A special brochure for a special car. That’s how we’re looking at this. The Fiat Uno is actually one of the most successful nameplates in history, with just under 9 million units built worldwide. It was eventually replaced by the Punto.
The first generation of the Italian supermini saw daylight for the first time in 1983, and if we get really technical with it, we can tell you that the Uno featured the eighth most produced automobile platform in history.
If you think that’s impressive, wait until you get a load of its musical brochure (Cartolina Musicale), containing a plastic disk featuring a human voice. The concept is pretty simple. Attach a vinyl disc to a cardboard box (which also acts as a resonator), and use the tiny needle just as you would for any record player.
1988 Fiat Uno Turbo i.e. via wiki
It’s a pretty cool gimmick, one that actually came with the original car back in 1983. On the front of the box it says ‘La voce della Uno!’, whereas inside you get instructions on how to play it, as well as a playful description of the car using cartoon animals on wheels.
According to Fiat’s early 80’s marketing department, the first-generation Uno was Comodosa (comfortable), Sciccosa (posh), Risparmiosa (frugal) and Scattosa (agile).