Fiat 508
| Fiat 508 | |
|---|---|
Fiat 508B 1934
|
|
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Fiat |
| Also called | Fiat 508 Balilla |
| Production | 1932–1937 |
| Assembly |
Lingotto, Italy Warsaw, Poland Neckarsulm, Germany Suresnes, France (French assembly subsequently transferred to Nanterre, France) |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Compact car / Small family car (C) |
| Body style | 4-door sedan 2-door sedan 2-door spider 4-door torpedo |
| Layout | FR layout |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | straight-4 995 cc |
| Transmission | 3-speed manual |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 3,140 mm (123.6 in) |
| Width | 1,400 mm (55.1 in) |
| Height | 1,530 mm (60.2 in) |
| Curb weight | 685 kg (1,510 lb) |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Fiat 509 |
| Successor | Fiat 1100 Balilla (508C) |
The 508 Balilla was a compact car designed and developed by Fiat in 1932. It is effectively the replacement of the Fiat 509, although production of the earlier model had ceased back in 1929. It had a three-speed transmission (increased to four in 1934), seated four, and had a top speed of about 50 mph (80 km/h). It sold for 10,800 lire (or 8,300 2005 euro). About 113,000 were produced.
The car was also assembled by Walter Motors a.s. in Czechoslovakia, in the Centralne Warsztaty Samochodowe factory in Poland, by NSU-Fiat in Germany and by "SAFAF" (rebranded in 1934 as "Simca-Fiat") in France.
The car was developed by some of the leading Italian automotive engineers of the day, including Nebbia, Fessia, Giacosa and Tranquillo Zerbi. The goal was to incorporate some of the qualities of a high class automobile into a modestly priced vehicle. The car had its unveiling on 12 April 1932 at a motor show being held on the Fiera Milano trade fair site.
Many believe that the "Balilla" name was connected with Italian Fascism, but the provenance of the name was actually far older than the Italian Fascist movement. "Balilla" was the dialect-nickname of a Genovese boy called Giovanni Battista Perasso, who back in 1746 threw a stone - according to one report several stones - at an Austrian officer in protest over the Austrian military occupation. The action triggered a Genoese revolt against the Austrians and for this Balilla was celebrated as a local hero in Northern Italy through the intervening two centuries. The story of "Balilla" is nevertheless one of many popular heroic tales from history to have gained in prominence in the early decades of the twentieth century, given the heightened nationalism characteristic of the period. Fiat themselves had earlier used the name on the Fiat A1 aeroplane: it had also been used by a Milan-based firm as the name for a tractor, and by Royal Italian Navy for a class of submarine.
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Wikipedia