Fiat Turbina

About this model

Fiat's Dante Giacosa and Francisco Bellicardi were planning out a turbine-powered car in 1948!

Fiat was already building the de Havilland Ghost jet engine under license so they had the knowledge required in-house but had to keep the project a secret so that their higher-ups wouldn't interfere. The Fiat 8V debuted in 1952 would prove as the right starting point for the upcoming car's chassis. The new independent double wishbone suspenion was fitted to all four wheels, the new chassis had a 2400mm wheelbase and would be rear-engined and rear-wheel-drive.

The turbine engine would produce 300 BHP and rev up to 22000rpm with no need of a gearbox or clutch. It would prove to be very thirsty and heavy engine due to its nature though.

The body was custom built in-house and featured two large fins over the rear wheels for stability, a curved windscreen and slick, aerodynamic lines, a central turbine rear exhaust and doors that cut through the roof for ease of access, much like the Ford GT40. The Fiat Turbina weighs 1270 kg and is capable of over 260 km/h.

The engine was installed on March 15th 1954 and on April 14th the car was tested at the Lingotto rooftop test track. One week later it, on the 22nd, it made the world debut at the Turin Motor Show and one day later it ran at the Turin Caselle airport, topping at 260 km/h.

The experiment was halted as jet engines were not suitable for cars.