Dante Giacosa 3
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That something like this could happen in 1935. Giacosa actually saw himself caught between two fronts, but by the age of 30 he already had 50 employees, mostly draftsmen, behind him. The internal structure of the
company was divided..
Boss Agnelli represented the military-like complex and had a long-standing production manager whom he apparently trusted unconditionally. The conflict between production and development or design is normal.
You don't always accept what others want. But what wasn't normal was the enormous support from the boss. That didn't seem to change much when Vittorio Valletta was appointed Managing Director and General Manager.
There was obviously a lot of discipline at Fiat. This led to various men from the development department resigning one after the other or being fired. Alfa profited quite a bit from this at the time. We wrote about this in a
chapter regarding Ferrari's revenge on Fiat.
Giacosa reports on it in relatively great detail, but moved like a surfer in difficult waters. He was now responsible for engines and chassis, and dealt with the Dubonnet suspension, which was celebrated at the time as a
transition from the rigid axle to independent front suspension.
It still had a rigid connection between the front wheels, but these were suspended from a complex unit to maintain the suspension. He attributed vibrations in the steering wheel on successive bumps to their large unsprung
masses.
Reasons why many vehicles after the war still had rigid axles at the front. Not so with Fiat, where they had obviously managed to put the disadvantages into perspective. Probably thanks to Giacosa, who also designed the
small six-cylinder with just 1.5 liters.
His argument was that the car was particularly low in height and extremely compact for this number of cylinders, and saw connections to improvements in aerodynamics. He was very proud of the 1,100 with four cylinders
and its combustion chambers in conjunction with the OHV control, which was by no means normal at the time.
Apparently, they continued to be used in Great Britain long after the war. That was an impressive list of achievements that he was allowed to bring into production. However, his boldest project, that of independent
suspension for the rear axle as well, was rejected.
Giacosa saw himself as an 'outsider' in these rivalry conflicts, and was probably still a bit too young too and only at the beginning of his career. He also seemed to be far too fascinated by technology to worry about anything
else.
His recipe for success is not just not interfering, but above all 'making himself useful to everyone'. The success of the Topolino, which he attributes mainly to him, certainly helped him. You can click on the video of the 508 C
MM prototype above.
With 31 kW (42 hp) from a 1.1 liter displacement, the car had around 30 percent more power than the series model. Nevertheless, it was probably sturdy, otherwise it would not have been suitable for the Mille Miglia. A
compression ratio of 7.1:1 was, however, a risky one with fuel of up to 60 octane, a successful test for Giacosa's new combustion chambers.
But it could also be that special fuel with a high alcohol content played a role here. Because tank depots were set up along the MM route that could be used on both the outward and return journeys. Then the hump behind the
passenger compartment would not only have been necessary for aerodynamic reasons, but would also have been necessary because of the additional quantity required.
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