The Fiat Croma is the name used for two different large family cars produced by Italian automaker Fiat, one a five door liftback built from 1985 to 1996, and the other a crossover station wagon built from 2005 to 2010.
First generation (1985–1996)
The original Croma was a five door notchback liftback penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign and built on the Type Four platform, which was designed in cooperation between several companies and was also used for the Saab 9000, Lancia Thema and Alfa Romeo 164. It was released in December 1985. Although the other models were executive cars, the Croma was marketed in the large family car segment, replacing the Fiat Argenta in the Fiat lineup. The Croma was the first large car produced by Fiat to feature a transverse mounted engine and front wheel drive.
Facelift
The Croma received a light facelift for 1988, first shown in Frankfurtin September 1987. The black plastic between the rear lamps was now ridged rather than smooth, the lower portion of the bumpers were body coloured, and the turn signals received clear glass rather than amber. The front appearance received some other light modifications to bring appearance in line with that of the recently introduced Tipo. A more significant facelift was released in January 1991, with a new front design, including changes to the lights, bumpers grille and sheet metal changes to wings and bonnet. Also in 1991, the direct injected diesel engine was equipped with a variable geometry turbocharger. Another facelift was released in June 1993. Production ceased in December 1996, and Fiat abandoned the large family car segment. Because the Bravo/Brava based Fiat Mareasmall family car debuted at the same time as the Croma's cancellation, it is sometimes argued that the Marea replaced the Croma. In fact, Fiat never had a large family car after the Croma and Fiat eventually abandoned this segment of the worldwide market altogether.
Engines
The Croma was available with a variety of petrol and diesel engines, most of the petrol units coming from Fiat's Twin Cam engine family. Base models had a single cam 1585 cc four with and the 1995 cc, 90 PS "Controlled High Turbulence" engine, followed by two fuel injected 2.0 litre twin cam powerplants, one with 120 PS and the other a turbocharged and intercooled version giving. The later 2.5 L V6 petrol unit was from Alfa Romeo, but as with the 1.6 L engine, was not available in all markets. The 2.0 CHT was designed specifically to provide low fuel consumption under light and medium loads thanks to two separate inlet manifolds of different diameters. The Fiat Croma was the first passenger car in the world to have a direct injection Diesel engine, going on sale in 1988. Other diesel engines were the Fiat's 1.9 L fitted with a turbocharger with direct injection, giving 92 PS, and the 2499 cc unit supplied by Iveco, with a normally aspirated version giving 75 PS and a turbocharged one with 115 PS. This one replaced the original 2446 cc with 100 PS. Diesel engined variants of this car were not marketed in the United Kingdom.
Petrol
Diesel
Second generation (2005–2010)
In March 2005, Fiat announced a large crossover wagon with an upright tailgate, reminiscent of that of the Fiat Stilo, resurrecting the Croma nameplate. Giugiaro once again styled the exterior, while the chassis was provided via the short lived link with General Motors. The new Croma is therefore based on the extended variant of the GM Epsilon platform sharing components with the Opel Vectra and Saab 9-3. It went on sale in Italy in June 2005. The car was shown in the Geneva Motor Show in 2005. Unlike the previous model, and aware of its lack of image in the upper market segments, Fiat opted for not developing a standard large family car, but developing a "Comfort Wagon", an automobile with design elements of both estates and large MPVs. Its height of falls between the Mitsubishi Grandis and Ford S-Max large MPVs and SEAT Altea XL. In February 2007, Fiat UK announced that the Croma would no longer be generally available in the United Kingdom, after less than 900 were sold in 2005. The car was still offered only on special order, with RHD models manufactured to customer specifications. Production of the second generation Croma ceased in the end of 2010. Despite not being a showroom hit, the Croma managed to sell in quite reasonable numbers, with 65,000 sold in one year alone.
The Croma got a major facelift in November 2007, and was termed the Nuova Croma. A new grille and rear bumper, as well as some material changes inside are the main differences. Fiat now designates the revised model as "Station Wagon" instead of the previously used term "Comfort Wagon". The Nuova Croma was only sold in mainland Europe, excluding the United Kingdom.
Engines
The Croma, built at Fiat's Cassino factory, had three trim levels and five engine options. Like the chassis, petrol engines were supplied by Opel, beginning with the brand new evolution of the Family 1 Ecotec 1.8 L with 140 PS, followed by the torquier L850 Ecotec 2.2 L with 147 PS. However, the bulk of the sales is represented by Fiat's own Multijet engine, available in three variants 1.9 L with 8 valves and 120 PS, 1.9 L with 16 valves and 150 PS, and the range topper five cylinder 2.4 L 20V, with 200 PS. The diesel engines were fitted with a standard six speed manual gearbox, six speed automatic is also available.
