The Beast of Turin belches smoke and fire from a 4-cylinder engine the size of an apartment building boiler. Built in 1910 the Fiat S76 successfully stole the land speed record from the Blitzen Benz doing 116 mph in 1911.

The Fiat followed up its success with a posted speed of 132.27 mph in a one-way run, driven by American Arthur Duray at Ostend, Belgium. However, the Fiat was denied a new record as it was unable to complete a return run within the specified one hour.

The FIAT S76, nicknamed “The Beast of Turin”, was a car built in 1911 by FIAT specifically to beat the land speed record held at the time by Blitzen Benz. It has an engine displacement of 28,353 cm3 (1,730.2 in3) producing 290 hp (216.3 kW).

Frankly it looks scary. With no exhaust as such we’re treated to the sight of the aftermath of internal combustion shooting straight out of the exhaust ports while the whole car shakes violently. Bear in mind that in its day the S76 was reputed to be putting out around 300bhp and that all that power was transmitted to the axle by way of chains.

Via Ratak Monodosico.
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That certainly looks like fun!