In 1984, the international launch of the Ibiza at the Paris Motorshow was a clear turning point in SEAT's history. It was much more than another new model - the Ibiza was the first car created and developed by SEAT from scratch. It felt like a bold challenge at the time, but totally vindicated nowadays. With the fifth generation on the market and around 6 million units sold, the Ibiza is one of the quintessential SEAT models.

The birth of the first-generation Ibiza was one of the most remarkable chapters in Spain's automotive history. The car was a major novelty, bringing the roominess and comfort of higher-end models to a more compact body (3,6 metres long). The project was planned by the Technical Centre at Martorell, with contributions of highly prestigious firms, such as Giorgio Giugiaro's Italdesign for the design, Karmann for the industrialisation and development of the bodywork, and Porsche for the technology applied to the engines (hence the SEAT System Porsche designation the Ibiza bore on the engine cylinder head cover).

The advent of the Ibiza heralded a new point of departure for the company and stretched the wings of SEAT's factory. With engine sizes that would eventually range from the Junior's 0.9-litres and 44 HP to 1.7-litres and 110 HP in the petrol versions and a commendable 55 HP in diesel, the Ibiza wooed Spaniards and foreigners alike, notching up a high number of exports, which even broke the 119.000 units barrier in 1990.

Thanks to the first Ibiza, SEAT began to build an independent image which helped internationalise the brand and look to a brilliant future. The Ibiza was a showcase of SEAT's creativity and know-how, features that would smooth the integration of the Spanish brand in the Volkswagen Group just two years after the unveiling of the Ibiza I.

The unveiling of the Ibiza took place in spring 1984 on the namesake Mediterranean island, and the new car went on sale from October, around the same time as the Paris Motorshow international launch. The Ibiza's initial range had three trim levels - L, GL y GLX, combined with the 1.2 and 1.5-litre System Porsche petrol engines, and a diesel. So the top-of-the-range version was the 85 HP Ibiza 1.5 GLX. On the outside it can be easily recognized by the sports-shaped alloy wheels, and it also has electric windows and electromagnetic door locks.

As a matter of fact the very first SEAT Ibiza built was a 1.5 GLX version. SEAT HISTÓRICOS keeps in the brand's Collection this red-coloured chassis number 1, that rolled out of the assembly line on April 27, 1984. This car of great historical value is regularly used in events and exhibitions as a symbol of the new SEAT's identity. Rarely has a car meant as much to a brand as the Ibiza has to SEAT.

Once settled on the market, a 5-door body joined the Ibiza range in 1986 - and in 1988 the 100 HP fuel-injected 1.5 SXI System Porsche engine appeared. Finally, in 1989 and 1991 the Ibiza got two restylings (the first one, centred on the interior and the second one, on the exterior), before the arrival in 1993 of the second generation.

By then more than 1.300.000 units had been built of the first generation alone, so the Ibiza I became just the second SEAT with more than one million units built, after the 127/Fura family.