Test drive unknown Fiat
Test Drive

Test drive unknown Fiat

Test drive unknown Fiat

60 years of Centro Stile Fiat a good excuse to take a look at a unique history

Individual development is a brief recapitulation of history - the truth of this statement by Ernst Haeckel has long been recognized in the theory of evolution. However, we can fully apply it to automobile development.

BMW marketing will not fail to mention that the company has aircraft engines in its genes and even its brand image reflects this, while Mercedes prides itself on producing trucks and buses. But what about the group united by the name Fiat - although now formally divided into an automotive division, including Chrysler and a range of light trucks, and an industrial group that includes Iveco trucks, Case and New Holland agricultural machinery, and marine engines. In the early history of the brand, which began in the suburbs of Turin in 1899, we can find such artifacts as aircraft engines and even aircraft. In fact, the company's aviation division (Fiat Aviazione) produced aircraft between the two wars, in 1955 the Fiat G91 was chosen as a tactical fighter for NATO, and under the name Fiat 7002 there is a helicopter. And did you know that there are locomotives with the Fiat name?

In fact, the Fiat automobile company, which today owns virtually all Italian car brands - from Alfa Romeo to Copier, Maserati and Ferrari, and more recently the American Chrysler, is deeply rooted not only in the industrial life of Italy, but is also part of a priceless historical heritage. Fiat is implanted in the genotype of an Italian with his specific mentality. In a country with a history of the Roman Empire and personalities such as Leonardo and Michelangelo for the past 119 years, the pioneer Fiat is present as an unchanging story thread. And not only by its contribution to the gross domestic product of Italy. Because the brand is both a treasure for Italy and a company that has made a huge contribution to the development of the car as a whole, with undeniable masterpieces in design and technology. I was fortunate enough to speak with Italian engineers several times and I can say that this is a truly unique experience. Only an Italian designer can tell about his creations with the scope, energy and zeal of a conductor, with an engineering speech that beats from the depths of his essence and sounds like the melody of an Italian opera. 1958, when their Centro Stile was created, figures in the historical annals of Fiat, making it virtually the first car of its kind in Europe. Located at the epicenter of the creative spirit, the company often collaborates with design bureaus of stylists such as Froy, Pininfarina and Giugiaro in the Turin area. And today we owe to the Centro Ricerce Fiat (CRF) some of the most valuable achievements in automotive technology, namely to the Fiat engineers, whose development center is now called Fiat Powertrain Technologies or FTP, the world owes the Common Rail system for diesel engines and the subsequent Multijet, their work - the first turbocharged diesel engine with direct injection, created in 1986. The creations of FTP or its predecessor FCR are the incredible MultiAir hydraulic actuation and control system of the intake valves, the T-JET petrol turbo engines, the first modern TwinAir two-cylinder engine, the first Selespeed automated manual transmission in the late eighties, the first system in petrol engines in 1980 and the TCT dual-clutch transmission. This technology of using a common platform for several models, which has become popular in recent years, was first introduced by Fiat engineers with the 127 and 128 models in the late 60s and early 70s! And just for the sake of statistics, Fiat still holds the record for the car with the largest engine – the working volume of the four-cylinder (!) engine of the 76 Fiat S1910, called the “Beast of Turin”, is no more and no less than 28,3. , 300 liters, has a power of exactly XNUMX hp. at 1900 rpm and was designed to outperform the then Blitzen Benz at all costs. It reached a record speed of 1912 km / h in 290 and is a phenomenal counterbalance to the minimalist functionality of many of Fiat's creations that make it unique. Yes, the Italian company has repeatedly focused on the luxury segments of the automotive market throughout its history, but in the end its true essence is gradually being built and established as the creator of innovative yet affordable products. The above are just the most impressive creations of Italian engineers - even in the most difficult periods of its history, such as the decade beginning in 1970, when Italy and Fiat in particular were torn apart by strikes, engineers and designers continue to create cars with an insurmountable spirit. Even before World War II, which made his name an important factor in the global auto industry, Fiat had plans for a national car. The Topolino 500 laid the groundwork, but with the true motorization of Europe in the 1936s and 50s, Fiat played a major role in its incredible 60s and 600s, created by brilliant stylist and engineer Dante Giacosa, who worked for 500 years. his career at Fiat. As the population riches, Fiat will continue to produce more modern 1100, 1300/1500, 850, 124, 125, 128 and 127 in the same spirit, many of which will be produced in third countries such as India, the Soviet Union and even Bulgaria, and will help ... for motorization of entire nations.

At the forefront of design, technology and manufacturing

As early as the 20s, Fiat executives were focused on introducing large-scale production methods at the new, modern plant in Lignoto, and in 1946 they visited Chrysler to learn from its experience in the modern automobile industry. History sometimes presents us with strange paradoxes - 70 years later, Chrysler is now owned by Fiat. Studying the history of Fiat could be the result of many dissertations, in which the fusion of Italian engineering and Italian stylistic spirit, as well as its undeniable contribution to the development of automobile culture, were fascinatingly expressed. However, all this is not just the result of conclusions and a formal listing of facts, but something much deeper, because design is directly related not only to designers, but also to the possibilities of production processes, the science of aerodynamics and is the result of a complex organization. This stylistic spirit can be traced throughout the history of Fiat, from the flowing lines characteristic of the Art Nouveau period or the clean lines of rationalism of the early 20s, to the functional forms with the first elements of aerodynamics in the 30s, the minimalist forms of the 50s, the flat surfaces of the 60s and 70s, and the modern evolution of functionality that began in the 80s.

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Text: Georgy Kolev

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