Fiat S61

The Fiat S61 was the fifth Grand Prix car built by Fiat and an early overhead-camshaft racer for the company. Its engine was made from a pair of straight-twin units coupled into a straight-four, with four valves per cylinder and two spark plugs for each, and most of the engine was made of brass. The chassis was a steel ladder frame carrying an aluminium body, and the car had drum brakes on the rear wheels only. It was successful in American racing: David Bruce-Brown finished third in the first Indianapolis 500, Teddy Tetzlaff won at the Santa Monica Circuit in 1912, and its most prestigious victory came in the 1912 American Grand Prize. After the first four cars were built, Fiat kept enough spare parts to assemble a fifth in Turin in 1970.