Brief History
Internally codenamed Project 176, the Punto was announced in September 1993 and launched in early 1994 as a replacement for the aging Fiat Uno. The Punto was voted European Car of the Year for 1995. The Punto's distinctive clean-cut styling by Giorgetto Giugiaro was an instant hit (though one of the car's most recognisable features, the vertical tail lights, were not part of Giugiaro's original design and were in fact added later in-house at Fiat). Competitive pricing which undercut rivals such as the Opel Corsa and Volkswagen Polo also helped the Punto become an instant success in the marketplace.
Entry-level in the Punto range were the 1.1 and 1.2 L petrol engines and the 1.7 diesel engine. The 1.2 engine's actual capacity is 1.242 liters, available in 2 versions. The first, was fitted in the Punto ELX 75 and produced 75 HP at 6000 RPM while the second, fitted to Punto ELX 85 produced 86 HP at 6000 RPM. Both came with a 5 speed manual gearbox. A more powerful 1.6 Sporting was also available (replaced in 1997 by more economic 16 valve 1.2 unit), but the best performing version was the 136 PS (134 hp/100 kW) 1.4 GT using an evolution of the turbocharged 128 SOHC engine originally found in the Fiat Uno Turbo Mk II- capable of running over 200 km/h (124 mph) and reaching 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 7.9 seconds. This car was also fitted with a 5-speed manual gearbox, with different gear ratios than the ELX series. During the years the GT was made in three different "series" with power 136 PS (134 hp/100 kW) (1993-1995),133 PS (131 hp/98 kW) (1995-1997) and 130 PS (128 hp/96 kW) (1997-1999).
A cabriolet version was also available; built by Bertone (rather than at the main Fiat factory) it featured a powered fully-retracting roof and was one of the cheapest open-top cars in the world at the time.
Hugely succesful original Punto was replaced in 1999 by Nuova (New) Punto, or Punto Mk2.
Sources: wikipedia.org
Related threads: Fiat Punto Cabrio
Fiat Punto #1