The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Surprisingly unsold at the onsite auction, 1953 Fiat 1100 Coupe Speciale by Allemano, styled by Giovanni Michelotti. One of only two examples built, and probably the sole survivor.
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
Jonathan Sharp shows us the Fiats and oddballs at Retro.
By Gijsbert-Paul Berk and friends
With over 30 color photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Previously in a series of four installments, Gijsbert-Paul Berk covered the prewar beginnings of the Fiat 1100 in 1937 up to the introduction of the Nuovo 103 and the final Italian version, the 1100R which ceased production in 1969. A long and glorious history, to be sure.
But there is always more to this interesting story of one of Italy’s greatest cars. Initially, for this episode, we planned to show just a few of the special-bodied 1100s that graced the auto shows in the 1950s, such as the gorgeous Allemano, below. Then Hugues Vanhoolandt sent along a huge selection of Fiat 1100-based cars that also included many of the sports-racers which used 1100 components. The result is below. And bear with us, the story of a Touch of Dante’s Genius is not done yet!
First called the Nuova Balilla, the new Fiat quickly became the 1100, or Millecento as the Italians called it. Inset: A 30-year-old engineer named Dante Giacosa was responsible.
Eighty years ago, in November 1937, Fiat introduced its first 1100 cc four-cylinder engine with overhead valves. This small, mass-produced engine not only powered a great number of Fiat’s bread and butter automobiles, but also became the heart of many exciting Italian and French specialist sports and racing cars. This article covers the years 1937 – 1940.
Story by Gijsbert-Paul Berk
From the VeloceToday Archives, 2017
In 1935 Italy was in the middle of a controversial colonial war in Abyssinia. In Turin that same year, Antonio Fessia, the manager of Fiat’s engineering department, asked the thirty-year-old engineer, Dante Giacosa, to develop a successor to the popular Balilla model. Giacosa had earned the respect of the Fiat management for his brilliantly designed 500 model, nicknamed Topolino (little mouse). Fessia explained that the new car should fill the gap between the small 500 and the recently introduced flagship of the Fiat range, the modern six-cylinder 1500 model.
By Pete Vack and Alex Vazeos
Geburth Fiat Photos courtesy of Alex Vazeos
From the VeloceToday Archives, March 2012
What about sending an Italian chassis out of Italy to have coachwork built? The normal direction would be to send your chassis to Italy where it would be given a fine set of new clothes by one of the famous carrozzerias that dotted the landscape in the 50s and 60s. It would be unique, well done, inexpensive and probably beautiful. Being contrary then would involve having a chassis made in Italy bodied in some country not particularly known for automobiles and automobile design, like Austria. [Read more…] about Remarkable Fiat Geburth: The Full Story
By Gijsbert-Paul Berk and friends
With over 30 color photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Previously in a series of four installments, Gijsbert-Paul Berk covered the prewar beginnings of the Fiat 1100 in 1937 up to the introduction of the Nuovo 103 and the final Italian version, the 1100R which ceased production in 1969. A long and glorious history, to be sure.
But there is always more to this interesting story of one of Italy’s greatest cars. Initially, for this episode, we planned to show just a few of the special-bodied 1100s that graced the auto shows in the 1950s, such as the gorgeous Allemano, below. Then Hugues Vanhoolandt sent along a huge selection of Fiat 1100-based cars that also included many of the sports-racers which used 1100 components. The result is below. And bear with us, the story of a Touch of Dante’s Genius is not done yet! [Read more…] about A Touch of Dante’s Genius Continues
First called the Nuova Balilla, the new Fiat quickly became the 1100, or Millecento as the Italians called it. Inset: A 30-year-old engineer named Dante Giacosa was responsible.
Eighty years ago, in November 1937, Fiat introduced its first 1100 cc four-cylinder engine with overhead valves. This small, mass-produced engine not only powered a great number of Fiat’s bread and butter automobiles, but also became the heart of many exciting Italian and French specialist sports and racing cars. This article covers the years 1937 – 1940.
Story by Gijsbert-Paul Berk
In 1935 Italy was in the middle of a controversial colonial war in Abyssinia. In Turin that same year, Antonio Fessia, the manager of Fiat’s engineering department, asked the thirty-year-old engineer, Dante Giacosa, to develop a successor to the popular Balilla model. Giacosa had earned the respect of the Fiat management for his brilliantly designed 500 model, nicknamed Topolino (little mouse). Fessia explained that the new car should fill the gap between the small 500 and the recently introduced flagship of the Fiat range, the modern six-cylinder 1500 model.
A new challenge
As Giacosa describes in his autobiography Forty Years of Design with Fiat, Fessia wanted him to design simultaneously two engines: a four-cylinder and a six-cylinder, both with the same cubic capacity.
Cross sections of the 1937 Fiat 1100 engine and drive train. The new four-cylinder OHV engine was a very straightforward design. It had a three main bearing crankshaft and two valves per cylinder, which were operated by pushrods and a single chain driven camshaft in the cylinder block. Basically, the bottom half of this new engine was so similar to that of its side valve predecessor that it could be produced with practically the same molds and machine tools. But the new designed light metal cylinder head with overhead valves and the increase in cubic capacity (from 995cc to 1089 cc) made all the difference: 33% more power! (Illustration courtesy Fiat)
Aided by a team of about fifty draftsmen, he started on his task. “Our reference for the new engine was the ohv version of the 995 cc/508CS engine which was fitted in the Balilla Sport,” explains Giacosa. For an outsider, this replacement seems somewhat surprising – the 1492 cc six-cylinder of the Fiat 1500, which had been in production since 1935, already had overhead valves. But the engineers had to bear in mind that Fiat’s factories were equipped with the machines and tools to manufacture the 4 cylinder Balilla side valve engine. Since 1932 Fiat had produced 132,130 of these units.
“Therefore the choice makes economic sense.” Giacosa continues. “We increased the diameter of the cylinders (bore) to 68 mm. In the design, special attention was given to the shape and size of the combustion chambers, and to the position of the spark plugs. Our objective was to achieve a rapid progressive combustion.” In addition, the head was cast in aluminum.
“In accordance with my instructions,” wrote Giacosa, “we designed at the same time a six-cylinder. Being lower it permitted a lower bonnet and better streamlined front of the car, but being longer it needed a larger chassis. This engine was also substantially more expensive to manufacture; the four-cylinder configuration won the day.”