{"id":172924,"date":"2025-09-28T07:35:46","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T07:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/how-turins-beast-achieved-212-km-h-in-1913\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T07:35:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T07:35:47","slug":"how-turins-beast-achieved-212-km-h-in-1913","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/how-turins-beast-achieved-212-km-h-in-1913\/","title":{"rendered":"How Turin’s Beast Achieved 212 km\/h in 1913"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The \u00a0beginning\u00a0 of the 20th century was a golden age for enthusiasts of \u00a0engineering\u00a0 and \u00a0mechanics\u00a0. The \u00a0Wright\u00a0 brothers made headlines by achieving the first powered flight with their airplane. In 1908, the \u00a0Ford Model T\u00a0 was mass-produced, despite skepticism from Henry Ford’s own lawyer. Shortly thereafter, Fiat broke the barrier of \u00a0200 km\/h\u00a0, showcasing the thrilling advancement in automotive technologies. While Spain saw cars being introduced at a slow pace, Fiat had ambitious dreams for their vehicles. As the automotive industry began to gain traction, the pursuit of speed records and the thrill of \u00a0car racing\u00a0 became an obsession, providing manufacturers a platform to display their latest technological innovations.<\/p>\n

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The \u00a0first recorded car race\u00a0 took place on July 22, 1894, covering the 127 kilometers from \u00a0Paris\u00a0 to \u00a0Rouen\u00a0. The competition was designed to determine who could best navigate “the carriage race without horses.” Steam-powered cars also competed that day, although the avant-garde movement cites a previous event from \u00a01887\u00a0 that lacked competitiveness due to the absence of multiple vehicles at the start line.<\/p>\n

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In pursuit of new challenges, Fiat sought the coveted title of the fastest car manufacturer, achieving a remarkable peak speed of \u00a0212.87 km\/h\u00a0 in December 1913. However, this record was eclipsed by subsequent events, leaving it formally unrecognized as the “fastest car in the world.” <\/p>\n

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Fiat S76: Turin’s Beast that Ran Out of Crown<\/h2>\n
In the transition between the 19th and 20th centuries, \u00a0Fiat\u00a0 (Fabbrica Automobili Torino) quickly evolved from merely producing cars to also venturing into the railroad and trucking industries. Recognizing the marketing potential of \u00a0breaking records\u00a0, Fiat understood that monumental achievements would propel their brand into the spotlight. In 1910, they began developing an extraordinary vehicle designed to redefine what was achievable in automotive engineering\u2014a true \u00a0beast\u00a0 on the road.<\/p>\n
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The \u00a0Fiat S76\u00a0 was born from the ambition to harness immense power. The car was fitted with a four-cylinder engine boasting an astonishing \u00a028.4 liters\u00a0 in displacement. To put that into context, modern sports cars typically exceed eight liters, marking the S76 as an engineering marvel of its time.<\/p>\n
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The engine of \u00a0Fiat S76\u00a0 could generate up to \u00a0290 horsepower\u00a0 at 1,900 rpm, and it utilized three spark plugs per cylinder, cooled by water. However, its \u00a0weight\u00a0, almost 1,700 kg, was an anomaly for the time. To gain a sense of scale, contemporary vehicles requiring a driver\u2019s license would have appeared delicate compared to this industrial titan.<\/p>\n
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Contextualizing the engineering feat, we see that \u00a0Barney Oldfield\u00a0 had already achieved speeds of 212 km\/h with a \u00a0Blitzen Benz\u00a0. He did so with a four-cylinder engine displacing 21.5 liters, prompting the question: what if Fiat could craft something even larger?<\/p>\n
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Fiat’s answer lay in creating the \u00a0Fiat S76\u00a0\u2014two units were developed, and they quickly became known as Turin’s beast. In Michael Sedgwick\u2019s book about Fiat, he described the S76 as \u201cone of the most terrifying creations from any factory.\u201d<\/p>\n
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After conducting trials in Turin, the vehicle had demonstrated its potential, achieving \u00a0185 km\/h\u00a0 in second gear. It was time to set the record straight by aiming for a \u00a0speed record\u00a0. The car was transported to the \u00a0Brooklands track\u00a0 in England, where driver \u00a0Pietro Bordino\u00a0 was invited to test its limits.<\/p>\n
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Bordino, however, was wary for his safety and opted not to exceed \u00a0145 km\/h\u00a0 (90 mph). Later, at \u00a0Saltburn Sands\u00a0, the car again came close to \u00a0185 km\/h\u00a0, but the effectiveness of the track came into question as it lacked sufficient distance for the S76 to reach its full potential.<\/p>\n
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Having explored locations in Italy and England, Fiat\u2019s team turned to \u00a0Ostend\u00a0, Belgium, where \u00a0Arthur Duray\u00a0 was enlisted as the pilot. Their goal: to outpace the \u00a0Germans\u00a0. Here, the Fiat S76 reached its pinnacle at \u00a0212.87 km\/h\u00a0. Unfortunately, the official record was overshadowed by the fact that the organized race required a round trip, and a mechanical failure thwarted their attempt to log a recognized record.<\/p>\n
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In a tragic turn of events, World War I swept over the Fiat S76, leading to its disassembly. However, as time passed, efforts to restore this automotive legend commenced. In 2019, the fully restored S76 was showcased at the \u00a0Goodwood Festival of Speed\u00a0, covering the entire circuit with aplomb. Online footage captures the car\u2019s ferocity, with flames bursting from its sides\u2014a sight described by Sedgwick as “shooting flames in the faces of innocent pedestrians and deafening them.” It vividly underscores the raw power and historical significance of Turin’s beast.<\/p>\n
Images are credited to \u00a0Goodwood\u00a0 and \u00a0Matthew Lamb\u00a0, highlighting this fascinating journey of innovation and speed in automotive history. The story of the \u00a0Fiat S76\u00a0 symbolizes not just a car, but an era where speed and engineering prowess captivated the world.<\/p>\n

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General News – 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The \u00a0beginning\u00a0 of the 20th century was a golden age for enthusiasts of \u00a0engineering\u00a0 and \u00a0mechanics\u00a0. The \u00a0Wright\u00a0 brothers made headlines by achieving the first powered flight with their airplane. In 1908, the \u00a0Ford Model T\u00a0 was mass-produced, despite skepticism from Henry Ford’s own lawyer. Shortly thereafter, Fiat broke the barrier of \u00a0200 km\/h\u00a0, showcasing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172926,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36399],"tags":[20570,7311,5361,42846],"class_list":["post-172924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-achieved","tag-beast","tag-kmh","tag-turins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}