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Fiat S76 (merged)


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#351 bradbury west

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Posted 17 July 2017 - 18:23

Thread bump for info for those not familiar with the history.
Roger Lund

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#352 Ray Bell

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Posted 21 March 2019 - 13:08

Merely an aside, but I think worth posting...

 

This evening I took that drive from 'Armidale to the coast' in one of my Foresters.

 

What a road! To be honest, I wouldn't have gone that way had I known fully what I was in for, but now I've done it I'm glad for the education.

 

The first 40+kms out of Armidale are straightforward, very good country road with very light traffic. Then one turns onto second-class bitumen and immediately swoops and dives over a bridge and onto gravel. In quick succession, bitumen and gravel sections follow, not too outstanding in their makeup (but with a badly sunken bridge approach leaving a sharp concrete edge which dented a rim for me and left me with a flat tyre), but then the gravel was to come in earnest.

 

Beginning at about 950m altitude, the road climbs to about 1050, then begins a descent which never seems to end. The road is a hand-hewn ledge in the sides of mountains and hills overlooking ravines and creeks, corner following corner, steering winding and unwinding nearly as quickly as is required to wind the other way.

 

This goes on seemingly endlessly, with about ten kilometres covered before the main descent ends at about 150 metres altitude. Then come some undulations, but the nature of the road, narrow, unfenced for the most part, clinging to hillsides with rock walls to one side and sheer drops to the other, never seems to change. The gravel is not too bad, but it takes a long time to get a short distance in these circumstances.

 

I drove it as hard as I dared bearing in mind that I no longer had a spare tyre. I travelled 70kms before I encountered an oncoming car. By that time I was finding cattle on the road, it was now dark and the black ones were hard to spot. Once I went between one which was standing there looking at me and another which was lying on the edge of the road chewing its cud, all the while the ABS laughing at my right foot as I delicately steered between the bovines.

 

John says that the car in question came from some 19kms west of Bellbrook, but I have to report that from the first Bellbrook sign to the village itself was probably the best part of 19kms. And in that distance yet more of the hand-carved narrow road etched itself into the hillsides, some parts of it graced with a different sign, "VERY narrow road". Many times drivers were warned not to stop because of the risk of falling rocks, occasionally with the addition of a 'Proceed with caution.'

 

A shame I made the drive as darkness was falling, I'd like to have seen more of the terrain. But all the while I was thinking just how poorly this little car with 2-wheel brakes must have been equipped for such a road, certainly at any kind of speed.



#353 john medley

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Posted 22 March 2019 - 05:17

Ray, your observations support Ivan Saxton's reference that this was and is "billygoat country", and no place for a "FIAT S76", nor its wheels or gearing, so long ago.

 

And it wasnt a FIAT, nor did it come from Armidale or Armadale......



#354 Ray Bell

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Posted 22 March 2019 - 10:49

Well understood, John...

 

To progress down this road in the S76 would have been a herculean task, and a very slow one that was very likely to end in tears. It's simply laughable that anyone would suggest it.

 

A lot of the country wouldn't support billy goats either. Measurable distances see rocks creeping out above the roadway, though not far, while frequently one encounters small piles of rubble under the upper inclines which are driven over because there isn't room to go around them. The 'proceed with caution signs' are prefaced with a term something like 'slip area', and I don't believe I have ever seen 'very' on a 'narrow road' sign before.



#355 Pat Clarke

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Posted 22 March 2019 - 12:18

Ray, you can take a virtual trip along that road on Google.  I just had a look. Billygoat country indeed!

 

Pat



#356 bradbury west

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Posted 13 June 2019 - 17:08

A comment by Ray on another thread about a proposed long road trip way to the north of Australia brought this thread to mind and a query I made years ago.
Not questioning in any way the engineering skills which went into the work on the subject of this thread, nor the efforts and undoubted costs which accompanied it, for which I am, as before, full of admiration, I was wondering if there was any news of a book telling and fully illustrating the work on the car and photographs showing clearly the hard evidence of its original state, along with an auditable list of owners or custodians, just like auction houses provide, or very intent owners or vendors.
Inevitably very popular at every outing, this car is now assuming legendary status. It would be unfair on history and historians, the original purpose of this forum, if any inaccuracies led to legend becoming myth.
I have no axe to grind, indeed other than marvelling at the work that went into it, especially after being graced with a very detailed account of the engine work by the man who did it, seen at an FoS in a very bright suit some years ago, I am almost indifferent to it, especially in view of some of the other cars which appeal to me at the FoS.
However, as a maxim I always like to use something which Jenks always said to me in various discussions about various restorations years ago. Always ask them to show you what they started with, then you can tell them what they have got once it is finished. It seemed like a variation of his view of, if you want to tell me where you finished be sure to tell me whom you beat to get there.
Usual disclaimers
Roger Lund

#357 robert dick

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Posted 14 June 2019 - 17:39

On Wednesday, 31 May 1911, on the way from Turin to the Channel coast, the ferry, London and Brooklands, Pietro Bordino and mechanic Antonio Fagnano drove through Paris with the big Fiat. Certainly an interesting trip and city tour.
(from the French daily L'Auto, 1 June 1911 - article by "C.F." = Charles Faroux):

bordino11.jpg
 



#358 robert dick

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Posted 15 June 2019 - 08:22

In 1912 and -13, the powerboat Sciata owned by the Conelli brothers used the same type of 28-litre 300-hp Fiat engine as Bordino's record car. The hull of the Sciata was built by Taroni/Stresa/Lago Maggiore.
(from La Stampa Sportiva, April 1912)

sciata12.jpg
 



#359 bradbury west

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Posted 15 June 2019 - 09:24

It makes you wonder just how many of these engines FIAT did make in total.
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#360 mike90

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Posted 15 June 2019 - 10:08

In 1912 and -13, the powerboat Sciata owned by the Conelli brothers used the same type of 28-litre 300-hp Fiat engine as Bordino's record car. The hull of the Sciata was built by Taroni/Stresa/Lago Maggiore.
(from La Stampa Sportiva, April 1912)

sciata12.jpg
 

I had posted this earlier in the thread: link



#361 robert dick

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Posted 15 June 2019 - 10:42

Fading memory. Sorry!



#362 Pullman99

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Posted 12 December 2021 - 16:37

I had an enjoyable and fascinating chat today with Duncan Pittaway at the VSCC meeting at Mallory Park where he was racing his familiar Monarch in the Edwardian race and the Vintage race too. Great to watch as always.

Duncan says that he hopes to have the Fiat S76 ready in about two years time. He has spent some four and a half years building the gearbox alone but the car is making excellent progress and the engine has been running. I asked him if Fiat had been showing any commercial interest in the project and he reported that they had not but that there were two individuals in the Centro Storico Fiat who had been tremendously helpful and supportive, He also stated that, as a company, Fiat were very protective over their heritage and have previously taken legal action against some people who were trying to create something that was not genuine. Duncan mentioned at least two Alfa-Romeos that had been crushed on court orders following such action and that in the United States the would-be creator of a Fiat Tipo 806 Grand Prix car had also recently been similarly taken to court. Whether or not the cars concerned were being promoted as something they were not I do not know. However, Duncan gave the strongest possible indication that the Centro Storico were keeping a very close eye on developments and had authenticated all of the work to date. Part of this scrutiny was concerned with the original sale of the engine to Duncan but they also identified and authenticated the chassis to which the engine is now fitted. This endorsement must surely represent the definitive view on the correctness and authenticity of this vehicle.



 

 

Duncan Pittaway gave an excellent and very enjoyable talk on the FIAT S76 to the Friends of the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu last night (Saturday 11th December).  THe car was there too and was fired up in the dark that made the fire-breathing demonstration for which the car has become best known seem all the more dramatic as it drove round some of the museum's roads.    No doubt disturbing a few of the neighbours just settling down to watch Strictly...

 

The background story is truly fascinating, not least the very involved discussions and ultimate acquisition of the S76's engine from FIAT.   Some of the information I gleaned from Duncan back in 2010 was expanded upon and makes the rebuilding of the car and its now regular public appearances all the more remarkable.    Well done to all involved.

 

I did ask Duncan about whether there was still the intention of making a full documentary with Stefan Marjoram - the trailer made in 2105 that features the S76's first fire-up was shown - and he assured me that this was very much the case.  The wealth of material and inter-related stories deserves greater exposure.    I personally hope that there will also eventually be a book.   

 

Beaulieu do not - unlike Brooklands Members TV - issue their talks on You Tube but I understand that this may happen in then future.    Heroic stuff!