Fiat · 1937–1953

Fiat 1100

The Fiat 1100 is a small family car produced from 1937 to 1953 by the Italian car manufacturer Fiat. It was introduced in 1937 as Fiat 508 C or Balilla 1100, as a replacement for the Fiat 508 Balilla. Under the new body the 508 C had more modern and refined mechanicals compared to the 508, including independent front suspension and an enlarged overhead valve engine. In 1939 it was updated and renamed simply Fiat 1100. The 1100 was produced in three consecutive series—1100, 1100 B and 1100 E—until 1953, when it was replaced by the all-new, unibody Fiat 1100/103.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Predecessor: Fiat 508 · Successor: Fiat 1100

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History

=== Fiat 508 C === The Fiat 508 C was first introduced in 1937. It was powered by a 1,089 cc four-cylinder overhead-valve engine rather than the earlier Balilla's 1-litre unit. Power was up by a third, to 32 PS (24 kW) at 4,000 rpm. Drive was to the rear wheels through a 4-speed gearbox, and for the period, its comfort, handling, and performance were prodigious, making it "the only people's car that was also a driver's car". Unusual for a modestly priced car of the time was the independent front suspension, while the rear had a leaf sprung live axle. According to the manufacturer top speed was 110 km/h (68 mph). Exterior styling recalled the 1935 Fiat 1500 and the 1936 Fiat 500 "Topolino", with the typical mid-thirties, heart-shaped front grille. The main body style for the Fiat 508 C was a 4-door pillarless saloon with 4 side windows (two windows on each side without the rear quarter window), and suicide doors at the rear. Other body styles listed by Fiat were a 4-door convertible saloon (saloon with folding roof, based on the standard 4-door model), a 4-door torpedo, a 2-door 4-seat cabriolet, and, for a brief period, a sporty, 2-door 2-seat spider built by Carrozzeria Viotti. In 1938 Fiat put on sale a long-wheelbase six-passenger variant, named 508 L. Besides the 280 mm (11.0 in) extended wheelbase (at 2,700 mm or 106.3 in), other differences from the 508 C were wider wheels and tyres (5.50–15 instead of 5.00–15 tyres) and a shorter final drive ratio, which reduced top speed to 95 km/h (59 mph). The 508 L was sold as a 4-door, 6-window saloon, pillarless and with rear-hinged aft doors like the 508 C, able to carry six passenger thanks to two foldaway seats. Additionally there was a 4-door, 6-window taxi (Tassì) version, which differed in possessing a B-pillar—to wh

Derivatives

Fiat's French partner Simca also manufactured the 1100 from 1937 until 1951, as the Simca 8. Beginning in 1949, Simca also used a 1,221 cc derivative of the Fiat tipo 102C engine, a variant not used in Italy until the 1957 Fiat 1200 Granluce. 508 C Mille Miglia. The Fiat 508 C Mille Miglia was a 2-door, 2-seat berlinetta sports car based on the 508 C chassis and engine, produced in 1938 and 1939. At the 1938 Mille Miglia race the debuting 508 C MM won its class, recording an average speed of 112 km/h (70 mph) and placing 16th overall. The novel coupé body had a peculiar but highly aerodynamic shape, characterised by a flat, elongated roofline, an abruptly cut off tail, and some very modern traits like an uninterrupted fender line and smooth sides—a first on a Fiat. As the Mille Miglia model was developed mainly to help promote the new 508 C by competing in motor racing, the chassis had to be carried over from the saloon and couldn't be lowered or altered to reduce the frontal area. Therefore, in order to up the car's top speed Fiat's Ufficio tecnico vetture (motor car engineering and design department, headed by Dante Giacosa) had to optimise the body shape to lower its drag coefficient—even at the cost of sacrificing interior room and rear visibility. According to Giacosa inspiration for the sports coupé's body came from observing that during test runs a prototype 500 Topolino-based van could reach a higher top speed than the saloon it was based on. The shape of the body was then perfected using a number of 1:5 scale models and the wind tunnel of the Politecnico di Torino university. The 1,089 cc engine had a larger Zenith 32 VIMB carburettor, a 7:1 compression ratio and other improvements; now coded 108 C M.M., it produced 42 PS (31 kW) at 4,400 rpm—up from 32 PS of

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name: Fiat 1100
Manufacturer: Fiat
aka: Fiat 508 C, "Balilla 1100"
Production: 1937–1953
Class: Small family car (C)
Layout: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Body style: 4-door 4-window saloon, 4-door 4-window convertible saloon, 4-door 6-window LWB saloon, 4-door torpedo, 2-door cabriolet, 2-door spider, 2-door berlinetta (Mille Miglia), 2-door pickup truck, 2-door van
Related: Simca 8
Engine: 1,089 cc I4
Transmission: 4-speed manual
Wheelbase: Standard: 2420 mm, Long: 2700 mm
Predecessor: Fiat 508 Balilla
Successor: Fiat 1100/103
sp: uk

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q22101820CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_1100_(1937)CC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1354072825 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fiat508C_1936r.jpgCC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo: Ligabo · retrieved 2026-10-01
Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.