Otto vu Fiat 8V... does anybody have info? | FerrariChat
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Otto vu Fiat 8V... does anybody have info?

Discussion in 'Other Italian' started by nthfinity, Apr 20, 2006.

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  1. nthfinity

    nthfinity F1 Veteran

    Mar 21, 2005
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    Isaac not Issac
    #1 nthfinity, Apr 20, 2006
    i'm honestly not even sure if i spelled it right... but it was a 56 in particular...

    years ago, my dad had it; Nardi steering wheel, great condition body/frame; but with a buick engine. it was a racing model.... as i understand it, this car is extremely rare... and just about priceless these days.

    unfortunately; my grandmother made him get rid of it nearly 40 years ago... i'm just curious if anybody knows anything about this car.

    thanks :)
     
  2. Miltonian

    Miltonian F1 Veteran

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    #2 Miltonian, Apr 21, 2006
    A total of 114 Fiat Otto Vu's (8V) were made. Are you sure the car wasn't a Siata?

    Are you looking for information on your dad's car in particular, or the 8V in general? Your dad's name?
     
  3. nthfinity

    nthfinity F1 Veteran

    Mar 21, 2005
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    #3 nthfinity, Apr 21, 2006
    being the mighty interweb; i'll keep his name... he owned it when he was 15 or so...

    he is 100% sure it was an Otto Vu...
    the car may not exist anymore... sometime, we'll look for the title for it... that may still be worth something; if at least for historical reasons.

    im looking for just general information... what races it was entered in, perhaps won; how many were imported to USA... etc.

    thanks :)
     
  4. Miltonian

    Miltonian F1 Veteran

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    #4 Miltonian, Apr 21, 2006
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Details, lad, we need details! There are so many variations. Of the 114 Fiat Otto Vu's, there could be 15 or 20 different body styles. Coupe? Spider? Any possibility of an old picture?

    There were about 60 Siatas (208, 200, and 400 series) that were built with Fiat Otto Vu mechanicals, to further muddy the picture. It was not unusual for the cars to have American engines installed at some point.

    Could it have looked like this?

    I'm sure dretceterini will chime in with some useful information, he knows far more than I do.
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  5. nthfinity

    nthfinity F1 Veteran

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    #5 nthfinity, Apr 21, 2006
    it was definately a coupe, and looked much like the photo you uploaded.

    its kinda a sad story; as far as the history on my dads' old car... since it didn't run; eventually, my grandmother had my dad junk it.

    i believe it was a dark red... there might be a photo of it somewhere... but it would be at my grandmothers house. it was bought for less then $100 at a gas station corner... in Grosse Pointe, MI. sometime around 1968-69

    i know my dads had a roll cage installed; and the buick motor was crap in it (was taken out if i recall right)

    i might know more after this weekend.

    i guess what i was asking for is a book LOL; sorry.

    general information will do just fine.
     
  6. classic308

    classic308 F1 Veteran

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    #6 classic308, Apr 21, 2006
    If memory serves me right Motor Trend did an article on the car in the 80s.

    Fiat called it the otto vu because they believed that Ford had trademarked "V-8".....
     
  7. Miltonian

    Miltonian F1 Veteran

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    #7 Miltonian, Apr 21, 2006
  8. anton

    anton Karting

    May 8, 2004
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    #8 anton, Apr 21, 2006
    The car referred to as being Buick powered is probably Siata chassis #CS061 which came out of Minnesota about 6-7 years ago and was sold to Holland.
    The aluminium Buick Special engine had been cleanly installed and the original 2 litre Fiat V8 motor was still with the car. It since has changed hands again, I believe, and is being restored somewhere in Yurp.
    These Fiat and Siata 8V cars are my speciality. The Motor Trend article referred to was actually about a one-off Siata coupe which was built for Ernie McAffee to use in the Carrera Panamericana but was finished too late for the last one('54). It was on a Siata spider chassis, not the usual coupe chassis as the car pictured above.
    The Motor Trend article implies that the car in the article was the car used by McAffee in the '53 Carrera but this is not the case.
    Anton
     
  9. nthfinity

    nthfinity F1 Veteran

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    #9 nthfinity, Apr 21, 2006
    it may be the car... do you know if that one was titled? to my knowlege, my dad still has the original title; and said the buick engine was utter crap...
     
  10. nthfinity

    nthfinity F1 Veteran

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    #10 nthfinity, Apr 21, 2006
    I purchased a 1953 Otto Vu Fiat in 1969 or 1970 for 200.00 USD. It had been used for racing and had a cobbled chain drive offset to the steering column due to an oversized V6 Chevy Engine. At 15 I kept working on the body that only had blemishes in the paint that seamed 1/2 inch thick and lead filled (probably poisend me). It was hauled away as junk when my mom wanted to clean the garage out and that car was the junk. It is my understanding that the lower control arm in-tact is now worth more than her house!

    I hope to find the title but maybe never the car. I hear also that someone is trying to build a list of the 104 vehicles made over a 4 year period for the Fiat museum. This was in Grosse Pointe Michigan.

    If anyone might know more about this car I am interested. Its speedometer went to 250 km and had a Nardi steering wheel and at one time a very nice interior for a race car.
     
  11. dretceterini

    dretceterini F1 Veteran

    Apr 28, 2004
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    #11 dretceterini, Apr 24, 2006
    Tony Adriaensens did a book about a year ago, covering all the Fiat 8Vs and Siatas using that motor. It is expensive, at around $600. Anton, who posted above, is the US expert on these cars, having worked on quite a few of them.
     

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