The Fiat 130 HP is a

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

racing car made by Fiat in 1907 to a design by Giovanni Enrico. Built solely for Grand Prix motor racing, the Fiat 130 HP included new design features, such as overhead valves and hemispherical compression chambers.

Background

Prior to 1906, Fiat had only experienced limited success on the racing circuit owing to their use of less powerful cars. The most successful of these models was the 28/40HP Corsa, which provided a maximum of 40 hp. Another successful design was the 60 horsepower

Fiat 60 HP The Fiat 60 HP is an automobile produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1904 to 1906. It competed in races such as the Paris–Madrid race of 1903, (driven by Vincenzo Lancia and Luigi Storero) and the Circuit des Ardennes, along with other ...

. The manufacturer lacked a high powered

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

compared to the French who dominated the circuit at that time with the

Renault Grand Prix The Renault Grand Prix was a race car manufactured between 1906 and 1908 by French car maker Renault. It was also known as Renault Grand Prix de l'A.C.F. (Renault Grand Prix of the ''Automobile Club de France''). The A.C.F. Grand Prix was crea ...

, which featured a 90 hp engine. By 1907, a new formula was introduced to govern Grand Prix motor racing which allowed for cars with larger and heavier engines to compete. The new regulations included changes to fuel consumption (a maximum of 30 liters per 100 km/9.42 mpg) and eliminated the weight and displacement limits. Fiat chose to develop a new race car designed to the new standards and featured an engine which could generate 130 hp.

Technical data

The project was entrusted to John Henry as the project manager who had previously worked as a co-designer on an earlier 100 horsepower racer in 1905. He developed the 130 HP while working with designer Giovanni Enrico and technical directors Guido Fornaca and Carlo Cavalli. The new design featured a chain

final drive A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

and a front-mounted 4-cylinder, 16,286 cc engine. The new engine incorporated multiple innovations for its time, including an oversquare bore greater than the stroke,

overhead valves An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located bel ...

, hemispherical combustion chambers and centrally located

spark plugs A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air ...

. The ignition for the 130 HP was provided by a Simms-Bosch magneto, while the power was controlled by a single carburetor. Despite the weight of more than 1000 kg (each

piston A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tig ...

had a weight of 4.5 kg) the wheels were still made of wood.

Racing results

The car performed well during the

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

(First race of the season), which was won by

Felice Nazzaro Felice Nazzaro (4 December 1881 – 21 March 1940) was an Italian racecar driver, a native of Turin. He won the Kaiserpreis in 1907 as well as the French Grand Prix in 1907 and 1922 and Targa Florio in 1907, and 1913. His European wins in 1907 r ...

followed by

Vincenzo Lancia Vincenzo Lancia (24 August 1881 – 15 February 1937) was an Italian racing driver, engineer and founder of Lancia. Vincenzo Lancia was born in the small village of Fobello on 24 August 1881, close to Turin; his family tree starts in Fabell ...

who came in second place. Nazzaro also won the that took place on the Taunus circuit. The other two cars which Fiat entrusted to Lancia and Louis Wagner finished fifth and sixth respectively. The team of Nazzaro, Wagner and Lancia was deployed to the 1907 French Grand Prix that took place in

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...

. During the first 3 laps, Wagner kept the lead, but because of a fault he had to withdraw from the race. Lancia briefly took the lead but owing to engine trouble, he also retired. The race was eventually won by Nazzaro.

Notes

External links

Technical description and history of the Fiat 130 HP
grandprixhistory.org {{Fiat Racing cars 130 HP