Fiat tried to trick the market and invested little in the 125 lineup, and the customers noticed that.
But still, they might be forgiven for offering the Special version in 1970.

The 125 Special left the impression that Fiat did not pay the design team and the engineering department for overtime, and they just recycled some old ideas. The vehicle was based on the Fiat 124 platform, which was, in turn, based on the former 1961 Fiat 1500 platform.

Fiat’s designers installed four square headlights instead of the regular round ones on the front fascia, and their job was almost done. Other than that, they kept the same brick-looking bodywork from the 124, but with flush door-handles and a teardrop-shaped turn-signal on the front fenders.

Inside, there was some more work done by the designers, who installed two big dials on the instrument panel for the speedometer and tachometer. They even imagined a center stack with almost impossible to see while driving two gauges for the oil pressure and the ammeter. The big dials from the instrument panel still hosted the fuel level and coolant temperature gauges.

While the platforms department and the designers didn’t get enough money to make a new vehicle, the powertrain department was spoiled. It provided a twin-cam engine fed by a dual-barrel carburetor. They paired it with a 5-speed manual gearbox, which was something to brag about. Most of the competitors received such a treat only about a decade or two later. In 1970 there were not too many carmakers that offered 100 hp from a 1.6-liter engine. But Fiat did it.