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21-500: The Fiat Barchetta ( Italian pronunciation: [ˈfiːat barˈketta] ; Type 183) is a roadster produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1995 to 2005. Barchetta in Italian means "little boat ", and also denotes a type of open-top sports car body style. The Barchetta was developed between 1990 and 1994 under the project name Tipo B Spider 176 . It was designed by Andreas Zapatinas and Alessandro Cavazza, under

42-478: A "roadster" is that a team was preparing a new car for the Indianapolis 500. They had it covered in a corner of their shop. If they were asked about their car they would try and obscure its importance by saying that it was just their (hot rod) "roadster". After the Indianapolis racer was made public, the "roadster" name was still attached to it. Frank Kurtis built the first roadster to race and entered it in

63-739: A one-off roadster show car for Fiat called the Barchetta in March 2007, at the Geneva Motor Show . Designed by David Wilkie. Roadster (automobile) The roadster was also a style of racing car driven in United States Auto Club (USAC) Championship Racing, including the Indianapolis 500 , in the 1950s and 1960s. This type of racing car was superseded by rear-mid-engine cars. The term "roadster" originates in

84-422: A top speed of 200 km/h (124 mph). It came in various trim levels which offered different features, for example, diamond cross stitch, patterned red leather instead of the standard black leather or fabric seats, alloy wheels instead of steel wheels, or fog-lights as an option. Arguably one of the biggest external cosmetic changes was made by the addition of the third brake light, first introduced by Fiat on

105-463: Is now standard on U.S. models. Like its predecessor, the chassis consists of a standard ladder frame design and is built from galvanised steel with five tubular or box section cross members. The body is built of steel and aluminum around an ash frame. Suspension is traditional Morgan slider type up-front and solid axle / leaf spring at the rear. Unlike its predecessor, the Roadster was available as

126-479: The 1952 Indianapolis 500 . It was driven by Bill Vukovich who led for most of the race until a steering failure eliminated him. The Howard Keck owned team with Vukovich driving went on to win the 1953 and 1954 contests with the same car. Bob Sweikert won the 1955 500 in a Kurtis after Vukovich was killed while leading. A. J. Watson , George Salih and Quinn Epperly were other notable roadster constructors. Watson-built roadsters won in 1956 , 1959 – 1964 though

147-428: The 1961 and 1963 winners were actually close copies built from Watson designs. The 1957 and 1958 winner was the same car built by Salih with help by Epperly built with a unique placement of the engine in a 'lay down' mounting so the cylinders were nearly horizontal instead of vertical as traditional design dictated. This gave a slightly lower center of mass and a lower profile. Roadsters continued to race until

168-637: The Ford Model T and the Austin 7 to extremely expensive cars like the Cadillac V-16 , the Duesenberg Model J and Bugatti Royale . By the 1970s "roadster" could be applied to any two-seater car of sporting appearance or character. In response to market demand they were manufactured as well-equipped as convertibles with side windows that retracted into the doors. Popular models through

189-583: The Monza Spyder , a turbocharged version of its Corvair compact, available as a convertible or coupe. Although not a true 2 passenger vehicle, it featured upgraded suspension and other equipment to classify it as a "sporty car." Auto racing began with the first earnest contests in 1894 in Europe , and in 1895 in the United States . Some of the earliest race cars were purpose-built or stripped for

210-551: The Morgan Roadster would not be technically considered a roadster. The term "spider" or "spyder," sometimes used in names for convertible models, is said to come from before the automobile era. Some 19th-century lightweight horse-drawn phaetons had a small body and large wooden wheels with thin spokes; they were nicknamed "spiders" because of their appearance; the nickname was transferred to sports cars, although they did not look similar. In 1962, Chevrolet introduced

231-542: The 1960s and 1970s were the Alfa Romeo Spider , MGB and Triumph TR4 . The highest selling roadster is the Mazda MX-5 , which was introduced in 1989. The early style of roadster with minimal weather protection is still in production by several low-volume manufacturers and fabricators, including the windowless Morgan Roadster , the doorless Caterham 7 and the bodyless Ariel Atom . The term roadster

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252-677: The Lido and Riviera in 2000, and across the board thereafter. The Barchetta was revised in August 2003 ahead of its relaunch the following year, with some alterations inside and out. The most notable changes were the revised front spoiler and rear bumper. Engine revision decreased torque to 158 N⋅m (117 lb⋅ft). Production of the car eventually stopped in June 2005. Car bodies were welded at ILCAS in Sparone Canavese , and final assembly

273-492: The United States, where it was used in the 19th century to describe a horse suitable for travelling. By the end of the century, the definition had expanded to include bicycles and tricycles. In 1916, the United States Society of Automobile Engineers defined a roadster as: "an open car seating two or three. It may have additional seats on running boards or in rear deck." Since it has a single row of seats,

294-654: The early 1970s but never were dominant. Morgan Roadster The Morgan Roadster is a model produced by the Morgan Motor Company . It was introduced in 2004 replacing the Morgan Plus 8 . The car is identical to its predecessor except for new modern Ford V6 mechanicals. The new engine develops similar power, though less torque, and is slightly lighter than the Rover V8 which results in increased performance and better fuel economy. Air conditioning

315-548: The first track day cars . The immediate predecessor to the roadster was the runabout , a body style with a single row of seats and no doors, windshield, or other weather protection. Another predecessor was the touring car , similar in body style to the modern roadster except for its multiple rows of seats. By the 1920s roadsters were appointed similarly to touring cars, with doors, windshields, simple folding tops, and side curtains. Roadster bodies were offered on automobiles of all sizes and classes, from mass-produced cars like

336-518: The greatest speed, with minimal or no bodywork at all, leading to a body style aptly named 'speedster'. The cut-down speedster body-style really took form in the 1900s. After removing most of the body (and fenders), an empty platform on the ladder-frame chassis was mounted with one or two seats, a gas tank, and spare tyres. American manufacturers Mercer and Stutz started offering ready-made racing speedsters, intentionally built to be driven to race(-track), raced, and driven back by their owner – essentially

357-500: The late 1960s, although they became increasingly uncompetitive against the new rear-engined racing cars. The last roadster to complete the full race distance was in 1965 , when Gordon Johncock finished fifth in the Wienberger Homes Watson car. The last roadster to make the race was built and driven by Jim Hurtubise in the 1968 race and dropped out early. Some pavement midget roadsters were built and raced into

378-486: The main seat for the driver and passenger was usually further back in the chassis than it would have been in a touring car . Roadsters usually had a hooded dashboard . In the United Kingdom, historically, the preferred terms were "open two-seater" and "two-seat tourer". Since the 1950s, the term "roadster" has also been increasingly used in the United Kingdom. It is noted that the optional 4-seat variant of

399-922: The supervision of Peter Barrett Davis and other car designers at the Centro Stile Fiat, and prototyping was carried out by Stola . Production began in February 1995 and lasted until June 2005, with a brief pause, due to the bankruptcy of coachbuilder Maggiora . The Barchetta was based on the chassis of the Mark 1 Fiat Punto , but with shortened wheelbase. The Barchetta has a 1,747 cc DOHC , petrol four-cylinder engine fitted with variable valve timing . The engine has 131 PS (96 kW; 129 hp) at 6,300 rpm and 164 N⋅m (121 lb⋅ft) of torque at 4,300 rpm. The Barchetta weighs 1056 kg (2328 lb) without air conditioning and can accelerate to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 8.9 seconds and has

420-621: Was done in Chivasso by the coachbuilder Maggiora . After Maggiora's bankruptcy in May 2002, Fiat relocated production of the Barchetta to its Mirafiori plant and resumed production two years later. Around 57,700 cars were built up to 2005. Production of the Barchetta was limited to LHD cars only, even though the car was marketed and sold in two RHD markets, the United Kingdom and Japan . The Italian styling house of Bertone created

441-547: Was used to describe a style of racing cars competing in the AAA/USAC Championship Cars series (the IndyCar equivalents of the time) from 1952 to 1969. The roadster engine and drive shaft are offset from the centerline of the car. This allows the driver to sit lower in the chassis and facilitates a weight offset which is beneficial on oval tracks. One story of why this type of racing car is referred to as

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