Rayton-Fissore Magnum
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The Rayton-Fissore Magnum is an Italian-designed and built luxury off-roader, in small scale production between 1985 and 1998. The American V8-powered versions were marketed as Laforza and were built from 1989 until 2003. The Magnum began life intended for military and police use, but the
Tom Tjaarda Tom Tjaarda (born Stevens Thompson Tjaarda van Starkenburg; July 23, 1934 – June 2, 2017) was an American automobile designer noted for his work on a broad range of automobiles — estimated at over eighty — from exotic sports cars in ...
designed car, fitted with a sumptuous Italian leather interior in the spirit of the
Maserati Biturbo The Maserati Biturbo is a family of executive grand tourers produced by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati between 1981 and 1994. The original Biturbo was a two-door, four-seater notchback coupé (of somewhat smaller dimensions than th ...
and a range of 4-, 6-, and 8-cylinder engines was marketed as a "luxury 4x4." It was intended as a competitor for the
Range Rover The Land Rover Range Rover, generally shortened to Range Rover, is a Sport utility vehicle, 4x4 Luxury car, luxury SUV produced by Land Rover, a marque and sub-brand of Jaguar Land Rover, owned by Tata Motors. The Range Rover line was launched ...
and designed to meet those needs the Range Rover left unfulfilled at the time, such as a more luxurious interior and more fuel-efficient smaller engines - including turbodiesels. Better fuel efficiency was essential to European market conditions. The vehicle was refreshed in 1998 with a facelift to include more modern amenities, but still used the same basic body and drivetrain.


Rayton-Fissore

The origin of the Laforza is the Rayton-Fissore Magnum 4x4, presented in July 1984. This vehicle was based on the shortened and lowered chassis of a projected medium-weight military off-roader called the
Iveco Iveco S.p.A., an acronym for Industrial Vehicles Corporation, is an Italian multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company with headquarters in Turin, Italy. It designs and builds light, medium, and heavy Commercial vehicle, commercial veh ...
"40 PM 10" (this project ended up being adopted as the Iveco VM 90). While the original Magnum prototype used the same turbodiesel engine as the
Iveco Turbodaily The Iveco Daily is a large light commercial vehicle, light commercial van produced by the Italy, Italian automaker Iveco since 1978; it was also sold as the Fiat Daily by Fiat Automobiles, Fiat until 1983. Unlike the more car-like unibody Fiat D ...
, the 2,445 cc Sofim turbodiesel which ended up being installed in most of the Rayton-Fissore Magnums was projected from an early stage. The front and rear differentials, suspension, and brakes were carried over from the Iveco truck, which was based on the four-wheel drive version of the
Iveco Daily The Iveco Daily is a large light commercial vehicle, light commercial van produced by the Italy, Italian automaker Iveco since 1978; it was also sold as the Fiat Daily by Fiat Automobiles, Fiat until 1983. Unlike the more car-like unibody Fiat D ...
. The steel body shell added additional strength to the
chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of a manufactured object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
through a construction technique developed by Rayton Fissore called "UNIVIS." The body consisted of a square tubular structure bolted to the subframe with 10 rubber mounts ( Silentbloc). Pre-series cars (built before March 1985) have
fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...
bodywork; the steel-bodied production cars retained the plastic bonnet and bootlid. Most of the Magnum bodies were built by Golden Car of
Caramagna Piemonte Caramagna Piemonte is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about south of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. Caramagna Piemonte borders the following municipal lands: Carmagnola, Racconigi ...
and then sent to Rayton-Fissore in Cherasco to be finished. Many details such as the lamps came from Italian mass-market automobiles. The four-wheel-drive system was part-time with front and rear differentials, with the rear axle always being engaged. A
BorgWarner BorgWarner Inc. is an American automotive and Electric vehicle, e-mobility supplier headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. As of 2023, the company maintains production facilities and sites at 92 locations in 24 countries, and generates revenu ...
transfer case A transfer case is an intermediate gearbox that transfers power from the transmission of a motor vehicle to the driven axles of four-wheel-drive, all-wheel-drive, and other multi-axled on- and off-road machines. A part of the vehicle's drivetr ...
provided a low set of gears for off-road use. The rear axle is a leaf-sprung live unit from the Iveco Daily. The standard power steering came from ZF. Meurer, p. 49 About 6,000 Magnums were produced in 18 years of production, of which around 1,200 were the US-market Laforzas. Approximately 1,000 Magnums fitted with the VM turbodiesel were sold to various Italian law enforcement agencies up until the late nineties. Other institutional purchasers included Italy's
Guardia di Finanza The Guardia di Finanza (; G. di F. or GdF; or ) is an Italian militarised law enforcement agency under the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy), Ministry of Economy and Finance, instead of the Ministry of Defence (Italy), Ministry of Defence ...
, the State Forestry Corps, and other, lesser entities. Rayton-Fissore did not have a strong enough sales network to properly market the car and also lacked the financial resources to update it.


Engines

The Magnum was originally available with three engine options, including two petrol engines and one diesel engine. The 2.4 liter (2393 cc) Sofim turbo diesel produces . The 2.0-litre four-cylinder supercharged petrol engine from Fiat/Lancia produces and the 2.5-litre (2492 cc) Alfa Romeo sourced V6 produces , with the V6 being marketed as the Magnum VIP.'' Automobil Revue 1987'', p. 482 Only about 120 of the V6-engined version were built. With an updated version shown at the 1988 Turin Motor Show, the Fiat and Alfa Romeo engines were replaced with
VM Motori VM Motori S.p.A. is an Italian diesel engine manufacturing company which is wholly owned by Stellantis. VM headquarters and main production facilities are located in Cento, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. History VM Motori was founded by two entrep ...
turbodiesels and a BMW 3.4 liter inline-six as well as a BMW turbodiesel.


Laforza

The first Laforza arrived in the United States in late 1989 with some modifications to the Magnum 4x4 base frame. The major differences included: reinforced and modified cross members and other details necessary to use the Ford V8 (more commonly known as the "5.0") EFI engine and the AOD transmission. This was coupled with Chrysler's "Selec-Trac" (2WD high, 4WD high, 4WD low) New Process 229 transfer case. The rolling chassis and its interior was finished by Pininfarina in Italy, while C&C in Brighton, MI installed the American-made mechanicals. The body underwent some minor restyling, bumpers and tail lights were different, as well as the headlights and grille. The Magnum 4x4's leather interior was retained in the American version, but upgraded with a new type of dash and seats as well as the center tunnel and the door panels.


1989 to 1993

The original Laforza 5-liter was updated by
Pininfarina Pininfarina S.p.A. (; ; short for Pininfarina Società per Azioni) is an Italian automotive design, car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 ...
who also did the final assembly. This model features Ford 5.0 EFI V8 (truck version) with automatic overdrive transmission (AOD) and a high/low gear transfer case (New Process model 229).


1995 to 1998

The Laforza GT was equipped with a Ford V8 5.0 SEFI V8 (from the Mustang GT) and a few fitted with the 5.8 SEFI V8 (truck version) with the same transmission and transfer case as above. Some of these versions were fitted with an optional Kenne Bell
supercharger In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement (engine), displacement. It is a form of forced induction that is mechanically ...
. In 1996 production was transferred to Rayton-Fissore's successor company Magnum Industriale.


1998 to 2003

The company went through another restructuring in 1998, becoming "Laforza SpA." The updated Laforza Prima was fitted with the Ford V8 5.0 SEFI found on The Ford Explorer and an electronic automatic transmission (AODE) as well as a full-time 4WD transfer case (without low gears) with an Eaton Supercharger as optional. The Prima was renamed Laforza Magnum edition in 1999 when the Ford V8 model was joined by a
General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...
6.0-liter V8 with Eaton supercharger and a 4-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission (Hydra-Matic 4L65-E) coupled with a 2wd/4wd high/4wd low transfer case was also offered. Laforza also planned a version for Europe, using a 3.9-liter Iveco direct injection
turbodiesel The term turbo-diesel, also written as turbodiesel and turbo diesel, refers to any diesel engine equipped with a turbocharger. As with other engine types, turbocharging a diesel engine can significantly increase its efficiency and power output, ...
inline-four engine A straight-four engine (also referred to as an inline-four engine) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout ( ...
or Alfa Romeo's 3-liter V6, but this model remained a prototype. Golden Car owner Alessandro Festa acquired the rights to the Magnum/Laforza in 2004 but was unable to bring it back to the market.


Gallery

File:Laforza 5.0 V8 1989 rear view.JPG, Laforza 1989 5.0 V8 File:Laforza V8 5.0 1989 interior.JPG, Laforza 1989 5.0 V8 File:Laforza 5.0 V8 1989 .JPG, Laforza 1989 5.0 V8 side view File:Laforza 5.0 V8 1989 rear view doors open.JPG, Laforza 1989 5.0 V8 rear view with doors open File:Laforza 5.0 V8 1989.JPG, Laforza 1989 5.0 V8 front 3/4 File:Rayton Fissore Magnum 4x4 TD (17854933990).jpg, Late Rayton-Fissore Magnum 2.5 TDI with facelifted grille


References

{{reflist *
David Burgess Wise David Burgess-Wise is a motoring author, enthusiast, and automobile historian. According to the dustcover of the book "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles" he edited in 1979, David Burgess Wise ith no "-"was born in 1942. A motoring ...
, ''The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles''.


External links


Site dedicated to the Laforza and Rayton Fissore Magnum
Luxury sport utility vehicles Cars of Italy Cars of the United States