Fiat CV61, Italy's last 61 memory
In 1961, all of Italy celebrated the 100th anniversary of the unification of the territory under the flag of Savoy. Especially a soulful party, especially Turin, the first historical capital of the kingdom, which finally became a republic just 15 years ago.
In the capital of Piedmont, this anniversary was marked by a large exhibition fair, for which the then Municipal Tram Company (ATM) organized special public transport lines, on which it was decided to put into operation a small fleet of cars. bus especially capacious and with a strong image, specially built.
Twice special
The implementation was entrusted Viberti, a historical company from Turin specializing in the production of trailers and, in fact, in the preparation of public transport, which put into the project all the innovations that it was capable of: starting with a specially made 3-axle Fiat chassis and dubbed Type 413, he built 12 double-decker buses, featuring a special lattice structure, called "Monotral", which carried the body, as well as a particularly precise design and finish.
The buses thus installed had a length of 12 meters and a height of 4,15 and had a total of 67 seats (excluding 2 service seats for the driver and conductor), 20 of which were on the upper deck, plus room for seventy more standing passengers. Downstairs only, 3 sliding doors and an internal staircase, air suspension.
The center-mounted engine was a truck engine. 682 S, 6-liter 10,7-cylinder supercharged engine that brought power from 150 to 175 hp, but tended to problems, so after a few years the units were replaced by an 11,5-liter naturally aspirated engine with 177 h.p. ... The gearbox has always been from the 682, but in a version without a gearbox and with an electro-pneumatic servo drive, already used by Fiat on the 401 and 411 types.
The latter is still working
At the end of the show, the Fiat 413 Viberti Monotral CV61 (that's the full name) was assigned to some urban lines for ten years and then to Fiat workers. Their use ceased in the mid-80s with irradiation and the first demolitions, from which, in fact, only two examples of these first 12 were saved, and in an imperfect condition.
Thanks to the interest of some proven enthusiasts, and then the Turin Historical Tram Association associated with GTT (heir to ATM), in which GTT itself is involved, one of the two vehicles, or rather the one that has serial number 2002 which turned out to be in the best conditions, it was patiently reconditioned, sacrificing another (2006) to restore useful parts, and with some difficulty other components were tracked (including some tires even from Brazil).
The latest CV61 is currently stored in one of the warehouses of GTT, which owns 50% of ATTS, and returns to travel the streets of Turin along with other historic vehicles for events and special events such as Trolley festival dedicated to the history of transport.
