vor kurzem hatte ich mal den spruch gehört
was ist besser als hubraum? ….Hubraum!
es gab eine zeit im automobilsport die dies sofort unterschrieben hätten.
fahrzeuge mit über 10ltr. hubraum waren keine seltenheit (und hatten auch entsprechende leistung). der hintergrund auf hubraum zu setzen anstatt auf drehzahl lag wahrscheinlich an den materialien die zur verfügung… zu dieser zeit standen. die banspruchung mit wenigen drehzahl hohe leistung zu erreichen war irgendwie einfacher (das änderte sich später allerdings in den 20zigern schlagartig).
so eine besondere geschichte ist der Fiat S76.
er hatte einen 4 zylinder mit über 28ltr. hubraum. das problem ….man möge sich vorstellen ….ein zylinder hatte einen hubraum von 7 ltr.
!
um das zu bewerkstelligen brauchte man platz und den schuf man in dem man die höhe ausnutzte (was dem auto eine einzigartiges aussehen gab).
Fiat war übrigens nicht die einzige marke die diesen weg ging und rotzdem kann man es als kurze erscheinung in der geschichte des automobil´s bezeichnen.
der Fiat S76 von 1911 hatte (wie gesagt ) einen 4zylinder mit über 28ltr. hubraum und produzierte dabei knapp 300 ps und das ganze wurde via kette an die hinterräder übertragen. auch war er garnicht so langsam (immerhin 290 ps) und wurde eingesetzt um den rekord wie des blitzen benz wieder einzustellen. 2 solcher fahrzeuge wurden gebaut und eines davon wurde auf die damaligen rekordstrecken eingesetzt (brooklands,usw.) und schaffte dabei 124 meilen. 1913 wurde sogar eine geschwindigkeit von 137 meilen erreicht.
wie das so immer ist….verschwinden solche autos im laufe der zeit 
und sind verschollen für immer und man erfreut sich nur an bildern aus dieser zeit.
nicht so bei diesem auto!
das 2te auto ist wieder aufgetaucht und wird gerade von Duncan Pittaway wieder aufgebaut. es ist nicht mehr alles vorhanden von diesem fahrzeug und so muß er es mühsam wieder rekonsturieren werden. den originalen motor und viele andere teile hat er in der ganzen welt zusammengefunden.
ducan pittaway hat letztes jahr übrgigens einen recht schweren unfall bei einem oldtimer event überstanden mit seinem GN. der ein oder andere leser erinntert sich an den video den ich hier mal reingestellt hatte.
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1008/1008852_vintage_car_crash_horror.html
zurück aber zu seinem Fiat S76:
wenn man im internet sucht hat sich ducan in einem forum zum auto gemeldet:
The Fiat S76’s
I’ve never had the experience of being accused, tried and sentenced without an opportunity to defend myself before….and am amazed by the passions that can be inflamed and conclusions of „undoubted certainty“ drawn from the briefest of information.
Familiar to every pub and bar across the globe are the local „experts“ discussing, gossiping and generally deliberating on all manner of subjects both inside and outside their area of expertise. Complex world problems resolved in minutes by people who „don’t know what all the fuss is about“ and, „if only they had the chance“, could tell the world leaders where they are going wrong! ……“hear hear“……I hear you cry… „what’s wrong with that“……“what harm can it do“…..long may it continue.
During the last few years, the growth of the internet has been a fabulous thing enabling vast quantities of information and opinion to pass freely round the world in seconds. Chat rooms and forums have become a sort of global pub or bar where deliberation and discussion can continue unfettered by opening hours. Except, unlike the pub, the information and opinion remains written down and archived long after the hangovers have faded…..indefinitely in fact….and before very long that „opinion“ is incorporated into someone’s „research“ which soon becomes someone else’s „fact“, before finally being endorsed by the phrase …“well it’s got to be true…I read it on the internet“!
Having been e-mailed a link to this site by a friend, I don’t intend to set out the whole story here …..that will be published with all the photos for everyone to see when I’ve finished the car……but think it important to at least correct some of the more significant misunderstandings.
1) There were certainly two cars built during the winter of 1910/11 not one.
2) They were NEVER fitted with an airship engine, which was the same capacity but an entirely different design.
3) One of the cars broke the world flying mile record in 1911, was sold to a Russian Prince in 1912, and exceeded the flying kilometre record (in only one direction!) in 1913.
4) The other car was kept by Fiat in Turin until being scrapped at the end of 1919 (standard Fiat policy for ALL obsolete racing cars after WW1), NOT mysteriously shipped to Mexico never to be seen again.
5) Neither of the cars went to America or exceeded 180 mph at Daytona beach.How Prince Soukhanov’s car made it to Australia after WW1 I have yet to establish, but make it it did, as I have post WW1 Australian photographs of the car after it’s rebuild from what was then a hopelessly outdated ten year old design into a more modern racing special of the early 20’s. Edwardian racing cars turning up post WW1 in the Antipodes is not so unusual, as I have similar period Australian photos of a Fiat S74, the Fiat „Mephistopheles“, a Lion Peugeot racer, a Gobron Brillie, Sunbeam, etc, etc, even the remains of the Napier Samson turned up in Oz.
It was NOT Bob Chamberlain who found the chassis. Stuart Middlehurst, an inveterate early car enthusiast acquired the bent engineless rolling chassis in the 1950’s of what he was told had been a Stutz engined Fiat racing special which 30 years before had crashed at Armadale in the early 20’s practicing for a race to the coast and was thought to be a modified Fiat S74 racing car. Stuart apparently held no particular store by this and simply robbed the chassis of it’s Rudge wheels and hubs (standard fitment to an S76) to restore one of his many beloved Hispano Suiza’s.
The bent, rusty and by now very incomplete remains stayed with Stuart Middlehurst until the early 1980’s when it was acquired by a Fiat enthusiast sure of it’s S76 identity and determined to undertake the mammoth task finding the missing bits to restore the car. After 15 years the enthusiasm had waned as the realisation of the size of the task had dawned and after a great deal of research but very little work had been done, I acquired what was still just a rusty bent rolling chassis…..albeit without wheels and hubs!
It was not until the discovery of an S76 car engine, after years of perseverance and round the world trips, that the project became a viable rebuild, since which time original wheels, hubs and a m
yriad of smaller chassis fittings have also followed.Is it really a Fiat S76?…….I’m certain it is! Long gone are that days when you could swing open the doors of an abandoned shed and find a complete unmolested WW1 racing car. The best I can do is piece together as many original S76 components as possible and restore the car to it’s original specification. The engine certainly is S76, from the car which was scrapped in 1919, and the very distinctive rolling chassis is certainly original, certainly Fiat and the same size length and dimensions as an S76, which was unique to the S76, and quite different to that of an S74 and the standard touring cars of the era.
I won’t be troubling the FIA……..or any other esteemed body for that matter….. and apart from people knowing the facts, am not particularly troubled by what they think. Personally I’m absolutely delighted with what I’ve managed to acquire over the last 15 years, particularly the engine, and will continue unabated with the huge task of restoring an extremely authentic Fiat S76 constructed from just about every surviving original S76 part, from either of the two cars, that I can find.
Finally……something I can’t resist …….. someone sarcastically questioned whether such a thing was likely to „just turn up“ in a „dung heap“ after so many years! The fact is that nothing „just turns up“!! Similar to my project, I know of an original Fiat S74 chassis, early Peugeot GP remains, a 1903 Paris Madrid Brasier engine, a Wolsley Beetle chassis, and many more fabulous componants, all of which have survived and are being cared for by enthusiasts in the hope that some other parts may one day come to light to enable the restoration of a complete car to become viable. Then and only then will the cars „Turn up“!……after all…….who’s going to be interested in just a rusty bent old chassis……no matter how spectacular the car may have been in it’s heyday?
es gibt sogar einen beitrag den er im bristol pegasus Motor club geschrieben hat (das bild auf dem beitrag zeigt übrigens das pleuel …bei einem normalen auto ist das maximal 1/5 
)
http://www.bristolpegasus.com/index.php?section=298
wie oben im forumsbeitrag zu sehen…wollte er keine bilder bis jetzt veröffentlichen was seine restauration so macht…..allerdings gibt es nun einen aktuellen beitrag in „the automobile“ vom april 2008 der endlich bilder zeigt.…also kaufen sag ich nur.
irgendwie klasse….wenn solche autos wieder auftauchen
michis oldtimer Blog 
