Late 1960s. SEAT is on a roll. The range has diversified with a wide variety of models, which has caused the brand's production figures to rocket sky-high. So much so that in mid-1969 a SEAT 124 makes the one millionth car manufactured by SEAT, sixteen years after the first.

This great industrial milestone in SEAT's history happened on July 14, 1969, at noon, when a cream-coloured SEAT 124 decorated with the legend "SEAT Un Millón" (One Million) rolled out of the assembly line driven by the Minister of Industry. The car was then shown at the factory next to the first SEAT built in 1953, a 1400. They were joined by an 850 Sport Spider, one of SEAT's new releases in 1969.

The story of the 124 "Un Millón" brings back a tasty anecdote. SEAT decided to raffle this unit among the employees, and fortune smiled at a young man who was working the afternoon shift. But he didn't have a driver's license nor couldn't get one at the time, as he had just gotten married and was saving up. So SEAT decided to exchange the car's value so that he could put a downpayment on a flat, and the 124 "Un Millón" went on to join the company's heritage.

Thanks to this twist of fate, today the 124 "Un Millón" is part of SEAT HISTÓRICOS' Collection, just as it left the assembly line that July 14 more than 50 years ago. The car was never registered and is kept in impressive original conditions, in perfect running order and with only 554 km on the odometer.

The 124 "Un Millón" is a symbol of SEAT's progress at all levels. Just four years earlier, the brand only had two very different models in production, the large 1500 saloon and the small 600, together with its longer-wheelbase four-door sibling, the 800. The following year, SEAT launched the 850 and in the last quarter of that year it reached the figure of half a million units built since 1953.

Less than three years later, SEAT had already produced another half a million cars to reach the magic figure of a million units. The key had been the diversification of the range and the expansion of the Zona Franca factory in Barcelona. Production figures had increased from about 91,000 cars in 1965 to 222,000 in 1969.

Indeed, in 1969 the SEAT range consisted of the legendary 600 (which accounted for half of that million units); the entire 850 family (two- and four-door saloons, coupe and the new two-seater convertible); the 124 and its Cinco Puertas (Five Doors) estate version; the 1430, a model based on the 124, more powerful and luxurious, and the top-of-the-range was the 1500, with petrol and diesel (1800) engines.

In 1969 alone, SEAT had launched the aforementioned 850 Sport Spider, the 124 Cinco Puertas and the 1430. With such a comprehensive range, SEAT needed just three and a half years to manufacture the next million cars, a milestone it would reach in early 1973.

This change in the dimension of SEAT came in the wake of the 124 launch in 1968. For the first time, SEAT was offering a real mid-size saloon, really modern by the standards of the time despite its classic front engine and rear-wheel drive layout, fitted with an innovative engine and comfort, four disc brakes, an economical price and reduced maintenance costs.

It is not surprising that in March 1969 the 124 received the Spanish Car of the Year award and that, a few months later, it was this model that chance, providence... or marketing acumen chose for SEAT to cross the historic million-car barrier.