1950 Fiat 1100

Ing. Dante Giacosa's FIAT 1100 was among the first all-new post-World War II cars in Europe. It had been introduced in 1937 and would remain in production post-WWII until 1953. It was a comfortable family car powered by an inline 4-cylinder engine with a displacement of 1089cc. There was rear-wheel drive, a four-speed gearbox, a leaf sprung live rear axle and an independent front suspension. It was a modestly priced automobile available to a wide audience.

During the War, the one of the tactics of the ruling fascist government was to decentralize Italy's manufacturing bases. Allied bombers had already inflicted massive damage and FIAT (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino) was one of the countries valuable targets. Its Mirafiori plant on the outskirts of Turin received extensive damage.

After the war, resources and materials were scarce. New automobiles were hard to find. Coachbuilders helped with this problem by producing new bodies for used vehicles. The FIAT 1100 chassis was a popular platform for Italy's coachbuilders and spurred a renaissance that prevailed into the 1960s. Along with road-going duties, many examples were built for competition. In 1956, over 100 of this model were entered in the Mille Miglia.

When war came to an end, production resumed under the name 1100B, available from 1947 with a prewar appearance. The 1100E appeared in 1950, with a similar appearance to the prior designs but changes to its grille and the addition of a protruding trunk helped set it apart from its siblings. A year later, the 1100ES sports coupe was added to the lineup.

The 1100 was powered by an overhead-valve four-cylinder engine displacing 66.5 cubic-inches and delivering 32 horsepower. 35 horsepower was produced for the 1100E models. They had a four-speed manual transmission, drum brakes all around, and a wheelbase which measured 95.4 inches.

by Daniel Vaughan | May 2019