Milwaukee Midget

[fordboy628]

I hit the ground running at work this week, but before I die, I'm going to get a whole post on the whole week up here - but some names that I must acknowledge right away are :

Fordboy - His insistence upon testing and his analytical and machining skills got this little turd to the point that it is a competitive car in a class with a record that has sat for 20 years.  Thanks, Mark.

You're welcome!!

http://www.fantasyjunction.com/cars/1226-Abarth-1000%20GT%20Duck%20Tail%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20Bialbero-1000cc%20DOHC%20Inline%204%20Cyl

Looks like your target was recently sold to Martin!!   Check out the prices on these other 2!!!

http://www.supercars.net/cars/201.html

$337,000.00 USD for the for the Cunningham/McLaren one!!    (Double Yikes!!)   and, an asking price of 110,000 Euros on the other!!   (I guess a single Yikes will do!!)
    to anybody who can afford to spend thusly on a one liter GT car!!!!   
Shoulda been: Fiatboy 

[Milwaukee Midget]

Interesting -

"The car's engine was a derivative of same found in the Fiat 600, but with an enlarged bore and stoke. Added to this was a special DOHC cylinder head that used hemispherical combustion chambers and an increased compression ratio. Along with an improved intake and exhaust the 1000 Biabero could produce 91 bhp  - nearly 100 bhp per liter."

All those fancy parts, and they couldn't pull 95.1 hp? 

[PorkPie]

Pork Pie - Most people aren't aware of this, but he stopped by and literally coached me and Nick through the whole procedure.  Yeah, we would have eventually have picked up the subtleties of line etiquette and what to look for and to watch, but his early involvement in the week probably added two full runs to our attempts.  Pork Pie, I am in your debt.

As one of the two tallest dwarfs on earth (the other is Ray the Rat), it was a pleasure to support the Midgets......especially for the very first serious run for the little racer....also when one of the the midgets is twice as tall as I'm and needs a shoehorn and some kicks with the shoe to get folded inside..... ....and it was great fun, too

Chris, you can work it...bring the baby back

[fordboy628]

Interesting -

"The car's engine was a derivative of same found in the Fiat 600, but with an enlarged bore and stoke. Added to this was a special DOHC cylinder head that used hemispherical combustion chambers and an increased compression ratio. Along with an improved intake and exhaust the 1000 Biabero could produce 91 bhp  - nearly 100 bhp per liter."

All those fancy parts, and they couldn't pull 95.1 hp? 

Uhhmmm . . . . .     it was 1960.     Need I describe the school uniform I wore (unwillingly . . . .) to "Our Lady of Perpetual Guilt"?        I don't think you were even born then . . . . . .

I don't know about you, but, I've learned a couple of things since 1960:

A/   Most of my relatives are a**holes
2/   ALWAYS, spit 'downwind'
d/   Better to pick your friends than that nasty looking, re-occurring scab . . . . . . .

Sooo, let's look at engine numbers for 1964, 3 years AFTER you were born . . . . . .

Before the end of 1963, a long nose variant was introduced with a new body from Sibona & Bassano. It featured a fiberglass, front-opening hood that replaced the fixed aluminum unit. This feature was standard in 1964, with a slight power increase to 104 bhp @ 8000 rpm and a top speed of 220 kph.  (136.7014 mph . . . . . .)   Although the model was updated, focus shifted in 1964 to the larger displacement cars, especially after Division 1 was increased to 1300cc.   Read more at http://www.supercars.net/cars/201.html#bE0Q33AkUFQBRldd.99

a special DOHC cylinder head that used hemispherical combustion chambers  and an increased compression ratio. Along with an improved intake and exhaust . . . . . .    Hey Martin!!   Are you looking for an engine guy?   Pretty sure I can get 115/118 bhp/litre out of this little Italian grenade.

 
Would be Fiatboy

[Milwaukee Midget]

Would be Fiatboy

We'll change your name to "Tony".

[fordboy628]

Would be Fiatboy

We'll change your name to "Tony".

Atsa fine wid me!!   As long as I donna hafta:

A/    work wid nobody named Gepetto or Pinocchio,
2/    wear no uniform/costume wid donkey ears or tail,
d/    everyday gotta be Prince Spaghetti day!!   and,
xx/   Sophia Loren gotta be on the team!!

ciao, baby
FiatTony

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Mark, you're dating yourself here.  I mean -- Sophia Loren?  She's a tad on the elderly side, although still absolutely fine to see.  But - how does a sorta young guy even know about her?

[WOODY@DDLLC]

This image was burned in my younger brain in 1966! 

Sign me up for this team! 

[Freud]

Class combined with beauty and elegance.

She is still a standard without any plastic.


FREUD

[wheelrdealer]

Life magazine when downhill from that cover!

BR

[manta22]

I wonder if enough of those Abarths were produced to qualify as "production"?

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

[fordboy628]

Mark, you're dating yourself here.  I mean -- Sophia Loren?  She's a tad on the elderly side, although still absolutely fine to see.  But - how does a sorta young guy even know about her?

Uhhmmm, refer to the next 3 replies, quoted below . . . . . .

This image was burned in my younger brain in 1966!  

Sign me up for this team!  

Class combined with beauty and elegance.

She is still a standard without any plastic.


FREUD

Life magazine when downhill from that cover!

BR

How much more do you need to know?  

Forget the name change to Tony . . . . . . it's gonna be: Marcello!
Ciao, paisanos

[fordboy628]

I wonder if enough of those Abarths were produced to qualify as "production"?

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

Apparently, they made enough for the various records to be accepted, by the FIA, and more importantly, the SCTA . . . . . . . .

Lots of funky bodywork from car to car though, when you start looking at photos of various "restored" examples.

It was quite the car in its' time.   Still is.   Especially when one can command $337,000.00 USD!!!!!!

Ciao!
Marcello

[Seldom Seen Slim]

"...Forget the name change to Tony . . . . . . it's gonna be: Marcello!..."

Okay, but the next question is which Marcello?  There's M. Mastroiani, the Italian actor that played parts opposite Sophia Loren, and there's Marcello Escobedo, the proprietor of the Salt Flats Cafe (the truck stop's Mexican restaurant).

They don't look very much alike.  I don't have a photo of either right here to prove it.

[fordboy628]

"...Forget the name change to Tony . . . . . . it's gonna be: Marcello!..."

Okay, but the next question is which Marcello?  There's M. Mastroiani, the Italian actor that played parts opposite Sophia Loren, and there's Marcello Escobedo, the proprietor of the Salt Flats Cafe (the truck stop's Mexican restaurant).

They don't look very much alike.  I don't have a photo of either right here to prove it.

Whoops!!   Need to think these things though!!     Ahhhhh, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . the first one!!

Ciao!!