Bipower powered by natural gas
The real novelty at the 1997 Frankfurt Motor Show was the presentation of the Fiat Marea 1.6 SX Bipower. This places Fiat among the pioneers of factory-built vehicles running on compressed natural gas (CNG). The well-known 1,6-liter 16V "Torque" engine with 103 PS has been adapted to run on both petrol and natural gas. The adaptations include sequential multi-point gas injection, hardened valve seat rings for the exhaust valves and special CNG injectors in the intake system.
Compared to the often flawed retrofit solutions of the time, the engine operates completely without any loss of power in petrol mode. In natural gas mode, the power is reduced by only around 10 percent. Considering the price of natural gas in Italy at the time, which was 649 lire per cubic meter, the Bipower system is extremely economical and reduces CO₂ emissions by around 25 percent. However, since the petrol station network was still sparse at the end of the 90s, the combination with a conventional petrol tank is still necessary. This significantly reduces the volume of the luggage compartment.
Model and equipment version update
The Marea is available in three classic Fiat trim levels: the SX as the basic version with robust fabric, the ELX as the mid-range version with Chenille fabrics and the HLX as the top-of-the-range version with velour, optional leather and air conditioning. During its life cycle, the Marea has undergone two model updates.
In the summer of 1999, the interior underwent a noticeable improvement. Anthracite dashboards, a light gray roof lining and improved plastic surfaces with a "soft-touch" coating on the handles replaced the often criticized, gloomy plastic environment of the early years. At the end of 2000, another facelift followed with the introduction of a new, round Fiat logo. This included optical changes to the van's rear lights and a general adaptation of the engines to stricter emission standards.
Special versions and other lives around the world
In addition to the regular civilian versions, there are also interesting niche versions of the Marea. The Italian police (Polizia) use the Marea. For business purposes, the Fiat Marengo is available, which, as the Marea Weekend in the commercial vehicle version, serves as a two-seater van with closed rear windows and exclusively diesel power. Even more interesting are the special versions that were traditionally built for taxi transport on the island of Capri.
To this end, Fiat lengthened the Marea sedan by 70 centimeters to create space for two additional rear seats in the open rear section, while only the driver sits in the closed cabin. While production of the sedan in Europe ends at the beginning of 2002, and production of the Weekend model at the end of 2002, and they are succeeded by the Fiat Stilo Multiwagon, the Marea's career abroad is only really beginning.
In Brazil, the Marea was produced until February 2008, interestingly using the rear bodywork and taillights of its more prestigious sibling from the same concern, the Lancia Lybra, and offering sporty top-of-the-line versions, such as the 2.0 20V Turbo with up to 182 PS. In Turkey, the Tofaş brand also continued to produce the vehicle under license until the end of 2007, offering, among other things, high-quality versions with leather interiors. By 2007, just over 900.000 Marea vehicles and their variants would have been produced.
