Tag Archives: Italian

Down Payment Protection – FIAT Dino Coupé 2000

In order to help Ferrari homologate, get competition type approval for, it’s 2 litre / 122 cui 65° V6 Enzo Ferrari concluded a deal with FIAT to manufacture the required number of units in March 1965.

FIAT Dino Coupé, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

The engines would then be fitted to the Pininfarina bodied Ferrari 206 Dino and FIAT Dino Spyder 2000 and the Bertone bodied Dino Coupé, such as the one featured in these photographs, which was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro.

FIAT Dino Coupé, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

The 2+2 Dino Coupé body, first seen in March 1967 sits on a slightly longer chassis that the 2+1 Dino Spyder first seen in October 1966, initially the Coupé also had superior internal trim which included a wood rimmed steering wheel unlike the plastic rimmed item in the Spyder.

FIAT Dino Coupé, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

This particular 1967 Coupé was purchased in 2014 by it’s present owner in Lisbon, Portugal and is believed to have previously resided in Monaco.

FIAT Dino Coupé, Classic Motor Show, NEC, Birmingham

3,670 2.0-litre coupés, notably used by the Mafioso protecting a $4 million Chinese gold bullion down payment for a FIAT factory in The Italian Job staring Micheal Cane, were built up until 1969 when production of the larger 2.4 litre V6 Dino engines began for the Ferrari 246 Dino, Fiat Dino Spyder and Coupé plus the Lancia Stratos.

Thanks for joining me on this “Down Payment Protection” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I will be looking at another Healey. Don’t forget to come back now !

100 Grannies Knitting – FIAT 2300S Coupé

At the 1960 Turin Motor Show FIAT showed off a new Coupé based on the soon to be manufactured FIAT 2300 saloon chassis and running gear and with a body styled by Sergio Sartorelli at Ghia, who with hind site produced a 4 seat vehicle not unlike the contemporary Sergio Pininfarina styled Ferrari 250 GT/E.

FIAT 2300S Coupé, Simply Italian,

The 2300 Coupé was offered with either a 105hp twin carburetor straight six or the S version, as seen in these photo’s taken at Simply Italian, Beaulieu National Motor Museum a couple of years ago, with 136 hp.

FIAT 2300S Coupé, Simply Italian,

Since Ghia did not have the capacity to build the Coupé bodies the job was contracted out to Officine Stampaggi Industriali known as OSI which was founded in 1960 as a coachbuilding company based in Turin by former Ghia president Luigi Segre and Arrigo Olivetti.

FIAT 2300S Coupé, Simply Italian,

Luxury fittings including power windows pushed the price of a 2300S Coupé up to nearly double the cost of an E-Type Jaguar so it is hardly surprising that only 220 of the 7,194 2300S Coupés built between 1961 and 1967 were Right Hand Drive examples imported into the UK.

FIAT 2300S Coupé, Simply Italian,

This particular car was dry stored from 1971 to 2000 with just over 37,000 miles on the clock, it was subsequently recommissioned with a minimum of work required to pass it’s Ministry Of Transport (MOT) test, required to make it roadworthy.

FIAT 2300S Coupé, Simply Italian,

The owner of this 1964 car, which appears in these photographs with it’s original paint, chrome and interior, and his son own six 2300S Coupe’s in various states of repair between them.

FIAT 2300S Coupé, Simply Italian,

The motor on this vehicle has been Abarth tuned to produce 150 hp which is good for pushing this car up to a maximum 118 mph, a contemporary report in Autocar noted that the valve tappets “sound like 100 grannies knitting”.

Thanks for joining me on this “100 Grannies Knitting” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psychoontyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at an open wheeler raced by an American called Irish. Don’t forget to come back now !

Flint Stones – Surtees Ford TS14A #03 & #04

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In 1972 new regulations were rushed through for Formula One cars mandating deformable structures be fitted to the sides of the vehicles in an attempt to reduce the risk of cars bursting into flames in the event of a side impact. Two sets of regulations were written one for more or less immediate effect in 1972 and a seperate more robust set of deformable structures regulations for 1973.

Surtees Ford TS14A, Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome

Towards the end of the 1972 season John Surtees 1973 challenger was the first to appear at the 1972 Italian Grand Prix built to the latest safety regulations. John qualified 19th and retired from what turned out to be his final Grand Prix race after 113 starts over 13 seasons which included six wins and one World Drivers Championship. Tim Schenken qualified 31st in the final race of the 1972 season at Watkins Glen but also retired.

Surtees Ford TS14A, Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome

During the off season John Surtees was caught on the hop with the wrong tyre contract after Firestone which had been used by the 1972 Champions Emerson Fittipaldi and Lotus were to quit the sport at the end of 1973 and would not be developing their tyres any further through the 1973 season while their supply contracts to the likes of BRM, Surtees and Williams ran out.

Surtees Ford TS14A, Silverstone Classic

So with little hope of achieving any worth results Surtees ploughed on through the 1973 season. Nominal team leader Mike Hailwood managed a season best qualification of 6th in the 1973 US Grand Prix, using the #04 chassis seen carrying the #23 race number here at Wings and Wheels at Dunsfold Aerodrome, and a best season race finish non points 7th in the 1973 Italian Grand Prix.

Surtees Ford TS14A, Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome

Team mate Carlos Pace meanwhile scored a season high 5th in the 1973 Italian Grand Prix and finished 4th in the German Grand Prix and 3rd in the following Austrian Grand Prix as well as taking fastest lap on the way to both points scoring finishes. Carlos finished 11th in the Drivers Championship and Surtees 9th in the 1973 Constructors championship. For 1974 Surtees built two new TS16 cars to be driven by Carlos Pace and Jochen Mass. When sponsorship for the season failed to materialise Carlos found his way into a drive at Brabham.

Surtees Ford TS14A, Wings & Wheels, Dunsfold Aerodrome

Mike Hailwood drove a third works car for McLaren in 1974 until an accident at the Nurburgring prematurely ended his career. Jochen Mass would end up taking over the drive at the end of 1974.

The low point for the Surtees team in 1973 came at the British Grand Prix where they had three cars of Hailwood, Pace and Mass all wiped out in the first lap collision at Woodcote Corner that eliminated a six additional vehicles see this linked clip, note that thanks to the new deformable structures no fire’s were started in the accident.

Peraluman Zagato – Lancia Fulvia Sport 1.3

The Lancia Fulvia Sport with an aluminium alloy body designed by Elio Zagato using Lancia Fulvia Coupé running gear was launched in 1965.

Initially Fulvia Sports were powered by an 88hp 1216 cc / 74.2 cui narrow angle, 12°53’28”, V4 with one overhead camshaft operating all the inlet valves and a second operating all the exhaust valves all of which operate in a single cylinder head thanks to the narrow angle of the cylinders.

The longitudinally mounted motor is canted over at 45 degrees from horizontal which allows a low bonnet / hood line. Often wondered if the Fulvia Sport influenced the headlight bezel design of the Datsun 120A-FII.

Today’s featured 1969 Fulvia Sport 1.3 is fitted with an 87hp 1298 cc / 79.2 cui V4 with the cylinder pairs inclined at just 12°45’28”.

Fulvia Sport’s were assembled at Zagato’s factory near Milan using Peraluman, a trade name for a aluminium alloy with up to 5.6% magnesium content which is easier to work and more corrosion resistant than ordinary a aluminium.

FIAT acquired Lancia in 1969 which appears to have led to later Fulvia Sports being fitted with steel bodies and aluminium doors which added overall weight but saved both material and production costs.

Peraluman bodied Fulvia Sports like the one seen here at the recent Simply Italian day at Beaulieu, are most easily distinguished by the small rear light clusters which do not wrap around the rear quarter panel. It is thought somewhere between 600 and 700 Fulvia Sports were manufactured.

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

When Is A FIAT A Ferrari ? – FIAT Dino 2.4 Spider

With sales volumes falling production of the FIAT Dino Coupé and Spider was moved from FIAT’s production facilities in Turin to Ferrari’s at Maranello in 1969.

Amongst the changes to the specifications of the Maranello built FIAT Dino’s was an engine upgrade to the larger 178 hp 2.4 litre / 146 cui version of the Dino V6.

An iron block replaced the aluminium block of the smaller motor but aluminium heads were retained. Curiously although the FIAT and Ferrari, as used in the mid engined Dino 206 & 246 GT’s, motors all came from the same production line in Turin Ferrari always liked to quote higher hp figures for ‘his’ motors than FIAT.

The FIAT Dino’s Girling disc brakes are said to be interchangeable with those fitted to the de Tomaso Pantera and Lamboughini Miura.

With the Pininfarina bodied FIAT Spider being built along side the Pininfarina bodied 246 GTS there was not much to tell the two vehicles apart for anyone except the FIAT marketing department. Of the two models the FIAT Dino Spider with only 424 examples built is the rarer against 1,274 Ferrari Dino GT Spiders.

When production of the FIAT Dino Spider moved to Maranello the original live axle and leaf spring rear suspension was replaced with a coil sprung independent rear suspension which shares much in common with the FIAT 130.

Today’s featured 1970 model, seen at last years Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival was acquired as a non runner in 1987 and has been gradually restored ever since.

Thanks for joining me on this “When Is A FIAT A Ferrari” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

When is a Ferrari a FIAT ? – FIAT Dino Spider

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For 1966 the second tier open wheel Formula 2 regulations called for an engine size of up to 2 litres / 122 cui with a maximum of 6 cylinders based on a stock block of which at least 5,000 copies had been manufactured.

Ferrari had an engine of the requisite size and number of cylinders, known as the Dino V6 which had been evolving through sports car and formula one racing since 1957 to win the 1958 and 1961 World Drivers Championships and even the 1965 European Hillclimb Championship.

However Ferrari had not come close to manufacturing 5000 of any model at the time and so a deal was struck with FIAT to manufacture the FIAT Dino in sufficient quantities to meet the 5000 unit regulation required for Formula 2 homologation. In 1966 the FIAT Dino was launched as an open top spider with bodywork by Pininfarina, using a 158 hp 2 litre / 122 cui Dino V6 to power it. A coupé version was launched in 1967. Interestingly FIAT insisted on producing the Dino V6 engines in Turin to ensure there were no breaks in the supply, which was against plans envisaged by Enzo Ferrari who hoped to build the engines at Maranello.

The 1967 model, seen here at last years Bristol Italian Auto Moto Festival, has belonged to the same owner since 1979, it’s motor was rebuilt in 2007 and according to it’s owner last year it had it’s distributor rebuilt and water pump replaced. Production of the 2 litre FIAT Dino was halted in 1969 and replaced by a larger variation which I’ll be featuring in two weeks.

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

Naturally Aspirated Production Engine World Record – Ferrari 458 Italia

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The Ferrari 458 Italia is an entirely new design that replaced the F430 in all of it’s guises, sports car track car and race car.

The body, one of the most graceful Ferrari’s ever in my opinion, was designed by Pininfarina, it generates 140 kgs / 308 lbs of down force when traveling at 124 mph.

Launched in 2009 the 458 Italia features many technologies carried over from recent Ferrari Formula One programmes.

These include the steering wheel which incorporates a number of controls that are familiar to Formula One drivers.

The brake calipers are designed to return the pads into close proximity with the brake discs after lifting off in order to reduce the delay the next time they are used, this has helped reduce breaking distances to 32.5 meters / 35.6 meters when decelerating to rest from 62 mph.

With 562 hp from its 4.5 litre / 274.6 cui V8 the 458 Italia holds the current world record for power per litre / cui from a naturally aspirated production engine.

Traditional manual transmission is not an option on the 458 Italia relies on a paddle shift on the steering wheel to operate the dual-clutch and seven speed gearbox, again technology which is derived from current Formula One practice.

The roll out of the 458 Italia has been interrupted by a poor choice of adhesive used in the rear wheel arch assemblies which proved lacking in heat resistance which caused several wheel arch assemblies to distort and catch fire when coming too close to the exhaust. Ferrari recalled 1,248 458 Italia’s to have the rear wheel arch assemblies replaced with new ones using conventional fasteners. Several owners will also have cars damaged by fire replaced.

It is claimed, by Ferrari, that from rest a 458 Italia will reach 62mph in 3.4 mph and a top speed of over 202 mph and that it will return 21.2 mpg (imperial) and 17.7 mpg (us).

Thanks for joining me on this “Naturally Aspirated Production Engine World Record” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I be looking at an unreliable but still championship contending Lotus. Don’t forget to come back now !