The livery is misleading, because this car is not a Barcelona taxi... It is a very special SEAT Ronda, prepared by the brand's technical office to highlight the design features that set the first SEAT of the new era apart. It could be argued it is the most historically significant unit of the SEAT HISTÓRICOS' Collection.

The launch of the SEAT Ronda in June 1982 was a turning point in the company's path. It was the first brand new model from SEAT as an independent manufacturer and therefore sported from day one the new "S" logo. And it was also the first one named after a Spanish town (together with SEAT's Panda Marbella version, launched a few months earlier).

However, during this period SEAT also faced an arbitration claim brought by its former technical partner, Fiat, before the Paris International Chamber of Commerce. That happened in mid-November 1982, just as SEAT reached 5 million cars produced since 1953 - a milestone that went to a Ronda, of course. The Italian manufacturer argued that the Ronda was too similar to the Fiat Ritmo and intended to stop exports of the new model to Europe through SEAT's own commercial network, planned for 1983.

The dispute was ruled in SEAT's favour after one year, on 24 November 1983, when the high international court agreed that SEAT was right. The decisive piece of evidence was this striking Ronda 1.2 GLX (the equivalent in the export markets to the Spanish Ronda 65 CL but more richly equipped), with the parts that differed from the Ritmo painted in yellow and the unaltered parts in black. This evidence was conclusive and the judges had no choice but to dismiss Fiat's claim: the Ronda scrupulously complied with the terms of the agreement signed by both parties, according to which SEAT could export Fiat-based cars through its own network but conveniently restyled.

The first one had been the Ronda, which at the SEAT Technical Centre in Martorell had the internal code S-2 (the S-1 would be the all-new future SEAT Ibiza and the S-3, the Malaga). In collaboration with Italian designer Rayton Fissore, SEAT's engineers completely transformed the Ritmo, with a brand-new front end, front and rear bumpers, dashboard and cabin, plus other minor details such as door handles, wheel rims or rear window frame, and more generous equipment.

Despite the ongoing dispute, SEAT had already started exporting the Ronda through its own dealers since April 1983, and that first year the brand exported a total of 25,726 Rondas to European countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and also Israel. Since the Paris court's favourable ruling, exports of the SEAT network soared and in 1984 reached 81,320 units.

The symbol of SEAT's international launch on a large scale was the Ronda and, in particular, this 1.2 GLX export unit painted yellow and black. The car presented as evidence before the judges of the high court was never registered and went on to be jealously kept in SEAT's Barcelona factory. Today, this Ronda with just forty kilometres covered illustrates one of the greatest chapters in the history of SEAT, the struggle for the survival of the brand.