The Fiat Mephistopheles (known in Italian as ''Mefistofele'') is a one-off racing car created by Ernest A.D. Eldridge in 1923 by combining a

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

racing car chassis and Fiat aeroplane engine. The name is from the demon of the same name. The name alluded to the infernal noise emitted from the unmuffled engine, and it was "baptised" by the Frenchmen. Eldridge broke the

World Land Speed Record The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regula ...

on 12 July 1924 with the Mephistopheles, by driving at in Arpajon,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The last car to set a land speed record on a public road. The Mephistopheles was created by combining the chassis of the 1908 Fiat SB4 with a 6-cylinder, 21.7 litre (21706 cc)

Fiat A.12 The Fiat A.12 was a six-cylinder liquid-cooled straight engine, in-line engine with a Bore (engine), bore of 160 mm and a Stroke (engine), stroke of 180 mm, giving a Engine displacement, capacity of just under 22 litres, with variants p ...

aeroplane engine producing . ''Mephistopheles'' was restored over 5 years, with another example of the same engine, and returned in 2011 with a display at the

Goodwood Festival of Speed The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hillclimbing, hill climb and other events, held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, in l ...

References

External links

Fiat.com
- Story of the Fiat Mefistofele {{Fiat

Mefistofele ''Mefistofele'' () is an opera in a prologue and five acts, later reduced to four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera with music by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito (there are several completed operas for which he was libret ...

Racing cars Wheel-driven land speed record cars Cars powered by aircraft engines