In the 1980s, SEAT organised a popular one-make racing championship with the Fura Crono. This Fura Crono Copa created by SEAT HISTÓRICOS is a replica of that competition Fura, designed to take part in regularity rallies for historic vehicles.

The production SEAT Fura Crono, introduced in August 1982, was the three-door sports version of the model. It was powered by the veteran 1,438 cc engine, first used in the SEAT 1430 saloon in 1969, which kept its agile and robust qualities intact. It was the first time that this engine had been fitted in a small, mass-produced car, making the Fura Crono SEAT's first hot supermini.

Its 75 HP power, low weight and aggressive sporty image made the Fura Crono an ideal basis for racing. At that time, SEAT's motorsport promotion policy revolved around the organisation of national championships based on SEAT models. SEAT had been running the Panda Rally Cup since 1981, and with the new Fura Crono it decided to launch a SEAT Fura Championship on racetracks.

This was not SEAT's first racing championship, as in the previous decade the brand had already organised the Formula SEAT 1430 (and its upper step, the Formula SEAT 1800). These single-seater championships had great historical relevance and put Spanish motor racing on a par with other European countries with a long-established racing tradition.

Furthermore, the engine chosen for the Formula SEAT 1430 was also the tried and tested engine from SEAT’s 1430 saloon, the same one that would later power the Fura Crono. This forged a link and historical continuity between the two SEAT motorsport initiatives, the Formula 1430 and the Fura Championship.

The SEAT Fura Championship was planned for three years, between 1983 and 1985, when the Fura was to be discontinued. It was the great novelty on the national racing scene and immediately proved to be the most lively and spectacular category on track.

SEAT's approach was a success. Unlike the Panda Rally Cup, which was a purely promotional cup for young drivers, the Fura Championship was contested with identical cars but was open to everyone. With high prizes, a reasonable car price, affordable preparation and SEAT's facilities, it was a real find and gave a big boost to motorsport.

Thus, the SEAT Fura Championship attracted both rookies and experienced drivers, and was remarkable for the quality of the entrants as well as the quantity. It was a fast car that was fun to drive, and the number of entries reached 50 cars, with an average of 30 per race. The driving talent was so high that SEAT used the slogan “Test of champions” in its championship advertising.

Another novelty was that the championship did not race just on tracks - some hill-climbs were also included. For example, the famous Montseny Hill-Climb was part of the calendar for the three editions of the SEAT Fura Championship. In addition to the permanent Jarama circuit in Madrid, the other venues were the street tracks of Alcañiz and Toledo, and the permanent circuits of Calafat and Jerez.

Also, in 1983 the Fura 2 Hours of Toledo was held, a non-championship endurance race, with two drivers per car. That first year, the champion of the Fura Championship was Ricardo García Galiano. In 1984 and 1985, the title was won by Juan Escavias. Both had also raced Formula SEAT 1430 single-seaters.

To evoke this legacy and remember the history of the Fura Championship, SEAT HISTÓRICOS thought of creating a replica of the model and using it in regularity rallies for historic vehicles. The car made its debut at the 2025 Rally Costa Brava, in the year of SEAT's 75th anniversary, as the company had been founded in 1950.

The preparation carried out by SEAT HISTÓRICOS in its Nave A-122 base was as it would have been done in period. In the interior, the original seats gave way to racing bucket seats for the driver and codriver, carpets and trims were removed, and a roll-cage and fire extinguisher were fitted.

A new exhaust system was fitted to the engine, with a rougher, racing sound, as was allowed in the Fura Championship. The engine is standard, but, as was done in the days of the F-1430 and the Fura Championship, SEAT HISTÓRICOS technicians tuned the carburetion to extract 90 HP from it.

The SEAT HISTÓRICOS replica also has disc brakes all-round, a close-ratio gearbox and a limited-slip differential.

The Fura Crono Copa is the second replica of a historic car from SEAT’s one-make championships created by SEAT HISTÓRICOS. In 2024, the Nave A-122 team unveiled the Ibiza Copa, a replica of the Ibiza Group B used in the Ibiza Cup between 1985 and 1988. Like this one, the Fura Copa is painted white with black lettering, the ‘works’ SEAT HISTÓRICOS livery.