Dante Giacosa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dante Giacosa
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Dante Giacosa (1970)
|
|
| Born | 3 January 1905 |
| Died | 31 March 1996 (aged 91) |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Occupation | Lead Engineer, Fiat, 1946 to 1970 |
| Known for | Industry Standard Front Wheel Drive Layout |
Dante Giacosa (born January 3, 1905 – died March 31, 1996) was a brilliant Italian car designer and engineer. He was famous for creating many Italian car designs. He also helped make the front-wheel drive system a standard for car makers around the world.
A Big Step for Front-Wheel Drive Cars
In 1969, the car company Fiat launched the Fiat 128. This car had a special design for its engine and gearbox. They were placed sideways at the front of the car. This design also used different-sized drive shafts and a special suspension system. It even had an electric fan for the radiator.
This setup became super popular. Almost every other car company in the world copied it for their front-wheel drive cars. Dante Giacosa was the one who came up with the idea for the different-sized drive shafts.
Other small, affordable front-wheel drive cars existed before. The German DKW F1 came out in 1931. The British Mini also became very popular. The Mini, designed by Alec Issigonis, had a compact engine and gearbox. They even shared the same oil. The Mini's radiator was on the side, blowing hot air out near the wheel. This helped the engine stay cool.
Dante Giacosa believed in working alone during the early design stages. He once said, "I have never considered it necessary to discuss projects in meetings with a number of other people during the phase of conception and design."
Giacosa's design for the Fiat 128 was clever. It had a sideways engine and drive shafts of different lengths. Fiat had already tested this setup on an earlier car called the Autobianchi Primula. This car was from their smaller company, Autobianchi. Testing it there helped them fix any problems before using it in a major Fiat car.
The Primula was ready in 1964. It had a 1221 cc engine placed sideways. The four-speed gearbox was in line with the engine's crankshaft. Gears connected it to the differential, which was slightly off to the side. This setup allowed the engine and gearbox to be next to each other without sharing oil. It also helped the cooling fan get fresh air.
By testing with the Primula, Fiat solved problems like uneven power delivery and tire wear. They also fixed "torque steer," which is when the engine's power tries to steer the car.
Fiat quickly showed how flexible this design was. They even used the 128's engine and gearbox setup in the middle of the Fiat X1/9 sports car. This compact and efficient design soon became a standard for many car makers.
About Dante Giacosa
Dante Giacosa was born in Rome, Italy. His family came from Neive, a town in southern Piedmont. He studied engineering at the Polytechnic University of Turin and finished in 1927.
After his military service, he joined Fiat in 1928. He first worked on military vehicles. Then he moved to the division that made airplane engines. In 1933, he started working on the famous Fiat 500 car. He was trusted to design all the mechanical parts of the car.
By 1937, Giacosa was an engineering manager at Fiat. By 1950, he became the director of Fiat's engineering division. He retired from his full-time job at Fiat in 1970. But he stayed connected to the company as a "Consulting Engineer" and an "Ambassador." After retiring, he wrote several books about his work life.
Giacosa was also the President of FISITA. This is an international group for car engineering societies. He wrote a book called Motori Endotermici. This book explains how internal combustion engines work. It became a very important book for engineering students.
Dante Giacosa passed away in Turin in 1996.
His Amazing Car Designs
One of Giacosa's early successes was the Fiat Topolino. This was a tiny two-seat car that became very popular after 1936. It had a 569 cc engine. Its chassis was very advanced for its time. The engine was over the front wheels, and the radiator was behind it. It also had great brakes. The Topolino could go about 18 km per liter of fuel. Its top speed was 90 km/h, but it handled so well that it could cruise at 60 km/h. Over 122,000 of these cars were made by 1948.
Giacosa then designed the Fiat 508C. This car replaced the 508 Balilla. The 508C, also known as the "Millecento," had a new 1100 cc engine. It had a fantastic chassis design. This gave it a reputation for great handling and a smooth ride. Giacosa also led a team that developed the Fiat 508CMM, a sleek racing coupe. Fiat used this car to win a race in 1938. The 508C was made until 1948.
In 1944, a rich Italian businessman named Piero Dusio asked Giacosa to design a racing car. It had to be affordable. Giacosa worked on this in his free time. He used parts from the Fiat 500 and 508C. The car, called the Cisitalia D46, went on sale in 1946. It had a special "space frame" chassis made of steel tubes. The body was made of light metal panels. This was known as the famous "super-light" (superleggera) building method. The Fiat 1100 cc engine in the car was tuned to produce 60 horsepower. It could reach a top speed of 175 km/h.
Giacosa also did the first design work for the next Cisitalia car, a two-seat sports car called Project 202. He again used a multi-tube space frame chassis.
Even though Giacosa became the director of engineering at Fiat, he couldn't always design cars exactly as he wanted. The sales department had a big say in new models. For example, the Fiat 1400 of 1950 was only somewhat successful. Fiat wanted a car for countries with bad roads. They wanted it to be stable, have good visibility, and fit six people. But they also wanted a small, cheap engine for Italy. Despite Giacosa's best efforts, the car ended up being a bit of a mix. Only about 120,000 were made in eight years.
His next small car design was the 1100-103. This car also kept the "Millecento" name. It was a compact car with a strong body. It had good handling and performance, just like its older version. It had a 1089 cc engine. The gearshift was on the steering column. This "Millecento" stayed in production until 1970. Over 1.75 million were made.
Next, Giacosa and his team designed a replacement for the Fiat Topolino. The new car, the Fiat 600, came out in 1955. It was a completely new design for Fiat, with the engine at the back. Giacosa used the advantages of a rear-engine design to create a four-seat car. It had limited luggage space but good performance from its small 633 cc engine. This was because it was very light (585 kg) and compact. It could go almost 100 km/h and get great fuel mileage. Giacosa solved stability problems common with other rear-engine cars. He used a special rear suspension system that made the car much more stable.
Within a year, a seven-seat version of the 600, called the Multipla, was produced. This was like an early minivan. The 600 was replaced by the 600D in 1960. Its engine size grew to 767 cc, and its top speed reached 110 km/h. Production stopped in Turin in 1970, but it continued in other countries. Over 2.5 million Fiat 600s were eventually made.
Giacosa's next rear-engine car for Fiat was the Nuova 500 in 1957. It was similar to the 600 but had a two-cylinder air-cooled engine. It was a true replacement for the Topolino, being Fiat's smallest car. It was very light, weighing less than 500 kilograms. The first engines were a bit weak, so Fiat recalled cars to fit a stronger engine. The final 500F model in 1965 had a 499 cc engine. It could reach 110 km/h and got excellent fuel economy.
In 1960, Fiat introduced the Giardiniera, a station wagon version. It had a similar engine but placed horizontally under the floor. This made space for luggage. Giacosa won an award, the Compasso d'Oro, for the Nuova 500 in 1959. He was praised for bravely changing how cars were traditionally designed.
In 1964, Fiat introduced the 850, a roomier four-seat car. It ran alongside the 600. It had an 843 cc engine. Fiat also made sporty coupe and spyder (convertible) versions of the 850. Over half a million of these were built by 1972.
The "500" series was 25 years old by 1972. That's when Fiat introduced their last rear-engined car, the 126. It was a four-seater, similar in size to the British Mini. The engine grew to 594 cc, giving it a top speed of 105 km/h. The 126 was made in Italy and then in Poland until the year 2000. Almost five million were produced.
|
