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Dreams in red - Fiat Balilla, Jaguar E-Type and Ferrari Testarossa

Name: Ferrari Testarossa 1985
Brand: Ferrari

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Created on November 22, 2020

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

Fiat Group

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Archiv Hermann Schwarz

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Daniel Reinhard

Fiat Group

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Three dreams in red - Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934), Jaguar E-Type (1961) and Ferrari Testarossa (1985)

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Three dreams in red - Jaguar E-Type (1961), Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) and Ferrari Testarossa (1985)

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Three dreams in red - Jaguar E-Type (1961), Ferrari Testarossa (1985) and Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934)

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Three dreams in red - Ferrari Testarossa (1985), Jaguar E-Type (1961) and Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934)

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Two dreams in red - Jaguar E-Type Series 1 from 1961 and Ferrari Testarossa "Monospecchio" from 1985

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - you can hear it roar before you see it

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - it ran at almost 120 km/h back then

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - little wind and weather protection

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - a trunk accessible from the outside was not a matter of course at the time

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - it doesn't get much more open than this

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - conveyed the joy of driving then and now

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - very compact

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - less than 3.2 meters long

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - sportiness in a small space

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - the body shape originally came from Ghia

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - a star of its era

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - classic pre-war sports car look

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - with American borrowings?

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - hardly anything distracts from the body shape

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - Rigid axle front and rear

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - View of the rudimentary cockpit

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - long gearshift

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - View of the carburetors

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - one liter displacement, 36 hp

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - Radiator grille with Balilla lettering

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - Door opener

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Fiat Balilla 508 CS Coppa d'oro (1934) - Fiat-F on the hubs of the spoked wheel

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - driving pleasure here too

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - unrestricted all-round visibility

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - wonderful to drive

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - achieved 0 to 100 km/h in 7.2 seconds

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - almost 260 km/h fast back then

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - one of the most beautiful cars of all time

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - Elegance from England

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - early model with flat floor

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - ready to go

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - William Lyons had done a great job

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - long front, short rear - classic proportions

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - bucket seats with good lateral support

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - the gearshift fits perfectly

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - this is what a classic dashboard looks like

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - wooden steering wheel, clear displays

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - Speedometer up to 260 km/h, was also necessary

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - comparatively large steering wheel

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - large instruments

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - rev counter with red area just above 5500 rpm

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - the straight six-cylinder with over 260 SAE horsepower

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - Headlights under glass, but only for the first series

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - cooling fins on the hood

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - Jaguar lettering on the rear

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - tapered rear end

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Roadster (1961) - characteristic rear lights

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - with folding headlights, of course

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - up to almost 300 km/h if need be

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - looks wider than it is - today's cars are much larger

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - ready to leap forward

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - some like it, others don't like it at all

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - 80 km/h is not its domain

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - feels at home on country roads and highways

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - even the cow is amazed

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - inconspicuous would be different

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - the cooling fins are its distinguishing feature

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - mid-engined car of the eighties

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - only part of the exterior width creates space inside

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - a design icon, even if not everyone likes it

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - the successor to the Berlinetta Boxer

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - the mold was designed by Fioravanti

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - completely without chrome

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - hung as a poster on many walls

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - behind the doors is the inlet for the water coolers arranged on both sides

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - no other car looked like this sports car

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - only the early models had a continuous design

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - TRX tires, almost two meters wide

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - can be easily boarded

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - Speedometer up to 320 km/h

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - the controls are relatively wildly distributed

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - open shift gate, round gear knob

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - Odometer reading in the center console

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - the red cylinder heads gave it its name

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - also clearly labeled in the engine compartment

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - five liters displacement, 390 hp

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - Folding headlights, otherwise the low front would not have been possible

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - the early models had central locking systems

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - the famous single and high-mounted exterior mirror

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Ferrari Testarossa (1985) - Tank inlet rear left

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Fiat 508 Balilla (1933) - as a two-door sedan

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Fiat Balilla (1933) - Special bodywork by Garavini, still in daily use in 1968 - Fiat review - Geneva Motor Show 1968

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Fiat 508 C / 1100 Balilla (1937) - see-through drawing reveals the technical details of the Fiat design

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Fiat 508 C / 1100 Balilla (1937) - Transparent drawing shows the interior of the four-cylinder engine

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Fiat 508 Balilla (1933) - Luigi Villoresi with brother Emilio in the Fiat at the Gaisberg race in 1933

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Fiat 508 Balilla Sport (1933) - elegant and sporty design

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Fiat 508 Balilla Sport (1933) - still with less than one liter displacement and yet with sports car-like performance

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Fiat 508 S Balilla Sport Spyder (1935) - 36 hp resulted in a top speed of over 110 km/h

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Turin Classic Car Fair 2014: Le Corbusier in the Fiat Balilla 1934 on the roof of the Lingotto factory

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Jaguar E-Type (1961) - a proud William Lyons with "9600 HP"

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Jaguar E-Type (1961) - front view 9600 HP

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Jaguar E-Type (1961) - The test vehicle for the AR

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Jaguar E-Type Roadster Series 1 (1963) - the Roadster was actually a fully-fledged convertible with crank windows, but it certainly looked nice

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Jaguar E-Type - Side view of the fast Englishman

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Jaguar E-Type - the interior of the sensational sports car - shown at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show

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Jaguar E-Type (1961) - Steering wheel and dashboard

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Jaguar E-Type (1961) - Driver and passenger seat

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Jaguar E-Type - the trunk is very accessible - Geneva Motor Show 1961

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Jaguar E-Type (1961) - Spare wheel under the trunk.

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Jaguar E Type - the engine of the show star of the 1961 Geneva Motor Show

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Jaguar E-Type (1961) - See-through drawing reveals all the details of the cat

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Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 Litre Roadster (1962) - Transparency drawing

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - the asymmetrical exterior mirror was later replaced by a normal low mirror

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - breathtaking silhouette

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - only the early examples are unadulterated

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - the characteristic high-mounted rear-view mirror disappeared in 1985

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - steering wheel and dashboard, speedometer up to 320 km/h

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - in an early press photo

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - although technically related to its predecessor BB, it looked completely different visually

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - the pronounced flanks with the long cooling fins are characteristic of the mid-engined Ferrari

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - it was one of the widest cars of its time

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - closed and open folding headlights

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - Interior of a new Testarossa

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - Interior with lots of leather and matching luggage set

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - See-through drawing reveals the innards

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Ferrari Testarossa (1984) - View into the engine (see-through drawing)

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Jaguar E Type (1961) - a dream on four wheels - at the 1961 Paris Motor Show

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Summary

What do a Fiat 508 S from 1935, a Jaguar E-Type from 1961 and a Ferrari Testarossa from 1985 have in common? They are all sports cars and icons of their era. And above all, they are sought after and coveted today. But can they be compared? And how do they feel when you sit behind the wheel? This driving report brings together three legendary cars that represent five decades of sports car development. Many photos, sound recordings and documents show what they have in common and where the differences lie.

This article contains the following chapters

When four cylinders were still enough
The sports car icon of the early sixties
Wide, fast and different
The development of the sports car over five decades
Incomparable
A comparison of the technical characteristics

Estimated reading time: 10min

Preview (beginning of the article)

They are hardly related and yet there are many similarities. Enzo Ferrari, for example, described the Jaguar E-Type as one of the most beautiful cars in the world. They are all two-seaters and are typical of the sports car world of their era. In fact, the development of the sports car between the 1930s and the 1980s can be traced very well in these cars. The Fiat 508 Balilla was born in 1932. The successor to the 509 was a contemporary, but not without finesse, passenger car with a separate chassis, rigid front and rear axles and a water-cooled four-cylinder engine of just under one liter behind the front axle, which transmitted its 20 hp to the rear wheels via a cardan shaft. The driver had three forward gears at his disposal.

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