26 replies to this topic

[Magoo]

In 1911, the Fiat S76 better known as the Beast of Turin was one of the most fearsome race cars on earth. In 2014, it roars again.

 

Four cylinders, 1727 CID. Watch it shake the radiator, the frame, the ground, etc.  

 

 

 

 

Video: The Beast of Turin Roars Again | Mac's Motor City Garage.com 

 

 

 

 

 

[carlt]

saw this yesterday and can't stop replaying it -    proper Garagista style 

 

also it is just so Westcountry it makes me smile

[Magoo]

You seldom see machines vibrate so fiercely without exploding. 

[Catalina Park]

Believe me there are some Australian motoring historians that are vibrating even more than that replica.

[Kelpiecross]

Starting appeared to me to be by igniting one cylinder.

[gruntguru]

Running on coal dust judging by the comets coming out of the exhaust ports! 

[Magoo]

Believe me there are some Australian motoring historians that are vibrating even more than that replica.

 

I din't go there. Not my pie fight. 

[Magoo]

Running on coal dust judging by the comets coming out of the exhaust ports! 

 

May have been nuts and bolts. 

[275 GTB-4]

May have been nuts and bolts.

True...there are always some left over after any major restoration

[Catalina Park]

True...there are always some left over after any major restoration

But this wasn't a restoration...

[275 GTB-4]

But this wasn't a restoration...

Sure Andy, but in order to recreate an iconic vehicle, a certain amount of RESTORATION is required for the assembly of bits and pieces you are using...Kay?

[Catalina Park]

A new car isn't usually described as being restored.

[gruntguru]

Agreed, however If building from scratch is what it takes - go for it, Millions of rev heads (including myself) will get off on hearing that thing burst into life.

 

Hard to believe the torque reaction when it started. What balls to drive it at 130+ mph?! A medium sized pot hole (perhaps even a blip of the throttle?) would surely fliip it over.

[mariner]

My great uncle, Jack Scales was the riding mechanic when Felice Nazarro first took this car onto the streets of Turin

 

http://theoldmotor.com/?p=11190

 

thanks to Duncan Pittaway and Magoo's link I can now imagine , nearly, what the ride must have been like for him- loud and scary.

Edited by mariner, 07 December 2014 - 10:20.

[Tim Murray]

It doesn't appear to mention in that Old Motor article that in June 1911 Bordino drove the car on the public highway from Brooklands to Saltburn-by-the-Sea. I've been trying to imagine the effect on the local populace when that thing went by, thundering and spitting flames.

[gruntguru]

Not so fiery or noisy with the full exhaust fitted I'm sure.

[275 GTB-4]

It doesn't appear to mention in that Old Motor article that in June 1911 Bordino drove the car on the public highway from Brooklands to Saltburn-by-the-Sea. I've been trying to imagine the effect on the local populace when that thing went by, thundering and spitting flames.

Tim, what was the purpose of the run? That's a hell of a long way to take such a beast...how many refuelling stops!

[Edit: beach run - http://forums.autosp...urn-and-ostend/.]

PS how many threads on the S76 do we have? Oi Vey!]

Edited by 275 GTB-4, 09 December 2014 - 21:48.

[Tim Murray]

Tim, what was the purpose of the run? That's a hell of a long way to take such a beast...how many refuelling stops!

I don't know, Mick. When Duncan Pittaway gave our club a talk on the car a few years back he seemed to think it was because Bordino spurned the idea of putting it on a trailer, preferring to drive it up there himself. Maybe after it rather frightened him at Brooklands he just wanted to get some miles on it to get a feel for how it behaved. Maybe they couldn't find a trailer big enough ...

In the Old Motor article referred to in your link:

http://theoldmotor.com/?p=134463

it says that the passenger on the journey was George Scales, an Englishman working in Italy. Would this be Mariner's great uncle again? It seems unlikely that there were two different Scales, Jack and George, who both rode in the car at different times.

In this Motor Sport article, William Boddy says that the Fiat was accompanied by some mechanics in a large Renault, and that they broke their journey at Doncaster, but there's no mention of refuelling stops in between.

http://www.motorspor.../60/fiat-fiasco

[Tim Murray]

Not so fiery or noisy with the full exhaust fitted I'm sure.

My understanding is that it had the stub exhausts fitted when driven up to Saltburn. I haven't seen any photographic proof of this, however.

[BRG]

I don't know, Mick. When Duncan Pittaway gave our club a talk on the car a few years back he seemed to think it was because Bordino spurned the idea of putting it on a trailer, preferring to drive it up there himself. Maybe after it rather frightened him at Brooklands he just wanted to get some miles on it to get a feel for how it behaved. Maybe they couldn't find a trailer big enough ...

What would they have used to tow the trailer back then?  It's a big lump of machinery and heavy, I imagine.  What was there around with enough puff to tow it, probably with a heavy trailer as well?  Steam lorry maybe - that would have taken days.  

[Greg Locock]

Traction engine

[desmo]

Or just winch it up onto a flatbed rail car, secure it and send it on its way.

[275 GTB-4]

I don't know, Mick. When Duncan Pittaway gave our club a talk on the car a few years back he seemed to think it was because Bordino spurned the idea of putting it on a trailer, preferring to drive it up there himself. Maybe after it rather frightened him at Brooklands he just wanted to get some miles on it to get a feel for how it behaved. Maybe they couldn't find a trailer big enough ...

In the Old Motor article referred to in your link:

http://theoldmotor.com/?p=134463

it says that the passenger on the journey was George Scales, an Englishman working in Italy. Would this be Mariner's great uncle again? It seems unlikely that there were two different Scales, Jack and George, who both rode in the car at different times.

In this Motor Sport article, William Boddy says that the Fiat was accompanied by some mechanics in a large Renault, and that they broke their journey at Doncaster, but there's no mention of refuelling stops in between.

http://www.motorspor.../60/fiat-fiasco

Thanks Tim, I guess that the Renault support car was responsible for carrying or sourcing tyres and fuel supplies. Oh for a time machine to be standing beside road when whoppin great Fiat came thunderin bye!

Does Saltburn have a port? I suppose they could also have barged it up there :-)

PS love the small boy in the window, his eyes were probably as big as dinner plates...

Edited by 275 GTB-4, 10 December 2014 - 21:29.

[BRG]

Traction engine

Yes, but at only about 5mph that would take some 55 hours for the 275 mile trip.

 

Or just winch it up onto a flatbed rail car, secure it and send it on its way.

Yes, but I am not sure that a beast of that stature would fit into the rather restricted British railway loading gauge.  Best option if it did fit though.

 

Does Saltburn have a port? I suppose they could also have barged it up there :-)

Saltburn yes, but Brooklands is a tad landlocked.

 

I think the best answer was to drive it there.

[275 GTB-4]

Yes, but at only about 5mph that would take some 55 hours for the 275 mile trip.
 
Yes, but I am not sure that a beast of that stature would fit into the rather restricted British railway loading gauge.  Best option if it did fit though.
 
Saltburn yes, but Brooklands is a tad landlocked.
 
I think the best answer was to drive it there.

yes...

[mariner]

"it says that the passenger on the journey was George Scales, an Englishman working in Italy. Would this be Mariner's great uncle again? It seems unlikely that there were two different Scales, Jack and George, who both rode in the car at different times."

 

It would be the same Jack Scales as his brother was Frank Scales, my grandfather.

 

BTW one of my fathers distinct memories of his Uncle Jack as a small boy is the guys wide shoulders. Seeing those cars I think think holding them on those roads at speed soon gave you some arm strength or in the ditch you went

Edited by mariner, 14 December 2014 - 03:11.

[Tim Murray]

Which leads me to wonder ...

It's a long way from Brooklands to Saltburn. Jack Scales was no mean driver in his own right (1914 French GP etc). That Fiat must have been very tiring to drive for any length of time. It seems very likely to me that Mariner's Great Uncle Jack would have shared the driving duties.

Tony (Mariner): I've just re-read your TNF thread on Jack Scales and Chiribiri:

http://forums.autosp...iribiri-please/

in which your great uncle's full name is given as Jack Elson Scales. Presumably then the 'George' Scales mentioned on the Old Motor site is wrong? Also, are you able to confirm that the passenger sitting beside Bordino in the Fiat outside the Zetland Hotel in Saltburn is your great uncle?