Excellent traction, a lot of torque, and plenty of rear bias weight distribution makes a perfect recipe for, well…..what you see here.
European racer Dave Nicholls was taking part in the Santa Pod Raceway’s annual Big Bang VW festival behind the wheel of his Fiat 600 this past weekend, clicking off some 11-second runs during the course of the event, culminating with a best run of 10.96 in the 1/4-mile. The street-driven car runs in the Outlaw Flat Four class with a 1914cc turbocharged powerplant, and gets it done on radial street tires.
But Nicholls’ weekend came to a crashing halt — literally — on this run, when the car got far too much bite than he anticipated, as the little Fiat, at just 78 inches of wheelbase, instantly climbed skyward at the drop of the clutch. Before Nicholls could even react, the car was already up on one wheel, then none, and was pirouetting in mid-air….crashing down hard on the drivers side and tapping the guardrail with its underbelly
Nicholls as fine, but the damage wasn’t exactly minimal, as the fenders, door, and corner edge of the roof sheet metal were all pancaked. Fortunately, body men can work wonders, and if they can’t, over 2.5 million of these cars were built back in the 60s and 70s, and so hopefully Nicholls can get the donor panels he needs to get this very cool ride back in tip-top shape.
Video credit: VeeDub Racing