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Fiat
124 Abarth replica at Blackhawk Farms
This is the story of
Don Tuscany's Race car. It all started with a spin the "kink" at Road
America, where he found himself knocked out in an car destroying
encounter with the wall.
After a while during which he didn’t loose his sense of humor, he
decided to build a new car, but this time from scratch and in Abarth
trim.
A new tub was found near Ottawa in Canada, and this was completely seam
welded, and changes according to the Abarth set up were performed.
New body parts were fitted and fabricated.
And Bruce Brabec from Wolf Racing made a new custom fitted roll cage.
They also built the roll cage in Don's destroyed old Fiat, and since
that was part of the reason he survived these specialist were a logic
choice to perform this job.
The engine was build from scratch too, with custom pistons high flowing
head, "hot" cam shafts etc etc. When the motor was finally completely
assembled, it was tested on our test stand before putting it on the
dynomometer.
The engine was dynoed by Barry Sale at PHP Racengines in Wauconda.
Historic Race Car now has the ability to dyno in house!
The car was wired by Rich Range, and is fully equipped for road use (
The Abarth after all was a Rally car) including blinkers, horn, lights.
We rebuild a 5 speed Abarth transmission, installed an accusump system
and a 4 nozzle fire system installed. The steering column was
customized and a custom seat that would fit Don's frame installed.
At this time the car was ready to be tested.
With thanks to John Tulloch , who purchased a Mini Cooper Vintage Race
car through us, we were able to test a day at the Autobahn. The day was
cut short, due to a vibration at higher speeds.
After solving that issue Don is now racing his car with VSCDA, where it
draws a lot of positive attention.
Many thanks to Don Tuscany, for
allowing us to show what we are able of!
Happy face after a hot session!
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This extremely nice1955 OSCA MT4
came
straight from
Belgium to our shop. The engine
needed a
complete rebuild and a re-design of
the
oiling system.
We put in a trip master and
had
to recreate a drive for it in the transmission.
Installed seat belts and went
through the braking
system. We
installed a hydraulic hand brake and
had a custom
tonneau made for it.
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| This 1963
Alpine Berlinette A110 raced at the 24 hours of Sebring
in 1965. It's equiped with a rare 804 motor (1100cc Gordini) that HRC
is rebuilding after a rod bearin spun. We will also do some work on the
chassis, and rear end. |
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This 1972 ex Ecurie Filipinetti
Martini MK9 (MK does not stand for Mark, but
Martini-Knight) was driven to a second place in the 1972 European F3
Championship by Frenchman Jacques Coulon.
Now HRC owner Yves Boode races it during most of the VSCDA events in
the Mid West. A broken brake rotor caused the only DNF at Mid Ohio. The
extensive damage was repaired in house during the after hours.
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HRC rebuilt the engine of this 1961
Mini Cooper S after it had dropped a valve. We also
installed a front and a bigger rear anti roll bar. After these
improvements the car raced for the first time at Blackhawk Farms and
finished fifth overall.
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Another nice Fiat 124 spider.
This one is raced with Mid Western Council as an ITB racer. The owner
asked us to go through the car and resolve some problems with
overheating brakes and a rear end issue.
We also welded up a spare differential, and will align and weigh the
car before the season starts.
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This pretty potent Datsun 510
had the Engine rebuild with durability in mind by HRC. After the
rebuild, the owners couldn’t set the carburetors up properly and asked
us to see what we could do. For safety reasons we will also install a
removable steering wheel.
Hopefully this car will be flying around Blackhawk
Farms again soon, as the driver hasn’t decided to continue racing.
http://bringatrailer.com/2007/03/01/restored-vintage-race-alpine-a110-near-chicago/
Restored vintage race Alpine A110 near Chicago…
This Alpine A110 is likely the only one presently for sale in the USA and is available from Historic Race Car LLC for $55k. These rear engine French racers are well known in the international rallying world, and it is rare to see one available in the midwest USA.
This race ready 1969 A110 has a 1600 cc, 159 HP engine and an upgraded 353 5 speed gearbox. We love the nose on this car which incorporates big driving lights. The French were among the best in early lighting development with names like Cibie and Marchal. Yellow lights on this car are dummies…we would mount the original lights and incorporate period yellow lenses.
They are also sometimes seen on roadcourses, but can be a handful with their designed-in oversteer. Look at that rear overhang! It reminds us of the Abarth Periscopio designs.
This is a great car for rally and vintage road events, and is easily worth the asking price.
Related Posts
2 comments
- Yves Boode
May 28, 2009 at 8:32 pm
Hi,
Nice to see my car on this site.I was also the guy who restored Jim Gordons A110 ( and others). The one you called the nicest one you’d ever seen.
I am open to all questions and services to Alpines any other French/Italian/Bt cars you may have issues with.
For the man who asked if it is a Renault or Alpine:
Alpine started without the blessing of “mother” Renault. To the point that Redele was not to use the Renault name in any publication. After the first 1-2-3 victory of Alpine in the Monte Carlo, Renault was less reluctant having Redele use their name. In 1969 they bought part of the company and it became Alpine Renault. In the early seventies (oil crisis) Renault bouth the majority and it became Renault Alpine.
Renault managed to kill the brand.
Feel free to contact me.
Yves Boode
- zertrat
February 12, 2010 at 4:28 am
I’ve blundered across this website nearly three years after the post. What ever happened to this car? How did it get to the American Midwaste, her, Midwest to begin with? I’m in the St. Louis area, and would consider buying a car like this in a heartbeat. I presume this car is gone, and we won’t be seeing another like it. Ever.
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