The mighty Fiat sports car on the '50s racing track.....

Fiat is known to have served the global high-volume automotive market with reliable and low-cost products since its inception in 1899. On the other hand, for the high-performance, low-volume and high-cost automotive markets, it's left to third parties.

1953 Fiat 8V Series 1 Berlinetta coachwork by Fiat Carrozzerie Speciali. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3dBkkTD)

But something different happened in 1952 when the manufacturer started with the production of a high-performance two-seater sports car named Fiat 8V that used a two-litre V8 engine or "Otto Vu" in Italian. The car project lead by Dante Giocosa who was the company's Technical Director at the time.

1953 Fiat 8V Series 1 Berlinetta coachwork by Fiat Carrozzerie Speciali made its debut at the 1952 Geneva Auto Show held in March. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3dBkkTD)

Where all the work on the car was done by its own and secretly, though with partialy of the work transferred to Rudolf Hruska, who was working for Siata at the time. Finally, the Fiat 8V made its debut at the 1952 Geneva Auto Show held in March.

Steering wheel and dashboard view of 1953 Fiat 8V Series 1 Berlinetta coachwork by Fiat Carrozzerie Speciali. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3dBkkTD)

The car is available in different body styles offered under the Fiat's brand and Siata's, both as the Fiat 8V and partly as the Siata 208S with slightly modified. Then the Italian manufacturer ended the Fiat 8V production in September 1954, although many were not finished until 1955 and even 1956. Only 114 Fiat 8Vs were made and 96 others were made under the Siata name.

A pair of bucket seats of 1953 Fiat 8V Series 1 Berlinetta coachwork by Fiat Carrozzerie Speciali. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3dBkkTD)

However, during its journey, it turned out that this car did not sell well in the automotive market, but was able to make good achievements on the racing tracks. The Fiat 8V sportscar continued to win the Italian GT 2-liter Championship every year until 1959, where Fiat faced other Italian tough competitors such as Maserati, Ferrari and Lancia, etc.

1953 Fiat 8V Series 1 Berlinetta coachwork by Fiat Carrozzerie Speciali uses a 70 degree V configuration 1,996 cc engine able to produced power of 105 hp at 5600 rpm, and in standard form giving a top speed of 190 kph (118 mph). (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3dBkkTD)

After production was discontinued, of which 34 car units had the bodywork produced by Fiat's Reparto Carrozzerie Speciali (Special Bodies Department). Then the Italian manufacturer sells the remaining units to the another Italian coachbuilder company. 

1953 Fiat 8V Elaborata Zagato coachwork by Carrozzeria Zagato known made as many as 30 units. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3dBkkTD)

It is known that Carrozzeria Zagato made 30 units which were labeled Elaborata Zagato. Then Ghia and Vignale also made bodywork based on the Fiat 8V model, most of which were coupes, but some cabriolets were also made. Then there is an example equipped with a factory-style glass fiber reinforced plastic body shown at the 1954 Turin Motor Show.

The composite bodyshell was manufactured by Fiat's experimental bodywork department and is known to weigh just 48.5 kg (106.9 lbs). And the video below shows the 1954 Fiat 8V Rapi Series 2 Berlinetta while on the test drive.

Today, one of these Fiat 8Vs is at the Centro Storico Fiat in Turin. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | WIKIPEDIA | ]

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Did You ever heard about the Asardo sportscar?

Was there really an Asardo sports car really exist? Yes, the brand really exists in the 1960s. And might be not many automotive fans who know this brand. Asardo is an American sports car brand founded in 1959 by an Austrian immigrant who lived in America named Helmut William Schlosser. The company's founder firstly managed a machine shop in North Bergen, New Jersey in the 1950s who was also known as a sports car enthusiast.

1959 Asardo 1500 AR-S has a compact curvaceous berlinetta fiberglass body. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3k0fPEL)

As quoted from Wikipedia, Asardo stands for 'American Special Automotive Research and Design Organization,' which is throughout its life in the world's automotive made a little number of car models. Indeed, there are not many sports car models made by the brand. Its first model car designs were completed around the end of 1957 and construction began in 1958. Unfortunately, there is not much information about the brand's first model.

1959 Asardo 1500 AR-S. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3k0fPEL)

Possibly the brand's first model is the Asardo 1500 AR-S whose controversy design is said to be inspired by the Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ. The sports car has a compact curvaceous berlinetta fiberglass body with lots of elements 'taken from' other major automotive brands. The front view of the car is said to be similar to the Maserati 300S and the rear to several Ferraris.

The dashboard was from a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, as was the windshield, which was cut to fit. Its bucket seats were from the Porsche Speedster and the electric accessories were courtesy of Lucas. Then the most striking was its gull-wing style doors similar to the legendary model of Mercedes-Benz 300SL and in fact used Mercedes hinges and latches with a custom hold-up strut.

1959 Asardo 1500 AR-S uses a multi-tubular space frame chassis. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3iX3zn3)

Then for the engine, this sports car uses an Alfa Romeo Twin-Cam Inline Four bore-up engine mounted on a multi-tubular space frame chassis. Power output for the engine was estimated to have been 100.7 kW (135 hp) at 6,800 rpm. Power went from the engine to the rear axle through an Alfa Romeo four-speed manual transmission.

The Asardo 1500 AR-S sports car made its first public appearance at the 1959 New York Auto Show. Due to disagreements between parties (between the company owner and financial supporter), over how the car should be sold, brought the production plans to cease.

1959 Asardo 1500 AR-S is featured with the gull-wing style doors similar to the legendary model of Mercedes-Benz 300SL. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3lLmhQs)

And only in the early 1960s, he got an order from a Florida's VW/Porsche dealer owner named Charlie Kolb to make his Asardo sports car could be fitted a Buick's '215' aluminum V8 engine. Then he redesigned the chassis to be able to fit the new engine but still used the same body. Soon thereafter he finished revising the Asardo sports car by using a Buick V8 3.524cc engine mated to the Corvette's transmission system and renamed to Asardo 3500 GM-S.

Once again, unfortunately, there is any documentation that can provide the car model pictures due to the maker only made 1 unit. However it is in our opinion and support from a reliable source (alfabb.com) that both the Asardo 1500 AR-S and 3000 GM-S models share the same bodywork, so they will definitely look similar appearance. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | WIKIPEDIA | ALFABB]

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The unusual Fiat Turbina

Indeed, since it was first founded in 1899, Fiat has been seen serving the world's high-volume automotive market with reliable and low-cost products. On the other hand, for the high performance, low volume and high cost automotive market, it is left to a third party. 

The Fiat Turbina concept is built by Fiat and debuted in 1954, it uses a turbine engine as the drivetrain. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2SUvQ30)

But in the 1950s, something different had happened when the Italian car manufacturer built an unusual concept car called the Fiat Turbina, which it all did on its own. Then why is this called an unusual project because it develops a concept car that uses a gas turbine engine as its driving force. Yes, in 1954 Fiat was the second car manufacturer in the world, after Rover, to introduce a car driven by a gas turbine engine.

The Fiat Turbina concept first appeared in public on 23 April 1954 at Caselle Torinese Airport, where it was a demonstration driving with Fiat test driver Carlo Salamano behind the wheel. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3nPNALm)

In fact, this project required a long time of planning, and the company had begun studying this concept car in 1948 and ended with a track test in 1954 on the rooftop track of the Fiat's Lingotto factory, in Turin, Italy.

The Fiat Turbina concept features a turbine engine without a gearbox which is placed in the middle, just behind the passenger compartment. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/33WuPOs)

This car project is known to be handled by Dante Giocosa, who at that time served as the Technical Director of Fiat who was also working on the Fiat 8V legendary sports cars. This concept car features a turbine engine without a gearbox which is placed in the middle, just behind the passenger compartment.

A cross-sectional image of the 1954 Fiat Turbina turbine-engine concept car. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3k1X8k0)

This machine has a 2-stage centrifugal compressor, three can-type combustors, a two-stage turbine driving the compressor, and a single-stage power turbine with a geared reduction to its rear wheels.

The Fiat Turbina concept can be seen on display at the Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile (National Automobile Museum) in Turin. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/34QbrBS)

The Italian manufacturer says the engine burst power of 300 hp (220 kW) at 22,000 rpm, and is capable of delivering this concept car to run up to a top speed of 250 kph (160 mph). While the bodywork had undergone wind tunnel testing at the Politecnico di Torino facilities.

Inside the cockpit of the Fiat Turbina concept at the Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile (National Automobile Museum) in Turin. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/33WuPOs)

This car first appeared in public on 23 April 1954 at Caselle Torinese Airport, where it was a demonstration driving with Fiat test driver Carlo Salamano behind the wheel. After that the concept car was brought to the arena of the 1954 Turin Auto Show which was taking place at that time.

The Fiat Turbina concept has the slippery shape had an amazingly low drag coefficient, and with its two compressor stages and one turbine stage drivetrain, it produced around 300 hp at 22,000 rpm. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/33WuPOs)

The Fiat Turbina concept car was noted as the record holder for the car's lowest drag coefficient (0.14) for 30 years. At the end the project was abandoned due to insurmountable overheating problems and extremely high fuel consumption, so the concept car was shelved in the plant garage.

Today, the Fiat Turbina can be seen on display at the Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile (National Automobile Museum) in Turin. Even in 2014, Pagani, another Italian premium car manufacturer collaborated with Garage Italia Customs to present the one-off supercar named Pagani Huayra Lampo, whose design was said to be inspired by Fiat Turbina. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | WIKIPEDIA | DRIVETRIBE | FLICKR]

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Known Giotto Bizzarrini superb car creations

The Bizzarrini big-name was began widely heard in the automotive world in the 1950s and seems to continue to resonate until today. He is one of the many world's automotive masters who has launched many amazing masterpieces.

1966 Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada or 5300 GT America, the first Bizzarrini car after he estabilished his own company in 1966. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/32bFT9X)

Bizzarrini or the complete Giotto Bizzarrini is the name of an Italian gentleman who started his career in the automotive world as an engineer who worked for Alfa Romeo and then continued to several other well-known Italian car manufacturers, such as Ferrari, ATS, Lamborghini and Iso.

1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa has won several racing competitions, especially in the 1950s. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/36UPGDz)

Some of his work within the Italian's prancing horse logoed premium auto manufacturer, when he was an R&D manager, designer, test driver, and chief engineer can be seen in legendary models such as the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa and the Ferrari 250 GT SWB, he also took part in the Ferrari 250 GTO designing process which then dominated the world's racing in GT-class since 1962 and today are known as one of the most expensive classic cars in the world.

1959 Ferrari 250 GTO SWB uses a a Colombo-based 60-degree, single-over-head cam, 'vee' type 12-cylinder engine, with aluminum alloy block and heads, and cast-iron cylinder liners. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/36UPGDz)

Shortly after fired by Ferrari in 1961, he together with Carlo Chiti were ever being part of ATS (Automobili Turismo e Sport), a company started by the ex-Ferrari engineers with financial support from Count Giovanni Volpi to build a Formula 1 single seater, as one of the Ferrari's rivals, and a GT sport car, the ATS Serenissima.

1962 Ferrari 250 GTO is made ​​specifically for the driver Sir Stirling Moss. This car is sold at the auction up to the US. $35 million or around Rp. 331 billion. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/36V6n1z)

Then when he became a freelance engineer, he also worked at Ferucio Lamborghini's tractor factory and had an important role when deciding to use the 3.5 liter V12 engine on the Lamborghini 350 GTV. And that Lamborghini's first sports car made its debut at the 1963 Turin Auto Show. 

1966 Serenissima ATS 358V Spyder, the only Serenissima racing car did make the actual race in the 1966 Le Mans. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/32bFT9X)

It turns out that the Lamborghini 350 GTV was not the only work of Bizzarrini to appear at the car expo.There were other cars was also been worked by him at the time, and the car was named Iso Rivolta A3/C owned by Renzo Rivolta, a Milan's industrialist. 

1963 Lamborghini 350 GTV was very sleek and streamlined, with a very low hood that incorporated one of the better pop-up headlight designs of all time. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/2ZQ2Gnv)

This car was a GT racing car with a lightweight aluminum body equipped with an American V8 engine. That is the most famous car bearing the ISO' brand ever born out of his hands and later it known became the basis for Bizzarrini's next sports cars. 

1963 Iso Rivolta A3/C was a GT racing car with a lightweight aluminum body equipped with an American V8 engine. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3jRs0DM)

After several years working under the Iso brand owned by Renzo Rivolta, in 1966 Bizzarrini decided to establish his own auto company called Bizzarrini S.p.A. The company is known to have built a small number of highly advanced and sophisticated sports and racing cars before finally ceased production in 1969.😢

1966 Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada is known as the road-legal version of the Grifo A3/C (on which body shape and mechanical parts are almost the same as the Iso A3/C). (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2SLu83Z)

The first model Bizzarrini made after establishing his own company was the Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada or 5300 GT 'America' which was a road-legal version of the Grifo A3/C (on which body shape and mechanical parts are almost the same as the Iso A3/C).

This is a 'baby' version of the 5300 GT called Bizzarrini 1900 GT Europa powered by a 1,897 cc Opel engine and built in between 1966 to 1969. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3ij0gIr)

As qouted of Wikipedia, this 5300 GT Strada was originally a powerful yet sensual 43-inch coupe. However, in its further development, the car was also made in a spyder/targa version of 3 units and is rumored all of which survive and are currently owned by the same person. After that, he also had been built the 'baby' version of 5300 GT Strada called Bizzarrini 1900 GT Europa is powered by a 1,897 cc Opel engine in between 1966 to 1969.

One of those rare Lamborghini V12 powered race cars, the 1967 Bizzarrini P538 located in the United States. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/37G4sut)

For the world of racing, Bizzarrini's advanced ideas resurfaced in the form of the extraordinary Bizzarrini P538S. A mid-engined roofless racing car with a tubular steel chassis covered by a fiberglass body and not having a chassis number printed on it. This car initially carried a Lamborghini V12 engine, but later used a Corvette 327 CID V8 engine.

The Bizzarrini Manta is built by Giorgetto Giugaro in 1968 based on the Bizzarinni P538 racing car. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1RUk8ko)

Then the life of this racing car resumed after the skilled hands of Giorgetto Giugaro managed to present Bizzarrini Manta in 1968. The one-off car has an unusual aspect, apart from the striking color scheme, is the seating layout.

The car applied 3 seater layout with the driver sits in the center and the passengers will sit on each driver's sides. After some years in Sweden, it was dismantled for an extensive restoration. Later featured in various classics car events, it is now in the United States. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | CLASSICDRIVER | WIKIPEDIA]

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Insanity, a unique Canadian-made jet-engined Ferrari Enzo

If you're looking at this car, maybe you should forget the Ferrari FXX K for a minute, because what you have seen here is far more insane than that. It's true, the garage-built dragster called "Insanity" built in such ways to look like a Ferrari Enzo, and all you have to do is look back to see why the car got such a crazy name.

This is Insanity, a jet-powered Ferrari Enzo dragster built by Ryan McQueen. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2IkE8iP)

The unique-look dragster was built by a Canadian named Ryan McQueen, who by no means was a technical person when he started out. In fact, at the beginning of his unique Ferrari Enzo dragster project, he din’t even know how to do a simple welding.

But perseverance is the best effort to gain knowledge and with time Ryan learned how to work with fibre glass, build a steel tube frame and even understand how to work around jet engines. It took him about 12 years to be exact, and the end result here is absolutely mind-blowing.

The Insanity jet-powered dragster bodywork built by Ryan McQueen is inspired by the Ferrari Enzo legendary supercar which has been adjusted to the twin jet engines as its main drive. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2IkE8iP)

The car appearence looked as powerful as a jet fighter which he felt would not be enough with just one jet engine. Therefore, Ryan bought two Roll-Royce jet engines after selling his Corvette first. Infact, the Insanity has made Ryan spending out his money about CAD $69,000 (approx Rp.771 milions) to build completely, for which he secured initial funding by selling off his Corvette.

He also created the Ferrari Enzo inspired bodywork from his own idea which he said looked very convincing. Although, by looking at the dragster's end result in the terms of dimensions and shape it doesn't really resemble the real Enzo, but it does get the proportions pretty much right.

The Insanity jet-powered Ferrari Enzo dragster push out an insane 14,000 pounds of thrust and can be make it running out of 400 mph (or approx 643 kph) on the flat track. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2IkE8iP)

The twin-jet engines in this Ferrari Enzo dragster push out an insane 14,000 pounds of thrust and can be make it running out of 400 mph (or approx 643 kph) on the flat track.

Even though it's crazy, therefore Insanity is a big achievement. McQueen started from a dream and made him excited to make it happen. And now, what he has built is become one of the world's fastest jet cars. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | NOCARFUN | THE DRIVE | ROAD AND TRACK]

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The most inspirational design of Ghia in the 1950s

On this occasion we will again explore the story of the beautiful car figures that have colored the automotive world in the past. After a while ago we talked about a beautiful car called 'Demon Rouge,' which was built by Vignale based on a high-performance two-seater sports car called the Fiat 8V.

The most inspirational design of Ghia Supersonic in the 1950s. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3lo6p6i)

And when the Fiat 8V was handled by the renowned Turin-based coachbuilder named Carrozzeria Ghia, the car changed dramatically into the Supersonic, an allusion to the car's rocket style.

The Conrero-tuned Alfa Romeo 1900, a racing car that competed at the 1953 Mille Miglia and inspired the Ghia Supersonic. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3lo6p6i)

At that time the Carrozzeria Ghia received about 30 to 40 of the 114 8V chassis built, and the most striking of which was that 15 of them were miraculously conjured by a touch of Giovanni Savonuzzi's design, which later known as Supersonic and was first shown at the 1953 Paris Auto Show.

The most inspirational design of Ghia Supersonic in the 1950s. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3nC1Hnq)

In fact the Supersonic design first appeared on the Conrero-tuned Alfa Romeo 1900, a racing car that competed in the 1953 Mille Miglia. The supersonic design was originally proposed by Giovanni Savonuzzi, as a car with a long, sharp windshield; a curved nose that formed a straight beltline, ending in a tiny flaming tail fin intended to resemble jet afterburners; and a low, glassy cockpit.

The most inspirational design of Ghia Supersonic in the 1950s. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/2SJ3fh7)

Similar styling and is built on an 8V chassis then ordered by American designer Paul Farago, followed by 14 more copies, all of which differed in detail but remained largely true to Savonuzzi's original and dramatic design.

The most inspirational design of Ghia Supersonic in the 1950s. (Picture from: https://bit.ly/3lo6p6i)

It's as if that's a match, when the car is built on a Fiat 8V chassis with an all-metal body. And the car still uses the original engine from the Fiat 8V, which is an advanced overhead-valve light alloy V-8 engine. Beside that the Supersonic's body design was also applied to three of the Jaguar XK120, an Aston Martin DB2/4 and another one unit in a more extreme version and was rebuilt into the DeSoto Adventurer II.

These cars are considered to be the most sought-after and desirable 8V-based models, as they are the best and proudest combination of avant-garde designs from the Jet Age. Even today these cars still look very modern and dramatic and always attract attention wherever they go. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | COACHBUILD | SPORTSCARMARKET | SILODROME | RM SOTHEBY'S]

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