Fiat Punto Owner's Manual

About The Punto

The Punto is a supermini developed by the Italian car manufacturer Fiat. The Punto sold for three decades from 1993 – 2018 with an additional variant, the Fiat Grande Punto selling from 2009 – 2012.

The first generation replaced the Fiat Uno in 1993 and was voted European car of the year in 1995, beating the incredibly popular Volkswagen Polo. The original Punto was launched at the London Motor Fair and was styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro.

Engines available were 1.1-liter, 1.2-liter petrol or 1.7-liter diesel. An additional sports model was introduced with a 1.6-liter producing 88 horsepower, and the GT variant with a 1.4-liter petrol engine which could reach 120 mph using a 5-speed gearbox.

The Fiat Punto convertible had an electric folding roof (or manual) and was one of the cheapest cabriolets in the world at the time.

A second generation was showcased at the 1999 Frankfurt Motor Show. Fiat kept the basic structure of the vehicle but made huge changes to the chassis and interior. This was the first Fiat in decades to sport the traditional round Fiat badge, the same badge that could be found on the Fiat 500. At this time, Fiat discontinued the 1.1 and 1.4-liter engines due to emission tests.

Power steering was now available and in 2003, the Punto underwent a facelift to celebrate the 5 millionth unit to roll off the production line. The trim levels were S, SX, ELX and HLX, The latter was top of the line with ABS, front and side airbags, remote air conditioning and a CD player.

The third generation was based on the Fiat small platform (as seen under the Alfa Romeo MiTo and Opel Corsa) and enjoyed a few years of success before production ended in August 2018 with no successor named.