[2] Despite rather modest dimensions, at roughly 4 metres long, it was the largest Autobianchi ever made, as the brand specialized in small cars.

The brainchild of Dante Giacosa[a] this mechanical layout had been developed for the Fiat 123, an experimental project undertaken to test various unconventional engine and transmission layouts for a mid-sized 1100 replacement; when Fiat's management endorsed the traditionally laid out (front-longitudinal engine, rear-wheel drive) 124 instead, it had spawned the innovative Autobianchi Primula.

[5] According to Giacosa's memoirs, Ghiretti feared competition from the upcoming front-wheel drive Fiat 128 small family car (at the time still known as project X1/1) and was a proponent of conservative three-box styling, as opposed to than the Primula's current 2-box hatchback or fastback bodies.

[5] The chosen design was the most recent proposal for the transverse-engined front-wheel drive 123 E4; it was updated, chiefly in the front end to incorporate new rectangular headlamp lenses, and approved by Ghiretti for production.

[8] New bumpers gained rubbing strips but dispensed with the over-riders (bringing overall length to less than four metres), there was new model badging on the tail, and the interior was partly redesigned, including a new centre console and a shorter gear shifter.

At the front it consisted of A-arms and an upper transverse leaf spring, which doubled both as upper link and an anti-roll bar, as well as providing the attachment point for double-acting hydraulic dampers; at the rear there was a beam axle on longitudinal semi-elliptic leaf springs, plus double-acting hydraulic dampers.