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Fiat Topolino: club / assoc. in the UK?

Started by David Kipling , Aug 07 2009 22:05

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8 replies to this topic

#1 David Kipling

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65 posts
Joined: January 08

Posted 07 August 2009 - 22:05

I used to have, but mislaid, a URL for a club in the UK for Topolino fans, and Googling has failed to retrieve it. Does anyone know their website?

While I'm about the topic: an automotive mystery in Britain is the extreme rarity of Topolinos on the roads in the 50's and 60's, contrasted with their extreme popularity in stock car racing. There were scores and scores on the track over two decades. Racers got them in scrapyards, but the racers I've spoken to agree that they themselves never or v. rarely saw one on the road. (Re Topo bodywork, I am not referring to the popular fibreglass copies beloved by the drag racing world.)
Does anyone know the "social history" of the car in Britain that might explain its rarity on the roadds?

Here are some shots from my own website:

http://www.oldstox.c...es/andywebb.JPG

http://www.oldstox.c.....bump 1964.jpg

http://www.oldstox.c...jpgKelly471.jpg

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#2 D-Type

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9,759 posts
Joined: February 03

Posted 07 August 2009 - 22:26

I suspect that the popularity instock car racing must have something to do with the way the regulations were framed. If they said the car must have a body from a standard car, the Topolino would be one of the narrowest leaving room for the wheels to stick out.

My favourite Topolino anecdote was the Mille Miglia entry who taped over the bodywork joints to improve the streamlining. (Mike Hawthorn in Challenge me the Race?)

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#3 David Kipling

Member

65 posts
Joined: January 08

Posted 07 August 2009 - 22:29

I suspect that the popularity instock car racing must have something to do with the way the regulations were framed. If they said the car must have a body from a standard car, the Topolino would be one of the narrowest leaving room for the wheels to stick out.

My favourite Topolino anecdote was the Mille Miglia entry who taped over the bodywork joints to improve the streamlining. (Mike Hawthorn in Challenge me the Race?)

Tanks.

Re taping bodywork: Even the mighty Ford Motor Company resorted to duct-taping the seams on the big Mk IV Le Mans GT --- though most of it peeled at speed.