In 1980, the Spanish car manufacturer Seat was on the brink of collapse, and the only way out was to move forward. As an independent model, the Seat Ibiza was completely redeveloped together with Porsche, ItalDesign and Karmann in just four years and sold successfully from 1984. In 2024, the Seat Ibiza celebrates its 40th birthday, but looks much younger thanks to its simple design. This driving report is about a Seat Ibiza GL 1.5i from 1989 and tells the story of its development.