Richard Bays "Little Giant Killer" 1958 Fiat 600

 

 Richard Bays has spent a lifetime in motorsports,and he is widely known as being part of the Drag Racing Fuel team Bays & Rupert. Richard’s thirst for racing came in 1966 when he was running a foreign car repair shop,he was in his early 20’s at the time. 

He worked mainly on Volkswagen's and he was one of the pioneers of VW performance. At night he was street racing his own home built Hot Rod and gained quite a reputation in the tuning department.

What started out as his daily driver soon turned into a Drag Strip terror. Richard started with a 1958 Fiat 600 that needed an engine. He made adapters and installed a Porsche engine.

Why not, his shop was full of go fast parts. He said he chose that combination because it was different. Bays won so many street races with it, that the spectators would make side bets and they would frequently win betting on him.

 

 He called the car a street sleeper and a Corvette killer. In 1966 he also raced it in ET brackets at Lions Drag strip, then in 1967 he drove it to the Winter Nationals. Since there was no class that fit his car, the NHRA put him in D-Modified Sport.

The class was filled with six cylinder cars and Corvettes. Richard was one of the founding fathers of the I-Gas and H-Gas class.

 Soon after that outing the Fiat was rebuilt and dressed in full race attire,a Porsche trans-axle replaced the weak Fiat unit, then a custom racing suspension was installed. 

After the hard work was completed the little Fiat became an I/Gas record holder,with 13 NHRA records. Richard used a Porsche 912 engine bored to 1790cc’s, the combination was good for low 11’s in the 110-115 MPH range.

The Fiat was so deadly on the track and on the street that Richard named it “Little Giant Killer''. After his successful winning streak Richard decided to retire the car in 1970. He continued to hold the national record for 2 years after retiring the car.

 

 

               

   This is just one of the 13 records that Richard set in I/Gas →

 

 

         Photos courtesy of Richard Bays 2022.