When even stars no longer help
09/17/2016
At the Barcelona Motor Show in May 1974, Seat presented the new Seat 133, a four-seater small car for little money. The 133 was one of the first models to be developed locally at the time, but the company did not have much money for development and design.
The 133 inherited the design of the Fiat 126, but at almost 3.5 meters long, it was a whole lot bigger.
For the technology, the company reached for the parts shelf and adopted the rear engine of the Seat 850, which also drove the rear wheels of the 133. Initially, the Seat 133 was only intended for the domestic market, but it was not very popular in hot Spain due to overheating problems.
So something had to be done to get it off the ground and the Swiss actress Ursula Andres was hired as a model. She had famously shot to fame as the first Bond girl, Honey Ryder (Dr. No), when she emerged from the sea singing a song in a bikini. By the mid-seventies, she could look back on countless film roles, in some of which she showed everything she had, which is probably where the nickname "Ursula Undress" came from.
In any case, she was probably no longer really an "it girl" at the time and the Fiat 133, which was built until 1979, was just as little "in". The Spaniards didn't like it very much, but it later enjoyed some success in Egypt and other countries. It also enjoyed a certain following among the rear-engine enthusiasts in Germany. Whether the campaign with Ursula Andress really helped him, however, is doubtful.
More pictures of the Seat 133 can be found in our picture magic series.
