FIAT Y 0160

The Fiat Y 0160 was an experimental electric railcar that the railway materials division of Fiat built at its Turin works between 1970 and 1971 for the Italian state railways, and it was the first truly operational prototype of a train with tilting bodywork. It came out of the Turin plant on 5 October 1971 and was soon nicknamed the Pendolino for its unusual way of leaning into curves; railwaymen also called it Carioca for its bright livery. The railcar was a single unit with a driving cab at each end, aerodynamic fronts like those of the later ETR 401, a body on two short wheelbase bogies of 2.45 metres and a hydraulic system that tilted the body towards the inside of a curve so that passengers stayed within the comfort limit for sideways acceleration. It drew current from the overhead line through two pantographs, with traditional 3,000 volt direct current traction motors. Trials between 1971 and 1973, on the winding Trofarello to Asti line and the Rome to Naples direct line, reached speeds above 250 kilometres per hour and led in 1974 to the order for the four car ETR 401. The prototype was later set aside and its body was scrapped.