Fiat 2300

The Fiat 2300 is a six-cylinder executive car which was produced by Italian automotive manufacturer Fiat between 1961 and 1968. The 2300 was made as saloon (styled by Dante Giacosa), estate car and coupé. The 2300 saloon is noteworthy as in 1966 it became the first Fiat model to be available with an automatic transmission.

History

The 2300 was derived from the earlier 2100, essentially a facelift with a larger engine. The engine had a longer stroke as well as a somewhat bigger bore than the 2100, and provided a top speed of 160 km/h in the manual version. At the exterior, the front received twin headlights and featured a bit more chrome than the related, four-cylinder 1800B. A station wagon (Familiare) with a horizontally split tailgate was also available, as was a limousine version called the 2300 Speciale. Intended for representational use, the Speciale had a longer wheelbase and longer rear bodywork, as well as ample equipment and a redesigned front end with a different headlight arrangement and a more minimalist grille with five horizontal bars.[2]

At the 1963 Geneva Motor Show, the Fiat 2300 Lusso was presented.[3]

Derivatives and coachbuilt versions

As Fiat's flagship model, the 2300 was the subject of numerous special bodies by Italy's many coachbuilders. As they had with the 2100, Carrozzeria Francis Lombardi offered a seven-seater representational limousine based on the 2300. Sergio Sartorelli of Ghia designed the 2300 Coupé, of which Ghia also developed convertible and a more spacious, fastback-styled shooting brake derivative called the Club.[7] Three convertibles and two Clubs were built.[8][9] Several other carrozzieri also tried their hand at making a gran turismo out of the 2300, with Giovanni Michelotti being responsible for at least four designs:

Moretti developed the 2500 SS, a 2.5-liter version with in-house bodywork designed by Giovanni Michelotti, available as a coupé or a convertible.[10] The 2500 SS' engine was bored out by three millimetres; the resulting bore and stroke are 81.0x79.5 mm for a displacement of 2458 cc. It was tuned and fitted with twin double carburetors as well and produces 170 hp-metric at 5800 rpm.[11] The buyer could also opt to fit the car with the regular 2300 S engine, in which case the car was called the Moretti 2300 S.[12] The Moretti 2300 was not significantly more expensive than the Ghia-bodied Coupé, but sales remained small.[13] About 20 examples of all varieties of the large Moretti were built, beginning in 1962.

Small coachbuilders Carrozzeria Savio showed a rather formal looking, "transatlantic" coupé with rectangular headlights in 1963, designed by Giovanni Michelotti.[14] Four examples were built, all with more or less significant design differences - one car has scalloped sides, head and taillight treatments differ, etcetera. In March 1964, Boneschi presented a convertible based on the 2300 at a coachbuilder's salon in Turin.[15]

At the 1966 Geneva Motor Show, Michelotti presented his own proposal to replace the Ghia coupé, but this remained a one-off.[16]

Abarth 2400

Since late 1959, Abarth had offered a series of aluminium-bodied 2+2 coupés and convertibles based on the 2100, called the Abarth 2200. When the 2300 appeared, Abarth continued this tradition, although there was no longer a convertible on offer. Stroking the 2200's engine created a square engine with dimensions of 79x79 mm and a displacement of 2323 cc. As with the earlier 2200, it has a four-speed, floor-shifted transmission, while the engine received Abarth's own cylinder head with a higher (9.5:1) compression ratio, triple Weber 38 DCOE carburetors and redesigned manifolds, and the typical, twin-tipped Abarth exhaust system. Claimed power increased to 142 hp-metric at 5800 rpm with torque of 20 kgm at 3,500 rpm; enough for the car to break the 200 km/h barrier. The four-wheel disc brakes were changed to Girling units from the earlier Dunlop ones.[17]

For the Turin Auto Show in November 1961, Abarth had Carrozzeria Ellena and Allemano create two separate designs. The Allemano design (chassis 001) received bodywork clearly derived from their earlier 2200 Coupé, designed by Giovanni Michelotti and executed by Allemano. The original's single-piece vertical taillights were replaced with smaller round lamps mounted in a chrome panel, while the rear of the car and the greenhouse were more squared off than those of the predecessor. Ellena made a new design based on their earlier design applied to a few 2200s, with an oval grille, round wheel wells, no quarter glass, and a wraparound rear windshield. Abarth, however, was displeased with both of the proposed designs and further dismayed at the appearance of the new, Ghia-bodied Fiat 2300 Coupé at the same show. Costing a third less, Fiat's own model (albeit much heavier and with less power) undermined the case for the 2400.

manufacturer	Fiat
production	1961–1968
designer	Saloon: Tom Tjaarda at Pininfarina Coupé: Sergio Sartorelli at Ghia
class	Executive car
layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
body style	4-door saloon 2-door coupé 5-door estate
related	Fiat 1800 and 2100
engine	2.3 L I6 (petrol)
transmission	4 speed manual 3-speed Borg Warner automatic‡R1R‡
wheelbase	2650 mm Speciale: 2730 mm
length	4485 mm Speciale: 4705 mm
width	1620 mm
height	1470 mm Familiare/Speciale: 1485 mm
weight	1285 –
predecessor	Fiat 2100
successor	Fiat 130
sp	uk

History

Specifications

2300 Coupé

Derivatives and coachbuilt versions

Abarth 2400

Further reading

References

Ghia G230S