Fiat 500 with Subaru engine
See: http://www.zcars.org.uk
This is a Fiat 500 modified by ZCars Ltd to the specification of a customer from Greece. The design brief was to fix his 500 in an interesting way so that it would have more useable power to enable him to drive his family around town in comfort. Whilst he was tempted to have the Suzuki Hayabusa conversion ZCars also produce he decided that he wanted to keep the rear seats. As that is where the 200bhp motorcycle would be installed that option was ruled out!
The engine is an EA81 Subaru engine (1800cc flat 4) which is quite an old engine although still widely used as an aviation engine we are told. This engine was used due to its simplicity, power and torque characteristics and not least its size and shape. This was mated to the original gearbox with clutch and drive shafts up rated. Also up-rated were the brakes with discs all around and the suspension at the front. The transverse leaf spring was removed and adjustable alloy dampers were used with coil springs. A new front subframe was fitted to allow the use of wishbone suspension arms.
Obviously as it is a water cooled engine, radiators were required. This was inserted into the front boot space (trunk) and water pipes run underneath the car. A new stainless steel Exhaust finished the conversion and new wheels and tyres were fitted as an optional extra.
FIAT 500: "Greatest Car Ever", Top Gear feature (BBC2, S02E06, 2003-06-15)
FIAT 500: "Greatest Car Ever", Top Gear feature
(BBC2, S02E06, 2003-06-15)
Stills here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emsef/sets/72157625893737317/
The full list of finalists in the order they were screened:
McLaren F1
Ford Mustang
Black Cab
Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud
Jaguar E-type
Land Rover
Audi Quattro
Fiat 500
Citroen DS
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