Help me ID this ex Fiat drag car body I found

Great find, start looking for a chassis, supercharged sbc, and a ton of other parts. Should be a fun project.

 

awesome car love the old fiats

 

talk about striking gold!..... hope to see a restoration thread soon

 

This is amazing; most guys will ask for an I.D. and a little history on something they've found. You really hit the mother load on the car and the detailed responses! Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

K to make her a roller again is the first goal now!
Try to bring it has a roller for Cacklefest ?? Will see
So any one in the CA, Bay Area keep your eyes out or if you have any of these.
1934 ford axle/ front suspension
1950 Lincoln rear brakes
1957 Chevy 1/2 truck rearend
1953 Olds four speed auto trans
1964 327 v8 ( I can get these later, not needed yet)
1964 327 vette heads ( I can get these later, not needed yet)

Any donation would be great and if so, hope you don't mind your picture taken and info to add to the credits of help .
Also thanks sooooooo much for all your guys help with your info and post.

 

awesome find, good luck with your adventure

 

I'll check around with some folks I know down in So Cal.

 

This is the place to find the parts. Someone has them out there.

 

Great find, congrats!! So how did you come about this piece of racing history? I love to hear the "behind the scenes" stories. Do tell!

 

@Sparky13 -

I stumbled across this thread late last night (surfin' the H.A.M.B. via the TJJ app on my iPhone) ... The moment I enlarged the thumbnail pics in the OP, I knew exactly what you had found! ... As I scrolled down the thread, I was pleasantly surprised to see that @Church Key had already ID'ed the car for you! ... Ya really gotta love this place!

I was gonna PM you Wes Ingram's contact info and let you know that his son Alan (@Ingram_son) lurks here ... but I see you already got in touch with Wes ... very cool!

This morning I searched the image archives on my home computer for some pics of the "Davis & Ingram Topolino" that had yet to be posted in this thread ... I didn't have much luck ... but I did find these two images:

The Davis & Ingram BB/Altered Fiat Topolino @ ??? (photographer unknown)


The "Joe Davis - Ansen" Topolino @ 1965 NHRA World Finals in Tulsa (photographer unknown)​

Tonight I'll search through my archive of 1964 & 1965 HOT ROD Magazines ... and hopefully will find more pics of the "Davis & Ingram Topo."

Anyway ... Congrats on this awesome find! ... I really hope that you will be able to bring this beautiful & historically significant racecar back to its circa '64-'65 glory! ... and please keep us posted here on the H.A.M.B.

PS: I like your new avatar!

 

Awesome.

 

Yeah, tell us the story of how you found it.

 

Well it's pretty basic and just luck , just stumble on it at garage sale.

 

Guy knew nothing about it , just it's an old car body.

 

I know where there is a body sitting in a back yard in Northridge Ca.

 

Congratulations! Thats cool as hell. I think its neat that you find the first piece to your build and it almost instantly has direction. I'll be looking for the build thread.

 

Wow! I always felt that the Davis & Ingram Fiat was the prettiest ever. Sparky: Please PM me - I'd love to cover this build.

Thanks,
Scotty

 

got to do this one!

 

holy crap!

it doesn't get much cooler than that!

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=430018&page=11

Go to post 208!

 

Garage sale ! Thats car god fate, glad to see a HAMB guy get it and bring it back.

 

As a kid "back in the day", this was one of my favorite cars! Neat find!

 

Great find, wonder if they stored any parts at the neighbours .

 

As promised ...

Here's a pic that appeared on page 33 of the August 1964 issue of HRM (in the "HOT ROD'S FIRST ANNUAL CHAMPIONSHIP DRAGS" article):

​

... here's the "B&M HYDRO STICK" Ad that appeared on page 98 of the October 1964 issue of HRM:

​

... here's a pic that appeared on page 75 of the November 1964 issue of HRM (in the "THE BIG GO '64" article):

​

... here's a pic that appeared on page 89 of the December 1964 issue of HRM (in the "FAST 'N' FANCY" article):

​

... and here's the (previously posted) "THE MOUSE THAT ROARS" article that appeared on pages 34 & 35 of the June 1965 issue of HRM:

click thumbnails to enlarge​

 

Sometime in 1965, Wes Ingram left the team to build an A/Altered racecar (which would later become the "Jewel T").

Joe Davis continued to campaign the BB/A Fiat Topolino ... but also used its chassis for his BB/A Mustang ... and by year's end, Joe won the new "Exhibition Eliminator" class with the Mustang (later dubbed "COLT .45").

Here are some pics of the Mustang body on the Topo's chassis:

​

 

Great work Todd, Nice to see the evolution.

Is the Colt .45 still around?

 

Jamie - My pleasure!

According to Ezra Boggs @ DragList.com, the "COLT .45" Mustang was sold to the Oklahoma-based Martin Bros. ... who ran the car (with many updates) into the early '70s.

I have no idea what became of the Martin Bros. Mustang ... perhaps @Sparky13 will be lucky enough to find it in a barn!

 

absolutely amazing to get an ID and pics like that!

 

I remember that Magazine Layout. Made a model of it way back when, It still may be in a box in the basement....