ROAD TEST: Fiat 1100T Light Lorry rr HE old saying, "horses
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for courses ", is to a certain extent true ot vehicles, in that they are often designed specifically to meet the requirements of operators in the country or origin. This is certainly the case with light Continental commercial vehicles, which are usually quite different in character from comparable vehicles of British manufacture.
With the Fiat I IOOT, the pick-up version of which was tested, the most unusual aspect is the small size of engine for the rated load capacity. British vehicles of this type would be unlikely to have engines of 1.22 litres when they are sold to carry 1 ton 2.5 cwt. and quite naturally, when the Fiat was fully laden the performance in top gear was somewhat sluggish. But in the lower gears performance was surprisingly good and the get-away from a standstill was commendable. Whilst the chassis, suspension and brakes seem well able to take care of the rated load, the HOOT is probably operated more usually in Italy with smaller loads—and this is, of course, general with delivery vehicles of its type in. the U.K. too, where part-loads crt fight and bulky loads are common, For this reason the lack of power is not really a point of criticism, but in trying to get an adequate performance with such a small engine, a rear-axle ratio of 6.143 to 1 is employed and the engine has to run fairly fast—maximum net output is 50 b.h.p. produced at 5,200 r.p.m. These circumstances undoubtedly play their part in helping to make the level of noise in the cab appear excessive for a vehicle of this type.
The high level of engine noise was the only point on which the Fiat 1100T could be seriously criticized, at least from the driving point of view. From all aspects the pick-up was a delight to drive. The steering was light and positive, the steering-column gearchange could be described in the same manner, the suspension was excellent and the brakes gave every confidence, giving the feeling of being very efficient yet requiring only light pedal pressure.
All controls were within easy reach from the driving position but, as on the Fiat van I had tested previously, the electrics were somewhat complicated. The main switch for the lights was on the dashboard and a selector lever—head, dip and side—was on the right-hand side of the steering column immediately below the direction-indicator switch, Because of the closeness of the two lever-type switches I
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