Showing up virtually unannounced on the local racing scene, the South African-built 131 Racing 2000 homologation special cause a massive stir in the Group 1 series for locally-built cars in as close-to-showroom specification as possible.
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When the Fiat 131 2000 Racing arrived in 1978, with virtually nothing in the way of a racetrack pedigree, one expected this seemingly innocuous-looking two-door sedan to make an impact on the local motorsport scene. Even the driver line-up was fairly low-key. Tony Viana had yet to make his mark in a major way in local motorsport, although he had shown some form in cars like the Viva GT and Chevrolet Firenza before winning in a Mazda RX2. Cape Town’s Brian von Hage had long been rated as a very talented saloon car driver, but it was their nominated driver from Bloemfontein who had hard-core enthusiasts scratching their heads.
Pop Diedericks was an oval circuit stock car driver who competed in the likes of a V8-engined Volkswagen Beetle, with just one season of long-circuit track racing behind him in a lower-order Fiat 128 1300. However, Fiat honoured its season commitment to award a drive in the top Group 1 class to their most successful 128 drivers. So in the top Group 1 class, Pop found himself measured against not only the much more experienced Viana, but also huge Johannesburg names in racing, such as Dave Charlton and Willie Hepburn, who would be campaigning the hitherto unbeatable Mazda RX2 coupes, alongside the experienced Ralph Lange and Rick Davis.
As the 1978 season unfolded, it seemed that young Diedericks the stock car driver had literally popped up out of the woodwork to turn Group 1 on its head. In virtually every race the out-the-box Fiats vanquished up to a dozen raucous Mazda rotary-engined machines, and more often than not it was Diedericks who led Viana and the rest of the field home.
Soon the racing fraternity, led by the vanquished Mazda rotary brigade, was up in arms. It transpired that the Fiat was racing in ’78 under dispensation granted by the local authorities whereby 100 road-going sales were required for homologation to race their car when only a handful had been assembled for sale, and very few had found their way into the hands of private customers.
As the man from Bloemfontein went on to score a runaway win in the Class V segment of the 1978 championship, the news filtered through that no more Fiat 2000 Racings were to be built. Which was a minor tragedy for Fiat, as it had garnered huge publicity for their 131 sedan, and provided huge crowds at Kyalami, Welkom, and other tracks with one of the biggest talking points in motor racing at the time.
There was already a massive demand for the special Fiat amongst road-going enthusiasts, and more so after CAR Magazine proclaimed the 2000 Racing in its January 1979 edition, to be “one of the most potent road cars this country had ever seen.” How had this debacle come about?
“The truth of the matter is, the ship that was bringing all the special Abarth parts for us to convert the standard 131 two-doors to 2000 Racing specs sank off the coast of Kenya, “says Luigi Fincati who was Fiat’s motorsport manager at that time. “We lost 200 component kits consisting of the special Weber IDF carburettors, camshafts, pistons and limited slip diffs, and so sadly, our 131 Racing project was out. Fiat took the decision on to instead concentrate on the Manufacturer’s Challenge for highly modified racing saloons, in 1979.”
Just 16 of the very special Fiat 131 2000 Racings had been built for sale purposes (a small number were also built for racing and rallies), and today some 12 examples are known to have survived. One of them is an immaculate yellow machine owned by arch Fiat fan Gary Berndt, and two pristine white cars are owned by father-and-son Gauteng Fiat collectors, Neville and Willem Pretorius. Fiat 131 2000 Racings were only available in white, red and yellow.
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Luigi Fincati had garnered valuable motorsport experience by the mid-1970s, working in Alfa Romeo South Africa’s racing team before moving to the Fiat stable, and he compiled a very shrewd shopping basket of parts for Fiat’s maiden Group 1 racing foray. As the rules allowed no modification of the engine and driveline components, Fincati visited Abarth in Italy to hand-pick components that were available in reasonable supply. Abarth at that time was enjoying prestige as the builder of the 131-based Fiat Abarth, which had won the 1977 World Rally Championship and would go on to win 20 WRC events up until 1980. Abarth had also been required to build a total of 400 Fiat Abarths for WRC homologation, so there was good stock of specialised spare parts in Italy.
Until this point, the 131 was only available for sale in South Africa with a 1.6-litre engine but Fincati opted to install the 2.0-litre unit used in the newly released 132 model. He specified high compression pistons (10.2:1), hot camshafts, a banana branch exhaust manifold, and special inlet manifolding to accept a pair of Weber dual-choke, down-draught 40 IDF carburettors. A special Abarth-developed air intake system was also employed, as well as a limited-slip differential.
The fitment of stiffer dampers and coil springs lowered the ride height by a 30 mm. Special 6J Abarth alloy wheels were used with 185/70 SR 13 tyres, and the bonnet was glass-fibre with a menacing scoop, and painted black. The boot lid was also painted black. Inside the car had bright cloth upholstery and an Abarth steering wheel. It cost R6 388, while the standard 1600 131 two-door cost R4 898.
Power outputs for the road-going 131 Racing raised a lot of eyebrows, with 96 kW being claimed in an era when a twin-cam two-litre Alfa Romeo engine was rated at 88 kW. Journalists who were lucky enough to get a 131 Racing for test backed these claims up. CAR’s test figures reported a top speed of 186.5 km/h and a 0-100 km/h time of 8.50 seconds. It should be noted that all of Car’s figures at this time were conservative. For instance, the Ford Escort RS2000 was tested with a 169 km/h top speed, and a 0-100 km/h time of 11.70 seconds.
The rules for Group 1 required a standard engine spec, but all the top teams in those days knew how to wring much more power out of standard engines by careful tuning and preparation of both internal and ancillary engine components. Rev limiters weren’t an issue in that pre-digital age. Diedericks says he regularly used 8 500 r/min as a rev limit in races, while CAR had only used 6 500 r/min on its acceleration tests of their road test car in the Cape.
“I remember being officially clocked at well over 220 km/h on the old long Kyalami straight, that’s how fast that car was,” says Diedericks today. “It pulled 8 500 r/min in fifth gear!”
After the bottom fell out of the 131 Racing’s competition effort, Diedericks did a few events for Alfa Romeo in 1979, before returning to the oval tracks in Bloemfontein, where he continued to win plenty of races. He had started his oval track career as an 11-year-old and was one of the mega-stars of the Free State oval racing scene. As for his Group 1 championship-winning Fiat, the famous V25, he removed all the numbers and stickers, and after being gifted the car by Fiat, used it as his road car for the next 15 years!
The ultra-rare 131 was then retired to the Bloemfontein motor workshop run by Diedericks and his son Gabriel, until it was restored to immaculate condition and run at the 2024 Simola Hillclimb in Knysna in May. This was the first time the general public had an informed opportunity to see this famous Fiat run since the 1978 season.
Glancing at the odometer on Diedericks’ car – Group 1 cars were still required to race with a full set of interior trim in those days – the recorded distance was just 77 187 km, 46 years after South Africa’s most famous racing Fiat last strutted its stuff.
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For the 2024 Hillclimb, Diedericks’ son Gabriel did the driving honours and on his first practice run he recorded quicker times than other modified 131s that had been running at the hill climb for a number of years. And he ended up third in his class despite fuel supply problems preventing the Fiat from reaching its “normal” 8 500 r/min rev limit.
So the legend lives on. No doubt the Diedericks clan from Bloemfontein and their gorgeous Fiat will be back again in Knysna next year. And rumour has it that Diedericks, now in his ‘70s, may well take the wheel himself in 2025!
Find the full feature in the October 2024 issue of CAR Magazine.
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The post Fiat’s Hidden Giant-Killer – The 131 appeared first on CAR Magazine.
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