This new model from Michael Stegmann of the Fiat Mephistopheles, a land speed record car from 1923. The basis of his model was constructed on a computer in 3D CAD and printed in 3D using a 3D printing process. The prints were supplemented with brass etched parts and real wood. The wheels are from a Masterpiece Austro Daimler 6/17 model. There are a total of 87 parts in the completed model.

On 12th of July 1923, the prototype car driven by the Englishman Ernest Eldridge, achieved the official land speed record for the flying kilometer @ 234.98 km/h. It was the last record drive on a public country road.

The car was originally based on a Fiat SB4 from 1908 that was bought in 1922 by Eldridge. Eldridge replaced the broken engine with a Fiat aircraft engine from an airplane of the First World War. This 520 kg heavy engine had 6 cylinders with a total of 21.706 liters and 320 hp. Above a certain engine speed, he had to have the mechanic pumped oxygen in the four carburetors.

The nickname Mefistofeles (a demon featured in German folklore) was bestowed on the car by the audience of the record run because the engine of the black-painted car emitted enormous noise and smoke.

In the seventies, the Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli bought the car for the factory collection. In Italy, the car was painted red and got the black lettering Mefistofeles.

Check the details of the prototype on the Ultimate Car Page.

Posted June 17, 2017