Tag Archives: BIAMF

Steel Wide Body – FIAT 500L Osella Alfa Romeo Caccaviello

Today featured FIAT 500L appears to be a FIAT in name only.

FIAT 500L Osella Alfa Romeo Caccaviello, BIAMF, Bristol

The car is believed to have been built on a chassis that has it’s origins in the Abarth later Osella 2000SP sports racing car, with double wishbone suspension and disc brakes front and rear.

FIAT 500L Osella Alfa Romeo Caccaviello, BIAMF, Bristol

The extra wide body is believed to be all steel and to have been built by the Italian Carlo Caccaviello coachworks.

FIAT 500L Osella Alfa Romeo Caccaviello, BIAMF, Bristol

Sitting in the back is a fuel injected 1.5 litre / 91.5 cui Alfa Romeo boxer engine of the type originally found in the front of the Alfa Romeo Sud, 33 and more or less forgotten Nissan Arna.

FIAT 500L Osella Alfa Romeo Caccaviello, BIAMF, Bristol

The 5 speed transmission is also sourced from the Alfa Romeo parts bin.

This 1974 car seen in these photograph’s several years ago at the Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival was first registered in the UK on the 28th July 2000.

Thanks for joining me on this “Steel Wide Body” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I will be looking at a competition Healey, don’t forget to come back now !

Bigger Faster 124 – FIAT 125

Like the FIAT 124 I looked at last week, the FIAT 125 launched in 1967 shared some parts with it’s predecessor notably in this instance the longer chassis from the FIAT 1500.

Fiat 125, BIAMF, Bristol,

The doors and passenger compartment of the FIAT 125 are identical except that the rear seat is mounted 3 inches further back thanks to the slightly longer wheel base.

Fiat 125, BIAMF, Bristol,

The 90hp twin overhead cam 1600 cc / 97 cui 4 cylinder motor was shared with some of the later FIAT 124 Sport Coupé and Sport Spider models as was the initial 4 speed gearbox.

Fiat 125, BIAMF, Bristol,

Like the FIAT 124 the 125 was a global car with examples built in Argentina, Columbia, Chile and Morroco while further 125P variants with less powerful motors were built in Poland, Yugoslavia and Egypt. FIAT stopped building the 125 in 1972 but production continued elsewhere until the early 1990’s.

This particular car seen at the Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival was built in 1969 and first registered in the UK on April Fools day of the same year.

Thanks for joining me on this “Bigger Faster 124” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking for answers to the story about a mysterious 500 Formula 3 car. Don’t forget to come back now !

Fifth Gen Facelift – Maserati Quattroporte V

The fifth generation Maserati Quattroporte, M139, was launched in 2003 and went into production in 2004.

Maserati Quattroporte, BIAMF, Bristol,

The Pininfarina face lifted M139 model appeared in January 2008 with redesigned bumpers, sills, side mirrors, a convex front grille with vertical bars, new headlights and tail lights with directional bi-xenon main beams and LED indicator lights.

Maserati Quattroporte, BIAMF, Bristol,

The weight of the steel body is kept low by use of an aluminium boot lid / trunk lid and bonnet / hood, the aerodynamic co efficient of the body is Cd 0.35.

Maserati Quattroporte, BIAMF, Bristol,

Three V8 motor options were available for the 2008 to 2012 Quattroportes with power outputs from 400 to 440 hp.

Maserati Quattroporte, BIAMF, Bristol,

60 mph could be reached in under six seconds from rest by all three variants likewise the top speed was at least 168 mph for all three.

Maserati Quattroporte, BIAMF, Bristol,

As we saw last week Swiss Team built an EVO competition version which Andrea Bertolini drove to a championship victory in the 2011 International Superstars Series.

Thanks for joining me on this “Fifth Gen Facelift” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Financial Stabiliser – Ferrari 250 GT Pinin Farina Coupé #1083GT

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In the late 1950’s in order to stabilise the company finances Enzo Ferrari commissioned Pinin Farina to design a coupé suitable for series production.

The 250 GT Pininfarina Coupé was launched at the 1958 Milan Motor Show with the last, featuring a superfast tail being shown at the 1961 London Motor Show.

Ferrari 250 GT Pinin Farina (PF) Coupé boasted 240 hp at 7000 rpm from it’s 3 litre / 183 cui V12 which was connected to a four speed gearbox and a live rear axle with semi elliptic leaf sprung suspension. The 250 GT Coupé was capable of 150 mph and rest to 60 mph in less than 7 seconds.

The independent front suspension comprised double wishbones and coil springs and telescopic shock absorbers. Until 1959 drum brakes were used on all four wheels.

This particular car was one of two delivered from the factory to Tourist Trophy Garages in Farnham Surrey who displayed it at the 1958 London Motor Show at Earls Court.

Tourist Trophy Garages belonged to the Hawthorn family who’s son Mike became the first British World Champion driver, driving for Ferrari, in 1958.

The car seen here was sold to an Irish land owner in 1958 and turned up in a sorry state of repair in the 1980’s at Maranello Concessionaires, which took over the UK Ferrari Franchise after Mike Hawthorn’s death in 1959, who had the car restored. The car has belonged to it’s current owner since 1993.

It is thought just over 350 of these cars were built, most of the steel bodies were fitted at a factory purpose built by Pinin Farina, in Ferrari’s terms going into series production for the first time proved a huge success.

Due to the phenomenal depreciation rates of these cars, many were subsequently cannibalised for parts and some even turned into replica’s of more sought after models, it is thought only half of the production run has survived.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Financial Stabiliser’ edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be featuring a Lotus 77 Grand Prix car. Don’t forget to come back now !

Mini Bora – Maserati Merak SS

The Maserati Merak was conceived while the company was in the ownership of Citroen as a more affordable version of the Maserati Bora launched in 1971.

Like the Bora the Merak was penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Ital Design and featured many similarities in the body panels ahead of the mid mounted motor though the chassis pan featured many differences thanks to the lighter weight of the Meraks 3 litre / 183 cui motor which was first seen in the 1970 Citroen SM with a slightly smaller displacement.

The Merak went through 3 phases of development when first launched in 1972 the Merak used many interior Citroen fixtures and fittings including a single spoke steering wheel, dash panel, instrumentation, gearbox along with brakes actuated by Citroen’s high pressure hydraulic system.

In 1975 Maserati fell under the Control of de Tomaso and for 1975 most of the Citroen interior derived components were replaced including the high pressure hydraulic operated brakes which became vacuum assisted and the Citroen gearbox which was swapped for a ZF gearbox. The revitalised 220 hp model, like the 1980 vehicle seen here at Bristol’s Italian Auto Moto Festival last year, was lighter than the original and given Merak SS branding to distinguish it from the original.

In 1976 the third and final version the Merak 200OGT aimed at avoiding the 38% purchase tax cars in the Italian market attracted if they were fitted with engines over 2 litres / 122 cui. Consequently the 170 hp 2000 GT had an engine measuring 1999 cc 182.986 cui cc.

The Merak was discontinued in 1983 having outsold the Bora by better than 3 to 1 with 1860 being built of which the Merak SS was the most common with around 1000 units built.

The 2012 Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival will be held this coming Saturday April 28th and will be celebrating not only the 40th Anniversary of the Maserati Merak and Khamsin but also the 40th Anniversary of the Lancia Beta and 50th Anniversary of the Alfa Romeo Giulia along with the 100th anniversary of the founding of Bertone. Motorcycle fans will be able to see a large selection of Italian bikes with MV Agusta being the featured manufacturer, an interesting selection of Lambretta’s and Vespa’s will also be in attendance. Best of all the event is free and can be found in the streets around St Nicholas Market.

I have arranged to meet David Roots at 11 am near his unmistakeable Lenham ALFA Romeo, SEE THIS LINK, if your visiting why not pop by and say hello ?

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Mini Bora’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

World Class – Ferrari 355 Belinetta & Spyder

From 1987 to 1991 the engine to have if you wanted to win the World Drivers Championship was a Honda during that period of dominance Honda also built a game changing super car that rendered contemporary Ferrari’s and particularly it’s nearest competitor the Ferrari 348 obsolete in price, reliability and handling.

Fortunately Ferrari President Luca di Montezemol had his engineers rise to the challenge presented by the Japanese upstart by commissioning the design of the F355 and in the process Ferrari was transformed into a world class manufacturer of automobiles.

The solution to meeting the Japanese challenge was in part by turning to the latest Formula One technology which included building the first road car to be offered with a ‘paddle shift’ electronically controlled gearbox, and selecting the best ancillaries known to man for the engine, including Japanese starter motors and the latest in German electronic engine management systems.

Out went Ferrari’s fabled indifferent assembly, industrial leather and off the shelf (FIAT) switchgear and in came carefully controlled build quality with bespoke switch gear and the finest leather interiors.

The F355’s motor was taken out from 3.4 to 3.5 liters AND given a pair of five valve per cylinder heads which combined to produce 375 hp which took a whole second off the GMC Syclones 1/4 mile time given by Car & Driver in the famous test between a Syclone Truck and a Ferrari 348ts that saw the GMC product perform surprisingly well.

The outcome of Ferrari’s efforts to match Honda’s super car was rewarded with 11,273 sales of the three basic types between 1994 and 1999 making the F355 one of the commonest of Ferrari’s yet seen, though the significance and legacy of the model lay in the foundations for success that the building and development of the F355 provided for all of the Ferrari road models that were to follow.

Thanks for joining me on the ‘World Class’ edition of ‘Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a very significant Lotus. Don’t forget to come back now !

Brushed Steel Roof – Maserati Bora

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The Maserati Bora was developed in 1968 to go up against the mid engine De Tomaso Mangusta, Lambourghini Muira and later Ferrari 365 GT4 BB. 524 examples of the model were built from 1971 to 1978.

Under the direction of Citroen owners of the Maserati marque at the time, the Bora featured a steel monocoque with the longitudinal engine mounted on a subframe at the back and for the first time on a Maserati independent suspension on all four wheels.

Giorgetto Giugiaro of Ital Design was responsible for the steel bodywork which featured an unusual for the time brushed steel roof.

289 Bora’s including this 1972 model were powered by a 310 hp 4719 cc / 288 cui V8 with a further 235 built from 1973 to 1978 being fitted with a larger 320 hp US emissions spec 4930cc / 301 cui motors giving the vehicle a 160 – 170 mph capability. The engine compartment featured double glazing to separate it from the cabin and a carpeted aluminium cover to keep the noise down.

By the time production of the Bora had ceased Maserati was in the ownership of De Tomaso.

Hope you have enjoyed today’s brushed steel roof edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !