Throwback Thursday: 1984 Seat Ibiza first drive

This “careful, functional” design, “in both the proper, original engineering sense and the modern, debased sense of styling” was “paramount”, we said.

The Ibiza’s engine options were 1.2 and 1.5-litre four-cylinder Porsche petrol units with “relatively high” power outputs of 63bhp and 86bhp respectively, and a 55bhp 1.7-litre diesel of Seat’s own. All but one model used a five-speed Porsche manual gearbox, sending drive to the front wheels.

The suspension was “interesting”. It was conventional at the front, with coil springs and struts and no anti-roll bar, while the rear was quite unusual, being “strut and bottom wishbone geometry, but sprung with a transverse leaf located at the wishbone pivots with its centre free to move vertically, constrained upwards only, by a block of ‘rubber’, acting when it is compressed as a droop limiter, so that the spring acts as an anti-roll device”.

The interior, while lacking the Mediterranean flair we had expected, was still somewhat odd, with headlight switches, indicators and wipers on two spurs of the steering column surround, leaving just the heating controls conventionally on the dashboard, although we found this layout “to work well, once you have got used to the unusual positionings”.

Rear room was “just acceptable, with just adequate head and leg room when one sets the front seat back to suit a tall driver”, and the boot space was “generous for such a short-tailed car”.

The driving position was “distinctly German, in that you seem to be sitting high and very much in command, aided by those big windows and, apart from irritatingly broad B-posts, a marvellously uncluttered all-round view”.

“The Ibiza will be a delight in traffic,” we said, “because of its shortness and lack of overhanging bodywork.”

We tried the 1.2 CL model, and our driving impressions were as follows: “The engine starts easily and immediately feels willing. Selecting first gear, the clutch take-up is smooth and drive unit mountings have obviously been designed carefully, as ‘shunt’ (that jerkiness if you are at all clumsy with the throttle) is well controlled – not always easy in a transverse-engined, front-drive car.

“There’s a slight stickiness of the gearchange, but that will likely disappear with use. What won’t, however, is the needlessly wide width of the gates.

“Aerodynamically, the Ibiza is fairly well up with the field, thanks to its good intake design, low nose, small top rear lip, some attention to bonnet sealing and better than average curving of the windscreen at the pillars.” This contributed to low wind noise at speed.