Today diesel power is retreating very rapidly as governments around the world are busy legislating against this form of propulsion which is now widely regarded as being dirty and particularly harmful to the environment – but 40 years ago the diesel engine was on the rise and when Fiat slapped a diesel into its most important mass production model, the 131 sedan, it decided to test the new combination out in the most grueling fashion, by entering a brace of cars on the now legendary London - Sydney Rally where it swept the board in its class proving not only it’s the engine’s durability but giving the new model the best possible publicity.
The story goes back to the late 1970s when Fiat planned to launch a diesel version of the popular 131 Mirafiori sedan on the market, and decided to test it, before its official presentation, in an incredible endurance race, from London to Sydney.
Having scheduled the presentation of the new diesel version for April 1978 at the Turin Motor Show, Fiat decided to enter three pre-production cars, suitably prepared by Abarth, on the particularly tough intercontinental endurance race in which several other manufacturers were taking part.
The diesel engine, built at the SOFIM plant in Foggia, was a four cylinder unit with displacement of 2.5 litres, capable of delivering 72 horsepower at 4,200 rpm. Its larger size made it necessary to add a bump in the bonnet, which became a distinctive feature of all 131 Diesel cars. The car weighed in at 1,150 kg and had a top speed of 145 km/h.
One of the four cars was used for all the testing procedures, after which the Abarth team entered the other three for the Rally. The preparation work carried out by Abarth was mainly intended to enable the cars to withstand the prolonged stresses and strains they would face during the race.
The front bumper was used to mount the large Cibi Super Oscars as auxiliary headlights, while the windscreen mountings were reinforced, the wheel arches were widened and the wheels were inherited from the 131 Abarth Rally, as were the safety rollbar and the bonnet and boot retainer hooks.
Two cars made it to the finish in Sydney and it was a dual triumph: 15th and 23rd positions overall, but most importantly first and second in the Diesel car category! It all meant that even before its official launch, the 131 Diesel had already built up an impressive reputation for itself.
On 14 August 1977 there were three Fiat 131 Abarth Diesel cars on the starting line in London: No. 6 was driven by the French team of Robert Neyret (a Morocco Rally specialist) and Marianne Hoepfner (a skilled rally and raid driver) while No. 26 had an all-Italian crew comprising of Giancarlo Baghetti (who drove in Formula 1 for Ferrari, Lotus, Brabham, BRM and ATS in the '60s) and Tommaso Carletti (a Fiat engineer who was in charge of the development department).
Finally Fiat 131 Diesel No. 66 saw an all-female team made up of two young Frenchwomen, Evelyne Vanoni and Christine Dacremont. A total of about eighty cars set off from London.
The race, the second edition following on from the first edition which had taken place back in 1968, was this time was organised by Singapore Airlines, which planned the route to pass through all the main airports it served.
The start in London was in Covent Garden, from where the cars headed to the coast for the first ferry, which would take them overnight to Holland. Once on the continent, the route zigzagged from Amsterdam to Frankfurt and then Paris before heading for Milan.
It took eleven hours to cross Yugoslavia, then came Greece, where the teams would be able to rest after four days and four nights of non-stop driving. However, due to the need to make up the delays they had accumulated, only a few teams really did get a rest.
After Athens came the most competitive part as the route took the cars through Thessaloniki, Istanbul and Ankara before heading to Tehran and then crossing 400 km of salt desert to reach Tabas in Iran.
From there it was north-east to Fariman, across the whole of Afghanistan to Herat and Kandahar, then Kabul and over the North-West frontier to Pakistan, followed by Delhi and Bombay.
Onward by way of Bangalore and then by ship to Malaysia. From Penang, two stages in the rubber plantations, via Taiping, Ipoh, and Tanjong Malim to Port Dickson on the coast, then from Muar in southern Malaysia to Labis, Kluang, Jemaluang, Johor Bahru and finally Singapore.
The next part, in Australia, involved more than 13,200 km that was completed in seven days and 16 hours. The race route, mostly on unpaved roads, was more than 30,000 km long and the 30 days planned were extended to 45.
Two of the three 131s reached the finish in Sydney on 27 September and Neyret and Hoephner's car won the diesel powered category, providing excellent publicity for the 131 Diesel, which was launched in Turin just a few months later.
The winning car, which today belongs to the FCA Heritage collection, after a long period in storage came back out into the daylight and was exhibited at Milano AutoClassica last year ago to mark the 40th anniversary of this historic feat. This unique car is still conserved in the conditions in which it returned from its gruelling experience and is the best possible proof of this model's proverbial solidity.
Photos: FCA Heritage
