Fiat 24-32 HP Rear Entrance Tonneau Car
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Car producer : |
Fiat |
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Model: |
24-32 HP Rear Entrance Tonneau Car |
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Year: |
1903-1905 |
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Type: |
Tonneau |
The Fiat 24-32 HP was introduced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Fiat in 1903. The car was designed to allow coachbuilders to make various bodies to fit. It was offered with three different wheelbases, short, medium and long.
It was equipped with a 4-cylinder engine:
1st series with a 6371 cc engine - 32 hp
2nd series in 1904 with a 6902 cc engine - 32 hp
In its 2nd series form, the Type 24/32 was powered by the 6.9-litre four-cylinder T-head engine producing 32 horsepower at 1,200rpm, which was transmitted to the rear wheels via a four-speed gearbox and twin-chain final drive.
3rd series in 1905 with a 7363 cc engine - 32 hp
More than 400 were made in the Corso Dante plant in Turin.
The Fiat 24-32 HP featured some important technological innovations: it was the first sedan car to use a "Landaulet" body type and was the first car to have an accelerator pedal and a gearbox with four forward gears. The road model could achieve a top speed of 75 kilometres per hour (47 mph).
There were brakes on the transmission and rear wheels only, and the Type 24/32 chassis was available in three different wheelbase lengths to meet the demands of individual customers. Top speed was around 120km/h depending on the type of coachwork fitted. These were expensive cars, available at Hollander & Tangeman, the FIAT importer in New York, at a list price of $9,000, for which amount one could buy ten new Cadillac Model B Runabouts. Only the contemporary Mercedes was more expensive.
In 1902, Fiat introduced a racing version of the 24 HP Corsa. This was the first car ever to be specially designed for racing rather than derived from a series production automobile. The Corsa had a full steel chassis rather than the wood chassis that dominated at the time, and a twin-engine block 7238 cc developing 40 hp. Weighing in at just 450 kilograms (992 lb), it ran at speeds in excess of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph), a very high speed in those days. This car dominated its competitors from its first release into competition. The car won the Côte-Superga Sassi race, near Turin, on June 29 and July 27, 1902, with Vincenzo Lancia driving, and the Susa - Col du Mont-Cenis race at an average speed of 44.16 kilometres per hour (27.44 mph).
