The Fiat 615 was a light truck manufactured from 1951 to 1953 as the successor to the Fiat 1100ELR, with which it was still built in parallel. It had a total weight of 3,100 kg and was available with stake or van bodywork or as a chassis cab. It was Fiat’s first bonneted truck of this size since the Fiat 618 of the 1930s.
Fiat 615 at a glance
| Production | 1951–1953 |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Fiat 1100 ELR |
| Payload | 1.55 tonnes |
| Gross weight | 3,100 kg |
| Body | stake truck, panel van, chassis cab |
| Engine | 1,395 cc petrol, 39 hp at 3,800 rpm |
| Diesel | 1.9-litre type 305, as the 615 N |
| Transmission | four-speed manual |
| Chassis | ladder frame |
| Licence production | Zastava, Yugoslavia |
| Facelift | Fiat 616 from 1965 |
History of the Fiat 615
Why the 615 existed
After the Second World War Fiat Veicoli Industriali set out to replace its range of 1100 L, AL, ALR, BLR and ELR commercial vehicles, the first of which had been launched in 1938. Italy had to be rebuilt and light and heavy trucks were indispensable; small craft businesses were growing and wanted something with more load capacity than a three-wheeler with a trailer. The updated 500 Topolino C and the 1100 ELR of 1948 covered the small end, but the ELR was limited to a 990 kg payload, and there was nothing between it and Fiat’s four-tonne medium trucks. The gap was filled in 1951 by the 615, a new light truck with a payload of 1.55 tonnes, offered as a flatbed truck and a panel van.
Mechanical layout
The 615 used a ladder frame chassis with a contemporary cab, and most of its components, including the 1,395 cc engine of 29 kW (39 hp) at 3,800 rpm and a four-speed manual gearbox, came from the Fiat 1400 and 1900.
The diesel: 615 N
Fiat developed a suitable diesel for the truck: a swirl-chamber engine on the Ricardo system based on the 1.9-litre unit of the Fiat 1900 and the Campagnola, itself a bored-out version of the 1400 engine. The new diesel, type 305, was later offered in the 1400 saloon from 1952 and in the 615 N, where N stood for nafta, diesel. A 1.9-litre petrol version was tried and proved stronger with faster acceleration, but Fiat confined itself to the diesel. Only Steyr in Austria offered the 615 with petrol power until 1958, as the Steyr 260 with its own 50 hp 2-litre engine from the Steyr 2000. The 615 N was a very modern vehicle and initially had no competition in Italy; exports went well at first, but half-hearted development left it, and especially its successor, increasingly rare even at home.
Zastava and other versions
In Yugoslavia, Zastava built the 615 under licence with a petrol engine, not the 1.4-litre four of the original but the torquier 1.9-litre type 105 of 47 hp at 3,500 rpm used in the Campagnola that Zastava also assembled. It is unclear whether the successor, the 615 N1 from about 1963, was built only with the 1.9-litre petrol engine. Zastava also made special bodies, among them the 620B crew cab.
The 616
In 1965 the truck was facelifted and renamed the Fiat 616, with a new front end but the same cab and chassis. A 2,693 cc four-cylinder diesel of 51 hp joined the range as the 616 N1, renamed 616 N2/3 in 1966 with a 2,339 cc three-cylinder direct-injection diesel of the same output that suffered from vibration. A new cab and a 3,119 cc diesel of 70 hp followed in 1968, and production continued until 1978, when the truck was replaced by the Iveco Daily.
Design and features
- Right-sized payload: 1.55 tonnes, between the 1100 ELR van and Fiat’s four-tonne trucks.
- Car-derived engine: the 1,395 cc unit of the Fiat 1400, with a four-speed gearbox.
- Ladder frame: a separate chassis for flatbed, van and chassis-cab bodies.
- Ricardo diesel: the 1.9-litre type 305 swirl-chamber engine of the 615 N.
- Licence production: built by Zastava with a 1.9-litre petrol engine.
Fiat 615 versions
- 615: petrol truck with the 1,395 cc engine of 39 hp.
- 615 N: diesel version with the 1.9-litre type 305 engine.
- 615 N1: later development from about 1963.
- Zastava 615: Yugoslav licence version with a 1.9-litre petrol engine of 47 hp.
- Zastava 620B: crew cab body built in Yugoslavia.
The 615 used the engine of the Fiat 1400 and 1900 and shared its diesel with the Fiat Campagnola. Its facelifted successor was the Fiat 616, and more vehicles are in the Fiat collection.
Sources
- Fiat 615, English Wikipedia: payload, engines, diesel development, Zastava production and the 616
