The experimental prototype Fiat Turbine, presented by the Turin-based brand in 1954, will be exhibited until February 28, 2022 in the windows of the prestigious Larusmiani shop in Via Monte Napoleone in Milan, passing from the Milan Prime airport to Linate. Donated to the MAUTO – National Automobile Museum directly by Fiat, the Turbine leaves the museum rooms for the first time to be exhibited in the famous Ambrosian “quadrilateral of fashion”. Like the model, the made in Italy shop was also opened in the same year.
At the beginning of the 1950s, driven by the revolutionary advances that gas turbines had introduced in aviation, the idea of applying a similar solution to the automobile took shape on the part of the major manufacturing companies. Among these was Fiat, which started a research project headed towards the end of the 1940s the engineer Dante Giacosa, director of the Technical Offices, and Eng. Oscar Montadone, head of the Research Department. The result was a car with futuristic mechanicswhich combined the chassis of the 8V with a gas turbine of about 300 horsepower.
The engine of the concept consists of a two-stage centrifugal compressor, coupled to a two-stage turbine and a driving turbine connected to a gear reduction unit for transmitting motion to the wheels. The engine is located at the rear on the 4-wheel independent chassis. But it wasn’t just the engine that ‘turned the heads’ of those who watched the car. Aerodynamics, in an era where total efficiency was certainly not sought, had been particularly taken care of by the technicians. The CX coefficient of 0.14 has been a record for several yearsachieved thanks to the use of scale models in the wind tunnel of the Polytechnic of Turin.
The chassis part was derived from the Fiat 8V, with two-seater berlinetta bodywork with excellent aerodynamic profiling, retractable headlights and fins on the two rear fenders. In the track tests, carried out by the pilot and test driver Carlo Salamano on the Lingotto track and above all at Caselle airport, the car reached a top speed of 260 kilometers per hour.
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