This is the famous S.76 Fiat racing car being built about 1910 above and finished below. This monster had a bore and stroke of very close to 7 1/2″ x 9 27/32″ That 1729 c.i. total or 432 c.i. per cylinder which is bigger than most big V-8 engines in total. All of the details are at TheOldMotor.com
Thanks again, Dave, there's a lot of really interesting on the oldmotor.com, the motor people back in the early days were just plain crazy, imagine what huge weight rests on the spokes of the wheels! this thing is (by engine volume) 14 times my daily driver!! maybe if i grow me a moustache i'll be as fearless as these guys? keep on, nice stuff! thanks, Carsten
Glad you guys are enjoying this Monster. As to starting it does have a crank and may have had some form of compression relief. It was probably primed with gas on the crank and touched of by a spark coil. As to output 290-300 H.P. is quoted by different sources. As we speak one is being reconstructed in the UK from a racing engine from Fiat and remaining parts from the two racing cars that were evidently built. Can't wait to see it. Go to this link and scroll down a bit to see it. on both pages 1 & 2
That was the dirigible motor, right? One can easily envision that thing powering an old railcar. How do you say "Nipple-high center of gravity" in Italian?
Thats insane. Im more amazed that wimpy side mounted chain could handle ALL that torque. 131 mph in those days was something dreams were made of. For starting, it had a decompression cam, much like other ultra large displacement engines of the 1940s and older.
I got a video of what a 1310 c.i. four banger sounds like. The Blitzen Benz at the Miller Meet. The pocket camera can't capture the true thump of the exhaust though.