Fiat

Founded as the Societa Anonima Fabrica Italiana di Automobili Torino, the management were quick to decide that Fiat should join other marques on the race track, knowing that success would result in car sales. Success came quickly when, in 1907, Felice Nazzaro won the Targa Florio, the Kaiserpreis and the French GP!

Fiat’s first sports-car was the Balilla, a car derived from the small saloon design of the same name. Fitted with a four-cylinder 995cc OHV engine good for 36bhp, the car featured many innovations for the time, including hydraulic brakes.

The Mille Miglia model was a further evolution of the original, and not only featured a more powerful engine but a lovely “torpedo” body style. After the war followed the short-lived 1100S and ES models, born out of the very specialized 508CMM coupes of 1937, however the first true post-war sporting Fiat was the 8V, powered by a 2 litre 70-degree V8 pushrod engine good for between 105 and 115bhp.

Never considered a technological leader, Fiat nonetheless was quick to adapt to the new technologies of the day, particularly when the engineers saw merit; and so the 8V used a tubular chassis with coil sprung/wishbone independent suspension.

Fiat then switched to the use of a basic under-pan, the resultant 1100’s, 1200’s and 1500’s all featuring coil sprung suspension and rigid rear axles. Most unusual, and least successful, was the “Trasformabile” of 1955-1959, although cabriolets built between 1959 and 1966 sold in large numbers.

The Fiat Coupe and Spyder versions of the rear-engined 850 models built between 1965 to 1973 were solid performers, while the 1966 derivatives based on the 124 saloon, the Sport Spyder and Sport Coupe proved Fiat capable of making truly great cars. That Pininfarina styled and built the Spyder also made them amoungst the worlds most beautiful. Also see Fiat Heritage