Fiat 518

Fiat 518
Fiat 518
	Fiat 518 C saloon
Overview
Manufacturer	Fiat
Also called	Fiat Ardita
Production	1933–1938
Body and chassis
Body style	4-door saloon ; 4-door torpedo ; 4-door sports saloon ;
Layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Related	Fiat 527 (Ardita 2500)
Powertrain
Engine	1,758 cc I4 (Ardita); 1,944 cc I4 (Ardita 2000 and Sport)
Transmission	4-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,700 mm (106.3 in) (518 C); 3,000 mm (118.1 in) (518 L)
Length	4,035 mm (158.9 in) (518 C saloon); 4,335 mm (170.7 in) (518 L saloon)
Kerb weight	1,185–1,259 kg (2,612–2,776 lb) (518 C and 518 L saloons)
Chronology
Predecessor	Fiat 514
Successor	Fiat 1500

Last updated March 31, 2019

The Fiat 518, also called Fiat Ardita, was a model of car produced by Italian car manufacturer Fiat between 1933 and 1938. The name "Ardita" was also used on the six-cylinder engined and more expensive Fiat Ardita 2500 or 527.

Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,340 km² (116,350 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous EU member state and the most populous country in Southern Europe.

Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automobile manufacturer, a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Fiat Automobiles was formed in January 2007 when Fiat reorganized its automobile business, and traces its history back to 1899 when the first Fiat automobile, the Fiat 4 HP, was produced.

The Fiat 527 is a six-cylinder passenger car produced by Fiat between 1934 and 1936. The 527 was a larger-engined and more luxurious version of the four-cylinder 518 Ardita. This car was built only with a full-length chassis, having a wheelbase of 3,170 mm (124.8 in).

Simca was a French automaker, founded in November 1934 by Fiat and directed from July 1935 to May 1963 by Italian Henri Théodore Pigozzi. Simca was affiliated with Fiat and, after Simca bought Ford's French activities, became increasingly controlled by the Chrysler Group. In 1970, Simca became a subsidiary and brand of Chrysler Europe, ending its period as an independent company. Simca disappeared in 1978, when Chrysler divested its European operations to another French automaker, PSA Peugeot Citroën. PSA replaced the Simca brand with Talbot after a short period when some models were badged as Simca-Talbots.

Polski Fiat was a Polish car brand. Under this brand, cars under licence of the Italian manufacturer FIAT were manufactured or assembled in Poland.

The Państwowe Zakłady Inżynierii was a Polish pre-World War II arms industry holding and the main Polish manufacturer of vehicles, both military and civilian.

Models

Ardita and Ardita 2000

The Ardita with available two chassis, having different wheelbases. Furthermore, there was a choice of two engines, the standard 1.8-litre (Ardita, also known as Ardita 1750) and a 2.0-litre version (Ardita 2000).

In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles, the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front) axle and the centerpoint of the driving axle group. In the case of a tri-axle truck, the wheelbase would be the distance between the steering axle and a point midway between the two rear axles.

The short 2,700 mm (106.3 in) wheelbase chassis was coded 518 C (for corta, short) and the long (3,000 mm or 118.1 in one 518 L (for lunga, long). Suspension and braking were fairly conventional, with solid axles front and rear, hydraulic dampers, hydraulic drum brakes on all four wheels and a band handbrake on the transmission. The 518 L chassis was fitted with wider tyres (5.50×17″ instead of 5.25×17″) and a different final drive ratio from the 518 C.^[1] Both the 518 C and 518 L were offered from the factory with 4-door saloon and 4-door torpedo bodies. Therefore, the factory body styles available for the standard Ardita and the Ardita 2000 were:

A shock absorber is a mechanical or hydraulic device designed to absorb and damp shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy which is then dissipated. Most shock absorbers are a form of dashpot.

A drum brake is a brake that uses friction caused by a set of shoes or pads that press outward against a rotating cylinder-shaped part called a brake drum.

A band brake is a primary or secondary brake, consisting of a band of friction material that tightens concentrically around a cylindrical piece of equipment to either prevent it from rotating, or to slow it. This application is common on winch drums and chain saws and is also used for some bicycle brakes.

Saloon, 4 doors, 7 seats, long chassis
Saloon, 4 doors, 5 seats, short chassis
Torpedo, 4 doors, long chassis
Torpedo, 4 doors, short chassis

The torpedo body style was a type of automobile body used from 1908 until the mid-1930s which had a streamlined profile and a folding or detachable soft top. The design consists of a hood/bonnet line raised to be level with the car's waistline, resulting in a straight beltline from front to back.

The saloons had 6 side windows, lacked a centre pillar and had suicide doors at the rear.

Pillars are the vertical or near vertical supports of a car's window area or greenhouse—designated respectively as the A, B, C or D-pillar, moving from front to rear, in profile view.

A suicide door is the slang term for an automobile door hinged at its rear rather than the front. Such doors were originally used on horse-drawn carriages, but are rarely found on modern vehicles, primarily because they are widely perceived as being unsafe.

The Ardita's type 118 inline-four sidevalve engine had a bore and stroke of 78 mm × 92 mm (3.1 in × 3.6 in) and displaced 1,758 cc (107.3 cu in). With a 6.2:1 compression ratio and a single Zenith 36 VIF carburettor it produced 40 PS (29 kW; 39 hp). Top speed was 100 and 98 km/h (62 and 61 mph) respectively for the 518 C and 518 L saloons.^[1] The Ardita 2000's type 118 A was obtained from the smaller engine by enlarging its bore to 82 mm (3.2 in) (bore and stroke 82×92 mm), displacing 1,944 cc (118.6 cu in). With unchanged compression ratio and carburettor it produced 45 PS (33 kW; 44 hp) at 3,600 rpm. Top speed was about 105 km/h (65 mph).^[2]

Model	Engine	Displacement	Power	Fuel system
1750	Inline-four sidevalve	1,758 cc	40 PS (29 kW; 39 hp)	single carburettor
2000		1,944 cc	45 PS (33 kW; 44 hp)at 3,600 rpm	single carburettor
2000 Sport		1,944 cc	54 PS (40 kW; 53 hp)at 3,800 rpm	single carburettor

1933 Fiat 518 L saloon, standard (top) and Coloniale (bottom)

Ardita Coloniale

The Ardita Coloniale was a variant of the Ardita 2000 for use in the Italian colonies or by the military. In order to negotiate rougher terrains it had larger wheels and tyres and a shorter final drive ratio, leading to a reduced top speed of 85 km/h (53 mph). The Coloniale was produced both with short and long wheelbase, as well as with both saloon and torpedo bodies.^[2]

Ardita Sport

The Fiat Ardita Sport was a more powerful variant of the Ardita 2000 using the short-wheelbase (2.7 m) chassis. It was offered from the factory solely as a 4-door, 4-window pillarless sports saloon, with four seats and an external luggage compartment integrated in the body. It was fitted as standard with wire wheels, and the spare wheel was carried at the rear. The Ardita Sport's type 118 AS 1,944 cc engine produced 54 PS (40 kW; 53 hp) at 3,800 rpm, and pushed the car to a top speed of 115 km/h (71 mph).^[2]

Production outside Italy

Simca-Fiat

About 2,200 were built as Simca-Fiat 11 CVs in France, all fitted with the 1,944 cc engine of 45 PS (33 kW; 44 hp).^[3]

In Poland

A Polish version, the Polski Fiat 518 Mazur was produced between 1937 and 1939 by PZInż in Warszawa under Fiat license. The car has 4 doors and 7 or 5 seats. It used the two-litre Fiat 118 engine (PZInż 157) (45 hp (33 kW) at 3,600 rpm, compression rate of 6,1:1) and a four-speed gearbox. The car weighs 1,070 kg (2,359 lb) and has top speed of 100 to 110 km/h (62 to 68 mph) and has fuel consumption of 11.5 L/100 km (25 mpg_‑imp; 20.5 mpg_‑US). The 518-derived PZInż 302 was used as artillery tractor by the Polish military.

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References

Notes

1 2 Fiat—Tutti i modelli del Novecento, p. 210–211.
1 2 3 Fiat—Tutti i modelli del Novecento, p. 212–215.
↑ Rousseau, Jacques; Caron, Jean-Paul (1988). "341". Guide de l'Automobile Française (in French). Paris: Solar. ISBN 2-263-01105-6.

Bibliography

Fiat—Tutti i modelli del Novecento. I. Editoriale Domus. 2010.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
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[FOOTNOTEFiat—Tutti_i_modelli_del_Novecento210–211-1] 1 2 Fiat—Tutti i modelli del Novecento, p. 210–211.

[FOOTNOTEFiat—Tutti_i_modelli_del_Novecento212–215-2] 1 2 3 Fiat—Tutti i modelli del Novecento, p. 212–215.

[Rousseau-3] Rousseau, Jacques; Caron, Jean-Paul (1988). "341". Guide de l'Automobile Française (in French). Paris: Solar. ISBN 2-263-01105-6.

v t e Fiat car timeline, 1899–1939 — next »
Type	1899	1900s										1910s										1920s										1930s
Type	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
City car	3,5 HP																																					500 "Topolino"
Small family car		6 HP 8 HP 10 HP																									509 / 509 S							508 "Balilla"					508 C / 1100
Family car										1				1A / Zero				70			501 / 501 S / 502 / 503										514 / 515						1500
Large family car							Brevetti 10-12 HP					2		2B							505							507					518
Large family car			12 HP / 16-20 HP / 16-24 HP							Brevetti tipo 2 (15-25 HP)																		520 / 521					522 / 524			527
Executive car										20-30 HP		3		3A / 3Ter								510						512		525 / 525 S
Executive car					24-32 HP / 60 HP				28-40 HP / 30-45 HP / 50 HP			4 / 5 / 6												520 "Superfiat"		519 / 519 S														2800