The first facelift for the Fiat 131 appeared in 1978 and brought a breeze of fresh air to the car before it aged too much.
After successfully introducing the Fiat 131 Mirafiori in 1975, the Italian carmaker worked together with Abarth and prepared the two-door version for the World Rally Championship. They won it in 1977, and that’s why the 1978 model came at the right time. But the only connection between the four-door sedan and the rally car was the name and a sticker in the back as a reminder for its users. But the Supermirafiori was not a race car.

Inside, it offered comfortable seats at the front fitted with headrests. In the back, there was enough room for up to two adults. Due to the intrusive transmission tunnel, it wasn’t easy to host three passengers, mostly since there were only two headrests. The instrument cluster was rectangular, with squared dials for the tachometer and speedometer. In the middle, on the upper side, there was an analog clock.

The most important changes were for the drivetrain. Apart from the base engine versions, which still used the same four-pots as the 1975 model-year, the rest were fitted with twin-cam and four overhead valves. Fiat installed a new, five-speed gearbox for the entire range, with an option for a three-speed auto for selected versions.