Words & Photos: Gary Rosier
The First Fiat automobile was produced way back in 1899 and was called the Fiat 4H. Fiat is the largest manufacturer of cars in Italy and Europe – behind only General Motors and Ford!
What’s interesting about this car, owned by Doug Emery of Port Orange, Fla., is that it was languishing away in an old junk yard in upstate New York at one point. Not only that, but it appears that it was once a circus clown car!
Doug is originally from the Syracuse, NY area and as a kid often followed his cousin around the racetrack at Oswego not far away. In the late ’60’s, most of his friends were into drag racing, so that became a major interest. Soon after, the circle track deal got him excited again – even promptimg him to help wrench on one of the local race cars (Oswego). Doug has no real formal education in the car/racing end of things – just good ‘ol fashioned in-the-trenches kind of learning. A management background did get him a stint, he says, as Team Manager for an Indy Car team too.
Yes, that’s a small block Chevy residing within the custom fabricated square tube frame! If you think that’s a tight fit, previously the engine bay held a big block bored out to 406 cubes – hence the 406 designation on the air cleaner. It has a unique custom made manifold that sticks out and under the cowl and secures the Holley 650 carb.
Doug did not build the car, but found it advertised for sale at one of the premiere events in the country: The Syracuse Nationals. As luck would have it, another deal on which he was working fell through and Doug reached out to the owner of this Fiat. A deal was struck soon after. Research on the car turned up that it was run a few times with a big block and ran the 1/8th mile at Lancaster Speedway in Western New York. Must have been a wild ride for sure!
It’s a 350/350 combo now that transfers all the power back to a Ford 9 inch narrowed rear end with 3:73 gears. Rack and pinion steering out of a pinto (manual) points it all in the right direction. 165/65R13 front tires and N50/15 Massive Mickey Thompson Pro-Street tires let her roll. Also, Competition Engineering wheelie bars keeps it planted when he mashes the gas.
An aluminum radiator with flex fan keeps her cool, all monitored by a full set of Autometer gauges. The tach is a 10k Autometer Tach and while it has run on “the juice,” it is not currently in use – but everything is there, including the bottle in the trunk!
Two race seats now fit snugly inside the passenger compartment with Simpson belts securing riders tightly. A six-point roll cage also adds a bit of safety to the package and made it NHRA legal in its early years. It’s painted with an acrylic enamel by Dupont called Ultra Marine Blue.
While this may have spent some of its life as a clown car, no one clowns around when they see how neat it is now. If those wheelie bars don’t suck you in, surely the massive M/T rear tires will – not to mention that distinct gear drive sound and loud pipes!
Thumbs up, waves and even some salutes are the norm as Doug cruises the streets. Clown car? I think not!
