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At first glance, Lee McKee thought the 1959 Fiat rusting in the sun outside Talladega's International Mo­torsports Hall of Fame and Museum might have a few parts worth salvaging.

Inside the trunk, however, was documentation indicating the car had been souped up by Shell scientists in 1969 to get 244 miles per gallon of gas as part of an annual company contest.

The contest is still an annual event for Shell, although it is now referred to as an Eco-marathon, and competitions are in America and Europe, according to Shell’s Web site.

In order to get triple-digit gas mileage, the scientists in 1969 sacrificed many of the comforts and basic safety features of the common automobile, McKee said.

The Fiat has no reverse gear, radiator, fan or water pump and at the height of its fuel efficiency only traveled 16 miles per hour. “They did things you can’t do to a normal car and still drive around town,” McKee said. “Everything is about keeping the engine super-hot. It uses every drop of gas,” McKee said.

Apel estimates it could take at least a year and possibly $20,000 worth of work to get the car back to its 1969 condition.

McKee said once the work is complete, they hope to run the car at the Talladega Superspeedway track to see if they can get the mileage Shell scientists were able to reach nearly 38 years ago.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070703/NEWS02/707030328/1009

Thats a 600. I remember the cars well. :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_600

600's were turned into wonderful little race cars. Never to be bullied by bigger more powerful cars. They would punch them all the way out to 1000cc motors. From 800 to 1000cc they would run a rad in the front to either cool the water or oil. In the meanest of the little cars there could be a rad that would be cooling the oil and water. The little cars sometimes like to flip over on there sides. Be it Auto Cross, Closed Circuit, Hill Climb or Rally. A 600 would flip over. If the driver was able to keep it running. The track workers would flip it back on its wheels or members of the crowd would do it. And the 600 would speed off to get back into the fight.

Here are some 600 racing photos. The last one is a full Abarth Car. One of my fathers best buds in the world had one. Just like the one in the pic. I got to drive the car a lot as a small child. Think of a shifter cart with a full body, the 1960's and a 10 year old kid. :) Was a lot of fun.
http://www.geocities.com/nikolic_lj_dragan/Racing/Fiat600Abarth/AbarthGallery.htm

My father owned and raced Fiats. These are the cars I learned to drive on. I was taught all the basics plus high speed and emergency driving as well a FE driving in these cars.

Fathers pride and joy was his 1967 Fiat Sport Coupe. It had the High Output engine. He ordered it then snuk it into the country. He put 124 steel wheels and hub caps on it. With Koni shocks. It had 1/4" wheel spacers on it. With his own engineered sway bars. Its was bright red. In the mid 70's he had the car repainted Fiat red and a black top put on it. Its racing days were over so he cleaned her up for retirement. The day he brought the car home from the body shop he asked me to close the garage door. I went out to pull it down. And it broke. Came right out of its tracks. Came down on the car and I. I still have a dent in my head from it knocking out cold. As I was going down,,, I was thinking. "Dads going to kill me" He didnt. Just was a freak accident. He just had it repainted again.

Here is a link to the 850's. Dads car was like the white Coupe. My Aunt (His sister) bought a 1967 Sport Spider at the same time. Also in Fiat red.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.philseed.com/images/fiat-850-coupe-and-spider.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.philseed.com/fiat850.html&h=487&w=640&sz=40&tbnid=fD3Ue5MqVF5sMM:&tbnh=104&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfiat%2B850%26um%3D1&start=3&sa=X&oi=images&ct=image&cd=3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_850

Mother and Father also owned a 1969 Fiat Sport Coupe in blue. It had Fiat alloy wheels on it. They looked alot like Lotus Mini Lites. :rolleyes: They had the gold centers with a polished lip. Good looking wheels by even todays standards. The car had a dual over head cam hemi type motor in it. Dad always had a great tune on it. A funny thing about the car was the wing windows. Engraved on the bottom of the windows it said " Dont open above 115 mph ". I always thought that to be funny. And will always remember it. Also as fate would have it. When my parents purchased the 69 124 my Aunt with the 850 spider traded hers in for a 1970 124 spider in white.

Some 124 linkage
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_124
A drivers seat look at the dash. I still think it is a nice dash. And one of my all time fav's.
http://jbwebsalbum4.home.mindspring.com/fiatart/dashboard_780.jpg
Here is a road test. I remember reading this when it came out.
http://jbwebsalbum4.home.mindspring.com/fiat/fiatcd.htm

My brother a few years ago purchased a 1971 124 Spider and did a full restore on it. Ended up trading it for his current Lancer Rally Art.

My brother runs a Fiat X/19 in auto cross events now days. Its not a pretty car but man will that thing corner. Last event he ran. He took me for a fun run in it. He made me car sick. That has never happened. Was worse than a carnival ride. When I was a younger man I owned a X/19 all Abarth. It was a wicked little car.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_X1/9
Mine was like the orange and yellow one. Except it was lime green and black.

Last Fiat my father owned was a 128 Coupe. Was a front wheel drive car. It didnt spark a flame in him like the older Fiats so he sold it. It was about this time that Fiat pulled out of the American market. Took there marbles and went home. Dad now owns a 4th gen Accord and a Rav. But come around my family and mention Fiat. A group of beers will go up with a cheer for the little cars that could and would put a smile on your face and make your butt cheeks pucker.

psy

As it happens I was in Turin last fall and was fortunate to get to visit the Fiat museum in the oldest part of the Fiat factory. Fascinating stuff. They have the original wooden body mold for the 600, of course the actual 600 as well. Plus some of the original sales literature and ads, which are fabulous to look at. Fiat now owns Alfa and Lancia, so a selection of those cars was there too. And a Fiat Dino Ferrari which I drooled over.

The designer Dante Giacosa is very deeply revered at Fiat: they moved his office into the museum and reconstructed it there in detail as it actually was when he was alive.

You still see original 600's buzzing around Turin. Fiat has just come out with a new 600 which they were very very excited about when I visited.

I can send you photos if you want.

Looks like the Fiats would be a hoot to drive. Is it just me or are little cars usually a lot more fun to drive?

my first car was an 850 spyder! lots of fun, but not enough power...

just before i was going to move from maryland to houston (in the fiat) it backfired through the carb and lit the filter. nothing i could do. it burned... :(

still miss that car though...

Can't forget Luigi from CARS (http://adisney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/cars/main.html?sec=1&car=12)

There's a beautifully restored Fiat 600 that's frequently parked outside a local tire shop in our town.

-mr. bill

It's very remarkable that Shell got a Fiat 244 miles on a gallon of gas.

That's NYC to Boston...or Dallas to Houston

Looks like the Fiats would be a hoot to drive. Is it just me or are little cars usually a lot more fun to drive?Well I'll vouch for the fact they they were a blast to drive. My Father got my Mother a first or second year Miata Gen 1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Red-na-nb.JPG). Had 116hp and weighted just a touch over a ton. With a stick the thing was like driving a go-cart. Mom still has it with (amazingly) less than 100,000 miles on it. In an effort to get me married quicker she lent it out to her sons for weekend dates, and drove it on many dates with my wife.

Definitely a blast to drive. Perhaps when I have enough expendable cash to do an EV conversion, I can get one working on an old 1990 Miata. Have my cake and eat it too ;).

11011011

16mph doesn't sound very practical. You might has well get a bike and get unlimited MPG!

My best friend in high school had a (850?) Spider. He and his dad rebuilt the engine so many times they could practically do it with their eyes closed. Towards the end of ownership they could pull it and put it back in between sunup and sundown on a weekend day.

Fiat is bringing out a new 500 for the mini-car market that also looks fun. There are no plans to bring it to the US, of course.

Article:

Fiat Hopes New 500 Restores Brand
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/05/ap3886563.html

Pic:
www.caradisiac.com/.../mag274/fiat-500-2big.jpg

Hello. I am new to the group. I found this thread on this website and it caught my attention. Why? Because I have the little Fiat discussed in it. Is there still any interest in the story behind this car and the present state of it? I will share what I know and post pictures of it.
KenS

Welcome, Ken!! We certainly would like to hear more and see pictures!

Hey Sean. Thanks for the reply. I obtained the Fiat about a year ago. It was in poor condition as the Hemmings blog and Jay Leno blog showed. (Those links are on my website). Lee McKee and Alan Apel no longer have interest or ownership in the car. Since I have gotten the car, I have researched information about the car. And I have started the restoration of the car too. The car is one of three that I know are still around. The Fiat was run in a mileage marathon back in the late 60's and early 70's. I started a website to share the research and the progress of the restoration. Please take a look. The website is not complete. I still have information to post. And be sure and check the posted links for the other two cars. KenS
http://www.59fiattestcar.webs.com

Wow -- that poor car certainly did deteriorate!

Do you have a timetable in which you'd like to complete your restoration?

I was hoping before Christmas but I am in the process of home repairs. I should get back on it after the first of the year. I want to complete it by june. It shouldn't be a problem. The engine already runs. I built a wheeled cart to mount it on and I can start it up to let it run. Did you open the links on the 59 Opel? The Opel is still shuffling around. It runs and drives. Although not suited for everyday travel.
KenS

Wow! What a story. Good luck with the restoration. Are you going to recreate the MPG run?

Shell has operated the Eco-Marathon in California two years now. I sent info that I had one of the cars from Shell's past when the race was called the Mileage Marathon and I was asked to bring the car to show. Of course I had to decline because of the car's condition. But, I hope to bring the car and show it when I complete the restoration. That race is usually after the first of the year if memory hasn't failed me. The big difference in the race from the past is that that race was between employees. The new race is between students from different schools and such. Do a search for Shell Eco-Marathon.
There was a book published titled "Fuel Economy of the Gasoline Engine". The Fiat, the Opel and the Studebaker were covered in the book as examples. The book has an engineering explanation of how and why fuel economy of a gasoline engine. The information gets deep. More about the book in my website.

The Fiat, as well as the 59 Opel, represent the ability and knowedge to improve fuel economy. But the extremes of mpg resulted are not real world for a daily driver. In the sport of competition, each contender of the races has the same opportunity to win. Those cars, similar to a nascar car, are not streetable vehicles because of the modifications done to them. Although, there will be several items that could be used and have been used on the modern day daily drivers. So, when someone reads 244mpg or 376mpg or 500+mpg, those numbers were accomplished by means that would not be achievable on the everyday vehicle. One strong point of interest about these cars is that recently we have learned of hypermiling. Well, back in those races held in the 40s and up the drivers used the pulse and glide system. So, that technique is not new to today, it was done years ago.

The Fiat was a great find. Now is the time to restore it and show it. If there is anyone that disbelieves the history of the mpg mileage of the car, it is because they don't know or understand how the race was run. Same goes for the 59 Opel and a 1924 Chevrolet. The 47 Studebaker is not to be found at this time. These were winning vehicles. One more bit on the Fiat, it's final race achieved 304mpg. Astounding but achievable. One just needs to know how to "race the race".

Hope this isn't too much at one time. Be sure and recheck my website for more updates. Each page has a date at the bottom reflecting the last update.

KenS

Thanks Ken for your posts. Keep us up to date with your restoration. You have a real piece of automotive engineering history, I'm glad to see it is in good hands.
Happy Thanksgiving! :D - Dale

Ken,

An ongoing project of mine is researching techniques used years ago we now call hypermiling.

An silly discussion was a snob (sorry for the word choice) insisting pulse and glide could only be used only on a Prius or Toyota hybrid. Fact is hybrids automate or make easier many hypermiling techniques. Hint: he was trying to prove his point with graphs. ;)

An silly discussion was a snob (sorry for the word choice) insisting pulse and glide could only be used only on a Prius or Toyota hybrid. Fact is hybrids automate or make easier many hypermiling techniques. Hint: he was trying to prove his point with graphs. ;)

Bah. graphs.

Thanks to Ken for the updates on the Fiat restoration.

I hope that before the Fiat gets judged down because of the mileage numbers posted, will the disbelievers ask questions as to how the acclaimed mileage numbers were achieved. Information of the Fiat needs to be correct to keep any credibility it can sustain. Personally, I am not wanting to steer anyone to believe otherwise. The mileage numbers posted are not equivalent or similar to the posibilities of any normal daily driver vehicle driven on public roadways today. But, by making modifications and using unusual driving techniques did this vehicle attain high fuel mileage results. The car's modifications will be shared to anyone that wants to know the hows and ways to get similar results. Maybe you that is interested can get a new idea. I wasn't one of the original members of the team to make the mods, just the lucky guy to get the car afterwards. I never heard of any Mileage Marathon races when I was young.....If anyone in the group knows about them, please come forward and share with us.

Be sure and research the 59 Opel. Search 'shell 376 opel', and any words thereof.

KenS

Hey group. It has been a year since the last post on the Fiat. The car is getting new sheetmetal where the repairs are needed. I am quite satisfied with the progress but not on the time table. Some things can't be rushed I guess. I do have to say the (new) parts pile is building up. Looking forward to driving and showing the car to others.
KenS

Thank you for checking in!