Fiat - 100 years of history

Fiat is one of the oldest car manufacturers and one of the richest in tradition. Its beginnings go back to the year 1898. In 1898 Giovanni Battista Ceirano signed a contract with a number of Turin businessmen with the aim of building an automobile prototype. Before that Ceirano had produced Welleyes bicycles. In March 1899 the first Welleyes car was presented. It had been designed by Aristide Faccioli. A two-cylinder engine of 663 cc drove the car through a two-speed gearbox. Four months later Ceirano’s company was bought by F.I.A.T. (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino). The first Fiat was a further development of the Welleyes car, but it now had a boxer engine producing 3.5 hp. Like other members of Ceirano’s staff, Faccioli moved to Fiat as well, but he left the company around 1901. The management wanted to bring a model with a front engine onto the market, something Faccioli apparently could not come to terms with. The new engineer Enrico finally made it possible for the model desired by the management to be built in 1902. The new model now had four cylinders, with 4.2 litres a considerably larger capacity than the previous models, and its concept was influenced by Mercedes. In 1904 the iron-reinforced wooden frame of this car was replaced by a steel structure. In 1905 the engine was changed. It now produced 60 hp from 10,082 cc! A special feature was the water-cooled transmission brake. At the end of 1906 the full stops in the company name were dropped and from then on the vehicles appeared under the brand name Fiat. In 1907 the first six-cylinder model appeared, with 11,034 cc. It was started by means of a compressed-air starter. The first model to be sold in larger numbers was the Type Zero. The Zero was no capacity giant; it had only 1,846 cc and went into production from 1912. Today it is regarded as Europe’s first large-series car.