IN THE 1960s Austin and Morris 1100 models were sending shockwaves across Europe because their transverse-engine front-wheel-drive arrangement was a definite signal that they were the way ahead.
One export market for these neatly styled cars was Italy and an arrangement was made with BMC for them to be manufactured there by Innocenti.
But the Fiat group was casting a worried eye on this and stepped on the gas to produce a similar model of its own to net a healthy slice of this new-technology cake.
The result was the Primula, made by Fiat subsidiary Autobianchi which payed such homage to Britain's 1100 that in many ways it looked like it.
It was never sold in Britain but I have seen many in Italy and they do provoke a double take when you see them on the roads.
Produced from 1964 to 1970, the Primula had many of the British car's qualities, front-wheel-drive, transverse engine and lots of space. It was certainly stylish and a significant feature was a hatchback option which the British car lacked.
The Primula was the Fiat group's first car with rack and pinion steering and it soon started to generate sales.
The power behind the Primula was Fiat's chief designer Dante Giacosa but in the end the company decided to farm the project out to Autobianchi because it did not want to damage the image of its popular Fiat-branded cars if the new-fangled layout all went horribly wrong.
The Primula's original body was available with two or four doors and with or without the rear hatch featured four different combinations.
Initially, the Primula was fitted with the 1,221cc engine from the Fiat 1100 but in 1968 it was replaced with power units from the Fiat 124, range mainly 1,197cc.
At the time it was very modern featuring disc brakes on all four wheels which was then uncommon in small cars.
It was certainly well received in the marketplace coming a creditable second in the 1965 European Car of the Year contest to another front-wheel-drive car, the Austin 1800.
This convinced Fiat and its first car with a transverse engine, the 128 was born.
The Primula soldiered on until 1970 after 74,858 had been built. There are still a number on the continental roads although I understand that spares are becoming tight.