In the early ’90s, SEAT was about to launch a diesel version of the small A-segment Marbella. A prototype was built, which eventually remained a one-off… (read more)
Year: 1990
Number built: 1
Diesel, 4 cylinders in-line
Position: At front, transversal
Bore x stroke: 75 mm x 79.1 mm
Capacity: 1398 cc
Valve train: Overhead camshaft
Fuel system: Indirect injection
Max. power: 48 HP at 4500 rpm
Max. torque: 83 Nm at 2900 rpm
Top speed: 125 km/h
Drive: Front-wheel drive
Gearbox: 5-speed manual, plus reverse
Clutch: Dry single-plate
Front suspension:
Independent, McPherson, coil springs and dampers
Rear suspension:
Live axle, semielliptic leaf springs and dampers
Steering: Rack and pinion
Front/rear: Discs/drums
145/80 SR-13
Body: 3-door small car, 5 seats
Length/width/height: 3475/1500/1445 mm
Wheelbase: 2160 mm
Weight: 800 kg
In the early ’90s, SEAT was about to launch a diesel version of the small A-segment Marbella. A prototype was built, which eventually remained a one-off.
The SEAT Marbella had been introduced at the end of 1986. It was the result of the Panda's styling adaptation to the renewed image of the SEAT line-up, retaining a strong youthful focus. Its engine was the well-known 903cc, 40 HP block premiered in the 1969 SEAT 850 Sport Spider, but thoroughly updated. Its simplicity and reliability were ideal for the Marbella.
Already in 1987, SEAT launched the Terra van, the commercial derivative of the Marbella, initially with the same petrol engine as the latter. Early in 1990, the Terra range was expanded with a 1.3, 45 HP diesel engine coupled with a 5-speed gearbox (1.4, 48 HP from 1991).
It was the first time that a "small" SEAT was powered by a diesel engine, and also the first time SEAT used an engine of Volkswagen origin in its line-up. The Terra D, then, was the first major product of SEAT's integration into the VW Group. It beat SEAT’s Toledo by a full year – the Toledo being the first SEAT developed entirely within the VW Group.
However, before the Terra D there was another SEAT powered by a VW engine, the 1988 Marbella Proto, created to compete in gravel rallies. The experience gained by SEAT engineers adapting the VW 1.3 petrol engine in the Marbella Proto greatly accelerated the development of the SEAT Terra D at the Martorell Technical Centre.
Actually, at the beginning the project of a diesel version of the Terra ran in parallel with that of a diesel Marbella. The engineers in the Technical Centre came to build this fully functional Marbella D prototype, powered by the same engine as the Terra D. It was based on the Marbella Special, as Marbella’s entry version went on to be known from 1989.
However, in the case of the Marbella, the advantages of the diesel engine were not as decisive as in the Terra van. On the one hand, the petrol Marbella already offered very good fuel economy, which made it difficult to amortize the price increase of the diesel version. On the other hand, the diesel engine meant a significant increase in weight and had a rougher operation.
But these downsides went unnoticed in a vehicle intended for professional use such as the Terra, with a more intensive use (which allowed to quickly compensate for the higher price of the diesel version) and most of the time at full load (for which the greater torque delivery of the diesel engine helped a lot).
Thus, the Marbella continued to be powered by the efficient 903cc petrol engine until it was discontinued in 1998. By then, the SEAT Terra had already been replaced by the SEAT Inca as a light commercial vehicle. For its part, the Marbella was replaced by the SEAT Arosa, which, at the end of its launch year, in 1997, did receive a diesel version.
SEAT HISTÓRICOS keeps this Marbella Special Diesel prototype, in white colour, an illustration of the intense development work carried out by SEAT at the Martorell Technical Centre.