(first posted 2/10/2013) It’s common to associate Fiat with tiny Italian buzz-bombs. But Fiat was a pioneer in the early days of the automobile, and quite on the opposite end of the spectrum. In 1904, it introduced its huge 60 HP, which has the distinction of being the tallest production passenger car ever, at 100 inches (with the top up, presumably). It was powered by a 10,563 cc (645 cubic inch) four cylinder, rated at 60 hp, obviously. A later version had a 11,040 cc (674 cubic inch) V6, rated at 65 hp. The Fiat 60 HP was specifically designed for the lucrative export market, especially the US. But it appears that at least one made it to Japan, as this vintage postcard discovered there by Kjeld Duits makes quite obvious. So was she really driving, or is it posed? Here’s another shot, with a roof on it:
Oh; and the lowest production car? The Ford GT 40 (40 inches).
It made 65 hp but I would be really interested to know what the torque curve is.
Where did you find that picture, China? Looks like Paul is scanning the list of Automotive Superlatives for CC ideas… Next we will be talking about the Smart ForTwo… 😉
As far as tall vehicles, a 1942 Cadillac Series 75 that a customer of mine had was pretty darn tall you could almost stand up in one. Of course it was a closed coupe so it might have qualified as the tallest enclosed passenger car.
As far as tall vehicles in general, the Sprinter van that we use for mobile technician duty is probably the tallest continuous bodied vehicle produced now. It squeezes in by an inch to the 9 feet that is legally required for overpasses and such and a vehicle that does not require a CDL. Box trucks and such can be driven by regularly licensed individuals but they are custom made.
The women in the photo are Japanese, wearing the traditional kimono of an unmarried woman.
Wonder what the center of gravity was like on that sucker. 😛
The occupants look out of proportion to the car.
Was the photo tinted, or did it use an early color process? Prokudin-Gorskii took fascinating color pics of Imperial Russia before WW1, so the latter is not impossible. See http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/empire/gorskii.html
It was a big car; and Japanese women were often quite small. This was tinted, which was very common then. This was a postcard, or something like that. It’s pretty easy to see what parts were tinted and how the rest of it is B&W.
It appears to be hand tinted, which was an inexpensive way to add color to the common black and white photograph. Hand tinting was fairly popular well into the 1960’s. We have pictures of my wife when she was an infant in the early 1960’s that were hand tinted by a renowned photographer from Pittsburgh.
Color photography has a significantly different process for developing the film and making the prints and cost more. Most folks didn’t/couldn’t spend the extra, so hand tinting was the way to go. It seems to me that color photography became less expensive in the 60’s, I’m sure the automated processing machines and the advent of the Fotomat stores helped this trend along.
By the time I picked up a camera in the mid to late 70’s, it was becoming harder and harder to find black and white film for the average consumer. I was trained as a commercial artist in the late 70’s/early 80’s, when I was taking my photo classes in university only photo students bought black and white film.
My mother used to do hand tinting as well as retouching. I can remember her with her light box set up in the bedroom, working away at photos through the sixties. I always wanted to try my hand, but for some reason she wouldn’t let me have a go. 🙂
Wow – a new high for CC and a new low as well, all in the same post. 🙂
That Fiat is huge! I realize that Japanese women were on the petite side, but even so, I cannot imagine the lady behind the wheel having the muscle to drive this beast.
And a 646 ci 4 banger. I have a thing for these really early, really huge internal combustion engines. Imagine the vertical shake in something like that. Also, imagine what you could do with it with modern touches like fuel injection, balance shafts and higher compression. Of course a 4 of that size was probably not designed for more than 1500 rpm. Some torque, though, I would imagine.
At the Goodwood celebration in August there was a 1904 (somewhere around that year) Fiat race car with a gigantic 4 cylinder engine, they were looking around the sides of the engine to drive. max rpm was like a ship, should be in clips of 2017 Goodwood Revival on you tube.
I always thought the 1911-1913 Oldsmobile Limited, with it’s 42 inch wheels was one of the larger, taller, cars.
I believe it’s the Beast of Turin, which displaces a gobsmacking 28.5 liters. The exhaust literally spits out flame.
I would wonder about some of the “high-wheeler” cars. I expect this Fiat has its rear seat mounted higher on the chassis than those.
It is a fairly typical body style for the era, similar to some R-R Silver Ghosts for example.
Paul you’ve made a mistake that surprises me – the later 6-cyl version was inline not a V6!
The lady on the steering wheel looks rather overwhelmed. I can’t imagine her driving that thing.
Another aspect that hasn’t been discussed, but surprises me, is that there was a woman driving a car and that kind of car to begin with. In most places around the world, most women did not drive prior to WWII and maybe even more so in a socially conservative place like Japan at the turn of the century.
There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s just posing. It wouldn’t have been otherwise in Japan at the time. Woman drivers even in Western countries were fairly rare, until a bit later.
Is the GT40 lower than a Lotus Europa? Must be close.
How about a Marcos? I sat on one once, and it seem to be quite low. My ass seem to be just an inch or so from the asphalt. As close as sitting on the ground as I’ve ever been on a car. It was the 2-door sports car one, the GT or something (not sure about the exact model name)
wikipedia has a 42 inch height for the Lotus Europa. Same sources has 42.5 or 43 inches for the Marcos Mantis and even 45 inches for the TSO. I have a hard time counting the rest of their cars as production cars though.
Of course, wikipedia also reports an actual height for the GT40 at 40.5 inches (1029mm).
Do any of these still exist? I can’t even imagine what an 11 liter V6 would sound like – must have been otherworldly and terrifying when new. This is one of the few relics of the first “no replacement for displacement” era and just insanely fascinating. There were a bunch of huge displacement engined racing cars that are much more well known from the 1910s-1920s – but those all utilized airplane engines designed during WWI. In the 1900’s decade, people still thought stuff like 10 liter four cylinders were practical and viable for automotive use!
Vincenzo Lancia (of Lancia fame) drove a Fiat in the early Vanderbilt Cup races which I believe was powered by an even larger version of the same four cylinder in the 60HP. I would give anything to be able to go back and see that – ALCO’s, Locomobiles, Panhards… some of these cars have actually survived and are still raced in historic events, which is pretty incredible.
But how about this version? I can’t imagine many of them were ever built in the first place, this must have been a ludicrously expensive car in it’s day. Google gives me nothing. Does anybody on here know?
I used to read a lot of old books about the early automotive era, and of course, some folks are still really into them still. In the early days of the automobile, the big, expensive ones were prominent, as having a car was such a hot new thing, and those that could afforded bought the best ones, regardless of the cost.
86 Fiat 60HP cars were built; there might well be one or more still out there.
I guess 86 produced actually wasn’t that small of a number for that time period. There were such a dizzying amount of different automobile manufacturers up until the 1930s or so, many of them that only ever built 1-5 vehicles – some that may have never even built one vehicle but got themselves into the history books based on having published advertisements. I could never keep all of them straight in my head, although the early Fiats always really stuck out to me because I’ve got a strong interest in their history in general, plus they were so remarkably different from their later cars.
Apparently quite a few of these still do exist – the trick to finding them was typing “Fiat 60HP” into Google instead of “Fiat 60 HP”, d’oh!
There is a 1904 fiat in Whangarei New Zealand. I met the guy restoring it, it was enormous!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_60_HP
Please correct me if I’m wrong, but a Ford GT40 is NOT a production car – Ford only produced a few for racing. And the Ford GT is 44.3 inches high per Wiki. If you’re counting small runs of less than a dozen or two, I’m certain there are cars lower than even the GT40…for instance, a birdcage Maserati is 36 inches in height.
The GT40 MKIII was specifically adapted and sold as a street-legal car. The word “production” is of course subject to debate. And when I look at at wikipedia, it says “Height: 40.5” That really is the reason it was called the GT40
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupes/112_0311_1967_ford_gt40_mk_iii/
Does a production of three count? Then I submit for your approval the 1969 Probe 16 with a height of 34 inches. One of these was featured as the “Durango 95” in the movie A Clockwork Orange.
I’m fairly sure the Ford Pinto was the lowest car ever marketed as a “sedan” (at 50″ tall). The Chevy Vega hatchback ties it but was mostly referred to as a coupe and marketed as a sporty body style while Vega sedans (and the wagons of both) were 52″ tall. Anyone know any lower sedans?
1967-72 Vauxhall Victor FD 51¾” according to the brochure
http://vauxpedianet.uk2sitebuilder.com/vauxhall-fd-94000—victor-vx490-ventora-brochures
Still taller than the Pinto, but I’m surprised it’s lower than the Vega; the later FE Victor always looked like what a four-door Vega would’ve been.
Probably pushing the boundaries of what you might even call a car, but the Peel Trident was just 39″ high. You could probably park it under the back of that Fiat!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peel_Trident
It’s posed, and things haven’t changed that much.
That 100” Fiat is crazy TALL nearly 2’ higher than most full sized SUVs.
Pretty cool Paul ! .
I dimly recall reading that Fiat made a race car with some HUGE four cylinder engine and a bare bones chassis, raced in it America, some where Down East…… (?) .
-Nate
check Goodwood Revival 2017 for the 1900’s racing fiat on you tube,itdid the hill climb, and think it was on the track a few laps.
THANK YOU ! .
-Nate
“So was she really driving or was it posed?”
In the early days of driving, being photographed behind the wheel was a very common pose. With absolutely no allusion of movement, this looks like a posed picture. Much like going to Billy Bobs in Fort Worth and having your picture taken on the fake bull.
It’s still very common to take photos behind the wheel. The main difference today is people are taking pictures of themselves. Sometimes while driving.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/06/tech/mobile/selfies-while-driving/index.html
Someone needs to check, but the King Midget I drove yesterday has a pretty low roof. Talk about a fun little car.