FRISKY FIAT 1500

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30389, 13 March 1964, Page 11

FRISKY FIAT 1500

'T'HE Fiat 1500 has marie an excellent name for itself overseas, and now this interesting 1.5 litre car is available in New Zealand. A 250mile two-day road test in one of these New Zealandassembled Fiats leaves no doubt that the claim to be a sports saloon is justified. The 1500 allies excellent acceleration and road-holding with an equally excellent standard of comfort and tractability. It appears to have no vices, and by its unusual lack of small faults shows its designers have paid much attention to details. The family man will find the large boot useful, although the high lip may make lifting heavy articles into the boot rather a job. He will find the seats comfortable, particularly the fully reclining front seats, and the car very pleasant to drive. He will find it easy to park, end well-equipped with such features as a heater, screenwashers, lamp flasher, and cigarette lighter. The more enthusiastic driver will enjoy the acceleration and handling, and also the excellent front disc brakes. Behind The Wheel

Once behind the wheel of thp Fiat, the driver can adjust the rake of the seat back to suit himself, and even tall drivers will find the seats have an ample range of adjustment. With the seats right back legroom in the rear is somewhat restricted, perhaps slightly more so than in some other 1500 c.c. cars. There is plenty of headroom front and rear.

The instruments are clearly visible through the steering wheel, and the layout is most

comprehensive. The calibrations on the gauges is just sufficient.

Instruments comprise a strip speedometer, and gauges for water temperature and fuel tank contents. There is an extensive array of warning lights for oil pressure, indicators, generator, headlights on, main beam, choke, low fuel level and handbrake on. Rocker-type switches are used for heater fan, wipers, headligfuts and panel lights. There are pull knobs for hand throttle and choke. The pedals are well placed and simultaneous operation .of brake and accelerator is possible with practice. The clutch is positive in its action, which occurs in the last part of the release movement.

The column gear lever controls a four-speed all-syn-chromesh box, and the action is one of the best yet tested. It is short and precise in its movements, and the synchromesh is unbeatable. The handbrake is on the left hand side of the transmission tunnel and the' driver has to lean well forward to reach it. It would be out of reach if a seat belt were worn. Mountings for seat belts are provided. The horn has a loud and piercing note and is controlled by a 1 full ring. The dipswitch and indicator levers are both on the right hand side of the steering column, and the switch on the floor in the normal position of a dipswitch washes and wipes the windscreen when depressed, a very useful feature. This switch, is the only

thing which spoils the interior appearance of the car, looking as though it was added as an afterthought. Until one becomes used to the dipswitch it is possible to turn the lights off accidently. It is also possible to operate the lights instead of Hie indicators. The test car started immediately without the choke after an all-night stand in the open, and although the heater warmed up quickly and delivered a good flow of hot air the engine took some time to reach operating temperature in spite of a thermomagnetic fan, which only comes into operation when a certain engine temperature is reached. The gears are well chosen and accleration is sufficient to keep most cars up to 3litres capacity at bay. The brakes are above reproach, and after hard use did not fade. The four headlights give a sharply cut off dipped beam and a very good range for night driving on main beam. • The wipers clear a very large area of screen and do not lift at speed. Visibility is good art all times, and all four corners of the car are in view. The excellent dipping rear vision mirror sometimes slightly obscures the vision of very tail drivers, but is nonetheless much preferable to a dash-mounted mirror. Handling Handling is very safe. When pressed • the basic understeer changes to a gentle and progressive oversteer early in the range, considerably aiding fast comer-

• ing. In the indirect gears It , is usually easy to induce • power oversteer coming out of a corner. Handling is also i very safe on wet and gravel . roads, where much of the > steering can be done on the i throttle if so desired. i Hill-climbing ability is excellent, roll is negligible, . and the suspension is firm , twit comfortable. It will [ bottom only on very severe . bumps. Top speed is quoted as > more than 93 mpb., and easy ; cruising at 85 m.p.h. is possible. Under the bonnet, aH ser- , vice points are very accesl sible, and the engine is a . very neait unit. Two lights come on in the engine com- [ partment when the bonnet is ; lifted. There are also lights ' in the boot. , There is plenty of stowage space inside the car includt ing a glove-box, small odd- . meats tray, and map pockets f in all four doors. There is > one ashtray in the front and i two in the back. , Fuel Warning • During the test the fuel s warning light came on when • there was about a gallon and i a half left in the tank, the ! gauge showing almost empty, s The locking fuel cap was f very difficult to get off, and s the tank would not accept e full flow from a pump without blowing back. The car refused to pink under any circumstances on . the first filling of 93 octane : fuel, but on the second filli ing of the same grade of fuel - some pinking became - evident. It would seem this - was due to the quality of

the fuel and not to the car. On both occasions the fuel was the same brand, but bought from different pumps. Although the Fiat is not cheap at £1325, the customer is undoubtedly getting a lot for his or her money. The 1500 is well finished, comfortable, and is a true sports saloon. It is a very desirable medium-sized car. Technical Details Engine: 4 cylinders. Cylinder capacity 1481 c.c., output 80 h.p. (SAJE. rating). 77mm. bore, 79.5 mm stroke. Compression ratio, 8.8:1. Cylinder block with

cast iron base chamber. Aluminium cylinder head, threebearing, balanced crankshaft. O.H.V. twin choke downdraught carburettor. Air intake with silencer and filter. Mechanical pump fuel feed to carburettor. Forced lubrication by gear pump. Centrifugal oil filter and supplementary by-pass filter. Cooling water circulated by centrifugal pump. Starter motor engaged by electromagnet. Engine, clutch. gearbox unit mounted on resilient pads. Clutch: Single plate dry. hydraulically operated. Gearbox: Four speeds and reverse. Free-ring synchronises on the four forward speeds. Gear shift lever under steering wheel

Front Suspension by wishbones, coil springs and hydraulic shock absorbers. Reaction rod on lower arm. Anti-roll bar. Rear Suspension by flat leaf springs and hydraulic shock absorbers. Anti-roll bar. Steering by screw and roller. Brakes: Disc in front; rear wheel brakes of the drum type, with self-centring shoes. Parking brake acting on rear brake shoes. Fuel Tank at rear. Capacity. 10 imp. gallons. Electrical: 12 volts, 40 watt dynamo. 40 amp./hr. battery. Lamps: Four headlights. The two outer ones have asymmetric beams for anti-dazzle light. All four are for long range lighting. Reversing light.

| Bruce McLaren reponrs i that Jim Palmer has i bought Jack Brabham’s = Tasman Formula Brabham i and Denis Huhne’s car has | been bought by the AusI tralian, L. Davidson. | ¥ ¥ ¥ | C. J. Lawrence, the Brit- | ish tuning expert, has an- = nounced a 90 m.pJi. vers- = ion of the Vauxhall Viva, | which will be sold in Brit- | ain for £215 more than the | Viva de luxe. The modi- | fled Viva is distinguished § by a red flash down the | side and a G.T. badge, and' i the 0 to 60 m.p.h. time is g cut from 22.1 sec to 14.1 sec. g Racing versions of the g Viva G.T. are also planned.