Dacia 1300

The Romanian government of the 1960s decided to purchase the equipment and basic design of a modern, western car in order to start producing its own car for the country. The car should not be expensive enough, while convenient for a large family, and an engine with a volume of not more than 1.3 liters should not be installed on it. Cooperation proposals came from Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Austin and others, but Renault 12 was chosen as the base design ^[2] . The decision in favor of the French car was probably largely political, but nonetheless quite rational. Most of the cars produced were exported to the countries of the Eastern Bloc , as well as to South America, Canada, China ^[3] and North Korea ^[4] , and even to Great Britain and the Netherlands. At the time of the start of production at the Mioveni plant, the Renault 12 was just a prototype, therefore, Renault offered the CKD assembly of the Renault 8 as a temporary replacement. So, for several years, the Dacia 1100 model was produced, until in 1969 the assembly of the long-awaited national car began, simultaneously with Renault 12. During the first few years of production, the plant assembled cars using CKD technology from French components. At the time of its launch, the 1300 was a modern car with comfort, safety, sufficient power and reliability, being at the level of other cars manufactured in the Eastern block countries of the 1960s and 1970s, including Skoda , VAZ , Moskvich , Wartburg and others.

1300, in an attempt to maintain consumer interest in the model, repeatedly changed during the production period, however, the basic design was preserved for all 35 years of production. Although power and fuel consumption gradually improved, however, after the cessation of the import of CKD kits was stopped, the quality of the materials did not always meet the standard. Corrosion of body panels has become the main problem of the model. Air conditioning , airbags and anti-lock brakes were not available on these vehicles.

Several pickups were assembled, assembled from the original sedans and station wagons, as well as the less popular two-door coupe and an even rarer liftback body.

In 1979, Dacia introduced an updated version of the 1300 at the Bucharest Motor Show ^{[5] [6]} .

In 1982, the model name was changed to Dacia 1310 , and later also appeared “1410”, “1210” and several others ^[7] . New versions of the Dacia Pick-Up appeared in 1981. In 1983, the entire lineup was again updated ^[8] . In the same year, a coupe sports model was released, called the 1410 Sport ^{[9] [10]} . In 1987, a liftback model, the Dacia 1320 , was launched ^[11] . In 1989, the production of the updated 1310 sedan, van and station wagon was completed, although the production of pickup and liftback continued until 1990.

In 1989, a new generation of Dacia 1310 was released in the wagon and sedan bodies. It was a minor modification of the previous generation with new headlights. An elevator called the Dacia 1325 Liberta was introduced in 1990 ^[12] . A new pickup truck appeared in 1992. Thus, by 1993, the completely updated Dacia 13xx line was introduced.

Developed in the 1960s, the model is outdated and its chassis no longer meets the safety standards of the 1980s and 1990s. For this reason, Dacia began developing a model shift in the 1980s. However, financial and political failures allowed the replacement to be released only in 1994, by which time it had already become obsolete. Later, the model evolved to Dacia SupeRNova and Dacia Solenza . Despite this, the new models, although they had better handling and greater power, they could not completely replace the 1310 due to the higher cost and other reasons. A full replacement, Dacia Logan , appeared only in 2004.

In 1999, Dacia was forced to renew the 1310. The Liberta liftback was completed in 1996, but the production of the sedan and station wagon continued until 2004. The pickup truck was produced until December 2006. The latest 1310 sedan and station wagon was named “Berlina” and “Break”, respectively.

In an effort to keep up with modern standards, the latest version was equipped with a fuel injection system and a catalytic converter that meets Euro 2 standards.

Since 1969, when the production of original models began, the constant change in shape and dimensions led to the 1310 becoming a compact sedan, although at the beginning of its release it was considered mid-size. Oddly enough, for several months in 2004, Dacia offered simultaneously three different models of small sedans.

The model earned a solid sales volume until the last day of production, mainly due to its low price, simplicity and low-cost maintenance. In 2004, the sedan (“Berlina”) and the station wagon (“Break”) were priced at 4,100 and 4,250 euros, respectively.

• In the game, PUBG acts as a vehicle.

• Mondiru, Corneliu. Autoturisme Dacia. Editura Tehnică Publishing. - 1990. - ISBN 973-31-0218-0 .

• Automobile Romanesti - Dacia 1300