The Fiat 60 HP is a car from Fiat, built from 1904 to 1906, when a car was a rich man's adventure and every maker was a workshop. Under the bonnet: 10,563 cc I4. The total made was 86.
Where it came from
The Fiat 60 HP is an automobile produced by Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1904 to 1906. It competed in races such as the Paris–Madrid race of 1903, (driven by Vincenzo Lancia and Luigi Storero) and the Circuit des Ardennes, along with other races and hill climbs. The 60 HP was the first car to feature Fiat's all new pressed steel chassis. At the top of the range was Turin’s answer to the Mercedes Sixty, a 10.6 litre four cylinder monster - Motoring historian Michael Sedgwick referring to the Fiat 60 HP in his book FIAT. Many of these cars went off to rich export markets, including the USA.
They were popular among wealthy socialites of the time. Featuring a honeycomb radiator (under licence by Mercedes) these cars were at the forefront of technology – many period articles praised its advanced oiling system. Designed to a high standard in every detail, it was welcomed by American coachbuilders such as Quimby and Demarest. To facilitate their work, this car was offered with 2 different wheelbases, normal and long. It was originally equipped with a 4-cylinder engine block 60 h.p which was later replaced with a bi-tri-6-cylinder engine block 50/60 h.p and was manufactured at the plant in Corso Dante.
Under the skin
Power comes from 10,563 cc I4; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 1750 kg. It shifts through a 4-speed manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Fiat 24-32 HP; its successor was the Fiat 16-20 HP. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Rolls-Royce 10 hp, the Packard Model 30, the Rolls-Royce V-8 — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Fiat catalogue sit the FIAT 702 and the Fiat 1.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Fiat 60 HP has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.