Shop Tour the Print magazine, buy it here !
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.
Popular posts from this blog
Brad McBride Racing
Brad McBride is the builder and driver of this 1963 Type 3 Fastback, known as Blitzkrieg. Photo credit Jason Reiss/PDRA Brad McBride is the builder and driver of this super cool and fast Type 3 Volkswagen. Brad has been around racing his whole life. His father owned land that's now the pit area beside Piedmont Dragway in North Carolina. His father raced a roadster and later raced a top alcohol funny car called the Starr Rider well into the 1990's. So you could say it was in Brad's DNA that he was destined to be a drag racer. We asked Brad how he started racing and what his earliest memories were. He stated the first thing he raced was 20" Schwinn 5-speed bike when he was 12 or 13 years old. Even early on he was a fabricator and equipped the bike with wheeli...
Scott Robinson's "Bionic Wasp" 68' Camaro
Scott Robinson is from southern California and has been into cars his whole life, his earliest memories recount his time spent with his father and his friends. Scott's father raced all types of vehicles, drag boats, sand rails, and cars. These experiences made a major impression on Scott and he couldn't wait to be old enough to drive. When he was old enough, he got heavy into off-road motorcycles then when he got his driver's license all bets were off. Scott forgot about racing motorcycles and went all in and started racing cars. The first car he raced wasn't car at all, it was a 1975 Chevy van. But this wasn't any old worn out work van. This van belonged to Scott's father, it featured a destroked 400 cube small-block built by Scott's Dad, it's backed up with a TH-400 automatic transmission and a narrowed 12-bolt rear end. Scott said it was fun ride for his first car, and when he graduated high-school his father gave it to him. The father and son ...
Butch Hill's 1939 Ford Coupe
Like most gear heads in his age group, Butch Hill notes that while growing up, he took a particular liking to hot rods as a result of the influence from his father, Don. He was known as the Hill-Boys Race Team in the dirt/asphalt racing circuit. Although his involvement with hot rods came from his father. His mother, Marilyn, was one of his biggest fans and supporters. Butch made frequent trips to the drag strips to check out what was running. The “look and power” of those cars was something that intrigued him. Needless to say, he was always on the hunt for cool hot rods. In 1978 Butch was driving through a local neighborhood and noticed a 1939 Ford Coupe in a driveway. He decided to stop and ask if the car was for sale. The owner answered the door and agreed to sell it to him. After a quick look-over, the deal was done . He dove into his new purchase with a tune up on the 396 big block Chevy ...
Comments
Post a Comment