The fascinating story of two Fiat Campagnola that crossed Africa in record time 70 years ago, a record that has not been broken to this day

Not always the achievements achieved by the cars of the past are easier to match or surpass by the newer ones. And the record set 70 years ago by Fiat Campagnola in crossing Africa from south to north has remained unbroken to this day, although there have been many crossings in the meantime! It is, therefore, a formidable history of great things achieved with an extremely simple car in essence.

Fiat Campagnola was created with simplicity in mind from the start. A government military commission wanted a replacement for the Jeep Willys left over from World War II, so it had announced a competition for Italian manufacturers to create a compact offroader, simple in construction, easy to maintain in the field, and with exceptionally good forward capabilities. At the same time, the car had to have civilian features, as after the war Italy avoided putting too much emphasis on the equipment of the army.

Two models had been the main contenders to win the competition — the Fiat AR51, the future Campagnola, and the Alfa Romeo 1900 M. Alfa Romeo model was perhaps even more perfect in capabilities and engineering, but Fiat was chosen because of its simplicity, after all, as I said, this vehicle was to replace the Willys, a model that a group of soldiers was said to be able to assemble in an hour from boxed parts.

Photo: Construction of Fiat Campagnola

After it had been accepted and the development for production proceeded, the name Alpina was discussed, but it was also the name of a mountain division in the Italian army and they insisted on the renaming, in order not to associate the model only with army. That's how the name Campagnola came about. The production of the model started in 1951, and the focus was also placed on civilian versions, which had to be attractive especially for those who lived in the rural areas of Italy.

The car had a 1,901 cubic cm gasoline engine, with 4 cylinders in line, which developed 52 hp. Campagnola was a car with a body on frame, with a 4x4 system, and could reach 100 km/h, including on uneven terrain. It was precisely from these abilities that the idea of ​​putting them to work directly, in real life, in unprecedented conditions, crossing Africa at speed, came.

In the fall of 1951, Fiat bosses came up with the idea of ​​crossing Africa from south to north, from Cape Town to Algiers, and doing it in the shortest possible time, galloping through Africa's legendary unforgiving conditions. It was decided that two Fiat Campagnola cars would be used in this expedition. Paolo Butti, a motorsport driver who had competed in rallies through the relief of Africa, and Domenico Racca, a test driver at Fiat, who had also participated in the development, were chosen as drivers. Racca knew Campagnola's construction inside out, as he was directly involved in its development.

The cars, chosen in longer wheelbases, were prepared with several special features, which included a rigid roof, two auxiliary lights, sleeping beds, additional thermometers for engine oil and coolant, fuel canisters, tines, and some storage of spare parts. Of course, both cars also received inscriptions of the expedition on the side doors.

Initially, the team traveled with one of the two Campagnolas from north to south, just to get to the starting point in Cape Town and also investigate the roads and terrain. The two drivers were also accompanied by filmmaker Aldo Pennelli, and the fourth member of the expedition was Butti's wife.

This Fiat Campagnola also had a trailer in which it carried luggage and filming equipment. Even if this first part had not set out to be maximally fast, it had already managed to break the record for the fastest crossing of the Sahara, with 3,800 km of desert in less than 7 days.

Photo: Crossing the Sahara with the first Campagnola specimen

Once in Cape Town, the expedition was going to exchange the car they had just traveled with for the other one, which was waiting for them there. So one car had crossed from north to south, and the second one was going to gallop in record time from south to north.

On January 21, 1952, the second Fiat Campagnola set off from Cape Town on the main leg of their expedition. The problems were persistent all along the way — the rains created desert rivers that were impossible to cross, and in the Atlas mountains they encountered snow. And next to all that was added the unforgiving relief of Africa, in a time when asphalt was an absolute rarity and the maximum you could hope for were roads covered with a trace of gravel, and often they were devoid of any cover. In many countries driving at night was prohibited, a fact that thwarted their effort to reach the desired record.

But even with all these challenges, Fiat Campagnola arrived in Algiers, in just 11 days 4 hours, 54 minutes and 45 seconds! The measurements on the physical map indicated a distance of 14,193 km traveled, but Campagnola's odometer showed 15,256 km traveled across Africa.

And that means an average of about 1,370 km traveled per day, under the conditions of Africa in 1952! It's no wonder, then, that this record remains unbroken even today!

The record car, the very same Fiat Campagnola that made the crossing from the south to the north, has survived to this day and is in a museum in Turin, Italy.