The Seat 1400 is celebrating its 65th birthday - on November 13, 1953, the first model rolled off the production line with the registration number B-87.223. As the Spanish car manufacturer's first model, this elegant and luxurious saloon laid the foundation for Seat's success story.
The still young company had only been founded three years earlier, but already employed 925 workers at the Zona Franca plant near Barcelona. In the first year of production, they produced just five vehicles per day. However, this number was to increase rapidly in the following years. The four-door saloon was a real all-rounder at the time - both as an exclusive official car for state authorities and as a public cab for transporting the masses. The cost of a Seat 1400 amounted to 117,000 pesetas (around EUR 705).
Impressive performance
Technically, the Seat 1400 was at the height of its time, with a longitudinally mounted front engine with power transmission to a rigid rear axle with differential gear. Thanks to the four-cylinder engine with a 4-speed manual gearbox and a displacement of 1,395 cc as well as 44 hp engine power, the saloon reached a maximum speed of 120 km/h.
The chassis had independent front suspension with coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers, while the rigid rear axle was equipped with coil springs, hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers and leaf springs. With this modern technology, the Seat 1400 was ahead of its time.
In terms of design, its builders were influenced by their American contemporaries: the rounded rear end and the conical tail lights are evidence of this. The curved, one-piece windshield and the comfortable interior heating of the Seat 1400, on the other hand, were new on the market. With a 48-liter petrol tank and a fuel consumption of 10.5 liters per 100 kilometers, the vehicle could also boast a remarkable range for the time.
Foundation stone for later success
In the first production run, which ended in 1954, a total of 1345 Seat 1400s were manufactured. However, this was just the beginning. In the following years, the vehicle family was continuously expanded: with the 1400 A (1954), the 1400 B (1956) and the 1400 C (1960). There were also a number of special editions.
Improvements in performance and design were presented with each new model. They made a significant contribution to establishing Seat as a brand and strengthening the car manufacturer's market position.
Despite the initially low production figures, it was the Seat 1400 that led to the rapid growth of the brand. By 1955, 3000 had already been delivered - manufactured almost exclusively from domestically produced components. By 1956, 7000 vehicles had already rolled off the production line, and 10,000 the following year. With 98,978 vehicles sold, the Seat 1400 has firmly established itself in the history of the automobile.
A very rare example of the Seat 1400 B Comercial - a delivery van version of the Seat 1400 - took part in the "Hamburg-Berlin-Klassik" classic car rally, which covered a total of 730 kilometers.
