Here we have an extremely rare car for Beijing, in fact the very first I have seen in the whole of China. This is the Fiat Croma, a notchback made in Italy from 1985 until 1996. This red example is made after 1991 when the Croma received its only facelift. The Fiat Croma was built on the Type Four platform which also underpinned the Saab 9000, the Alfa Romeo 164 and the Lancia Thema. The Croma was never officially exported to China so how it ended up here in Beijing is unclear.

The Fiat Croma was powered by either a 1.6, a 2.0, a 2.0 16V, a 2.0 turbo or a 2.5 V6. This car in Beijing was a 2.0 IE, good for max 120 hp depending on configuration. The red car on pics looked very well maintained, paint was all good and no visible rust. Great job because I doubt Fiat supports the Croma in China.

When the Fiat Croma was first launched in my native the Netherlands the whole county laughed out of its wooden boots. ‘Croma’ was also the name of a butter-brand that by the time was associated with old murky ladies frying cheap pork in very dirty kitchens. They do a bit better now…