Projects NEW BUILD-OTIE'S AUTOMOTIVE B/A FIAT TOPOLINO TRIBUTE

It's a roller, on its way to the Thompson Gasser Reunion.

 

Looks great, wish it was on its way to my house LOL!

 

Awesome weekend, couldn't have been better.
Lots of interest and plenty of compliments on our work so far. The hand lettering of the door looks perfect and the Amoco Red paint looked great in the sun.
The most exciting part is we got invited to bring the car to next years I/X Center Piston Power Show as one of the Dirty Dozen featured cars in the South Hall Hot Rod Asylum.
Bill signed plenty of autographs at the legends tent and we sold some of our new shirts, hats and decals.
Our next outing with the car will be to the dedication of the historical marker at the Akron Airport.

 

Awesome, thanks for the photos.

 

Found in a closet by Bill's wife.
Otie's Howards Cams jacket and Bill's first Oties jacket.
Howard spelled Otie wrong.

 

NICE!!

 

Found one more great shot of the AA/A roadster.

 

The original body has been found and purchased. Found in Greenville Pennsylvania by a fellow Hamber and sold to a gentleman in Ohio who figured out it was the Otie's car from the pictures I have posted. Thank You Arlie, that's one 20 year search that is complete!



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Very cool.

 

Bill found another photo, Dragway 42, 1962. He has been telling me for years that the car had a bicycle horn that his sisters put on the car as a joke, they also put "Wake Up" in large letters on the firewall. This is the first picture I have seen that shows the horn, the original still has the stud that mounted it.

 

We I'd the body by a few modifications other than the paint remnants. The bulge on the grill opening was the biggest clue, we think it may have been a shovel they welded over the opening. It has the same sheet metal added where the down tube for the roll bar comes down trough the body and the same broken hinge on the drivers door.

 

Your welcome, glad you're enjoying it.

Taking the car and the original body out this Sunday.



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Any more story on the original body? Looks like it was stored outdoors, any other remnants found? Cool to see that you found the body!

 

Was the comet an Otie's car too?

 

No, and it's not an original race car. It's cool as heck though!!!

 

The Fiat body was removed at the end of the 63 season and sold without the chassis, I don't know who purchased it. Otie used the chassis for his roadster he raced in 64. I've been told the complete roadster was sold at the end of 64 to someone in Norwalk, OH and Otie built the 65 Dragmaster car.
I called the guy that found the body in PA. He went to buy some Model A parts from an estate and noticed the Fiat roof sticking above the weeds and took it home also. He only had it a short time before selling it on Craigslist to the man who figured out it was the Otie's car. He was looking at Fiat pictures online and found my post, he said the bump on the nose was the first thing he noticed. He contacted me shortly after purchasing it and said he didn't want it going anywhere else.
The estate was a 57 year old man who would have been to young to have bought it in 63.
It is unfortunately in poor condition from decades of outdoor storage, but I'm sure it's the real thing and thrilled to have found it.



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That's a great story, nice to see the HAMB helped bring another historic car to light.

 

The Comet was built from a stock swap meet find a several years ago by my friend John, he's really talented at making things look old. He's one of the three people helping me the most with the recreation of the Fiat, couldn't do it without them. It's a great car to park, walk away from and listen to the chatter. I've heard several guys say " I saw that car run at Englishtown back in the 60's".

 

Bill at the age of 16, 1962.




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The first time Bill has seen the body since 1963.



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That is some super cool footage. I am glad that Otie's Fiat found you

 

Great thread and history on this fantastic old race car. The body belongs with you for sure. Love looking at the pics of the car and original body, very interesting indeed.

 

Wow, great story and build! Are you going to try and use the original body?

 

After getting the body home and looking it over we've decided to finish what we've already started. Unfortunately the original is so rusty and thin there wouldn't be much of it left after repairing it. We started this project with the intension of racing it and if I used the original I wouldn't want to take a chance of destroying it. Restored originals are awesome, but a cackle car is not what I was going for. If the original chassis could be found I would restore the whole car.
We're going to build a second Model A chassis to mount the original body on for display only. We're planning on lettering it up and clearing it so it doesn't get any worse. If any of you out there have any really crusty unusable parts you'd like to sell or donate to a good cause let me know. If you have any Hilborn 2-ports or Halibrands that look like they were recovered from the Titanic I may be interested.