Fiat 308

The Fiat 308 is a bus produced from 1971 to 1978. It was designed in the early 1970s to replace the earlier Fiat 309, as the second bus after the Fiat 306 made by Fiat Veicoli Industriali without being derived from the mechanics of a truck, as had been the custom until then. Built in interurban and grand tourism fittings, it was assembled at the CANSA plant in Cameri in the province of Novara, and it was also sold as a bare chassis for coachbuilders; among the firms that bodied it were Menarini, Dalla Via, Orlandi, Garbarini, Barbi, Padane and Minerva. It had the 8200.12 engine, an inline six cylinder of 9819 cubic centimetres giving 194 horsepower, mounted at the centre of the chassis in the arrangement called a sogliola. The 308L was the 10.2 metre version, and many ended as driving school vehicles.