Fiat and diesel? Already 1953
07/11/2020
When you think of early passenger cars with diesel engines, Mercedes-Benz certainly comes to mind first. However, other car brands also offered diesel engines for their saloons at an early stage. Fiat, for example, presented the 1400 Diesel in the spring of 1953. The Automobil Revuereported at the time:
"In Turin, Fiat is showing the new 1400 D diesel passenger car, which the factory had decided to announce at the last minute. Externally, this new vehicle resembles the 1400 with a gasoline engine, but is equipped with the same two-liter engine that is used in the 615 light truck and more recently also in the "Campagnola" and delivers around 41 brake horsepower at 3500 rpm in the 1400D. As diesel oil costs only half as much as petrol in Italy and the fuel consumption of this vehicle is said to be only around 6 liters per 100 km, the new model has good prospects, particularly for commercial purposes and as a taximeter. It is also likely to be reasonably priced, as it is only around 1500 to 2000 francs more expensive in Italy than the model with a petrol engine. It will probably be equipped with the five-speed gearbox of the 1900 model, but it has not yet been decided whether the fluid clutch of the same type will also be installed in the diesel passenger car. This question will be clarified by the start of production, which will be around this fall."
The plant itself issued the following press release at the time:
"The absolute novelty for Italy is the '1400 Diesel'. It is the first Italian car with a diesel engine, i.e. powered by gas oil instead of gasoline. This represents a step forward in terms of driving economy, as the diesel engine consumes less fuel than a petrol engine and the operating costs are greatly reduced when using gas oil.
Fiat has also been able to achieve this progress in passenger cars by creating a new diesel engine. The diesel engine has long proven itself in the operation of Fiat commercial vehicles of medium and high load capacity as well as buses. However, for use in smaller vehicles, the problem of the modest cylinder capacity and high speeds of the light diesel engine first had to be solved. One such engine is now the Fiat four-cylinder diesel with a cylinder capacity of 1900 cm3: light in weight, small in size and highly efficient.
This new diesel engine, developed by Fiat, was first used in the 615/N, 1-1/2-ton utility vehicle, then in the 'Campagnola' type and in the Mod. 25 tractor, providing farmers with a highly economical working tool with great savings potential in operating costs.
And now the 1900 diesel can also be installed in the '1400' model, a vehicle of high class, great comfort and other advantages; the strong economic advantages in the economy of operating costs are thus also transferred to the touring vehicle.
The '1400 Diesel' does not replace the '1400' with gasoline engine. This latter type continued on its path of increasing success and the new diesel car joined it in order to expand the categories of its potential customers. The diesel paved a new way for passenger cars in the field of business economics; it represented a new impulse for the increase in motorization, transport and work as such."
However, the diesel was nowhere near as popular as the gasoline-powered Fiat 1400, and the number of units sold was comparatively modest, as can be seen in the recently published report on the Fiat 1400and its model development. Presumably, the time was simply not yet ripe for the diesel in passenger cars.
