Fiat 3½ HP

The Fiat 3½ HP was the first vehicle built by the Turin manufacturer Fiat. It was a small two or three seat car with face-to-face seating, powered by a water-cooled two-cylinder engine of 679 cubic centimetres lying horizontally at the rear, with overhead valves and a three-speed gearbox that had no reverse gear. Its top speed was 35 kilometres per hour. The design descended from the Ceirano Welleyes, engineered by Aristide Faccioli, which Fiat absorbed when the company was founded on 11 July 1899, and the body was a Duc type styled by Marcello Alessio. Only 26 cars in all were made by 1900, and at least four survive, in museums in Turin, at Beaulieu in Britain and at the Ford Museum in the United States. A 1899 example took part in the London to Brighton veteran car run in 2017. In 1900 it gave way to the improved Fiat 4 HP.