Fiat 125 race car - finally back together!
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Fiat 125 race car - finally back together!
My 1969 Fiat 125 race car is finally back together after a racing incident earlier in the year.
Before:
After:
(photo courtesy Stew Wood)
(photo courtesy Stew Wood)
The 125 model has a fine racing history as a production saloon car in New Zealand and Australia. It is best remembered down here for the outstanding New Zealand 125T variant which raced with success in 1972 and 1973. Paul on this forum is lucky enough to have a fine example:
viewtopic.php?t=166
However, even before the 125T initiative, the standard 125's raced with great success, even against much larger and more powerful cars. A Fiat 125 won the inaugural Levin 4-hour race outright in 1969, a meeting which was a warm-up for the famous Benson and Hedges 500 saloon car race (New Zealand's equivalent to Bathurst). In the B&H 500 that year, 125's monopolised the 1600cc-2000cc class and performed impressively against the bigger cars too.
(It is very clear from that report that, while our classic racers have made a few gains in horsepower over the years, the real progress has come in tyre technology!)
Here is a Fiat 125 hard on the brakes in the 1969 B&H 500 race at Pukekohe:
My own 125 was stripped, rustproofed, seam welded and caged by the previous owner, and he did a very thorough job of stripping out excess weight wherever possible.
The motor is a 2L 8V with Delorto 45s, ported and flowed head, custom 4/2/1 headers, forged high-compression pistons and lightweigh forged rods, chev V8 bearings, lightweight steel flywheel and Croma Turbo clutch, later 132 5-speed gearbox, and Ford LSD. Brakes are Wilwood 4-pot front on custom race rotors, and stock 124 front brakes at the rear.
I will post some engine bay photos when I have tidied it up. The repair budget only ran to an external paint job so far - the bay is still a mess of primer and sealer! Before the accident it looked like this:
Before:
After:
(photo courtesy Stew Wood)
(photo courtesy Stew Wood)
The 125 model has a fine racing history as a production saloon car in New Zealand and Australia. It is best remembered down here for the outstanding New Zealand 125T variant which raced with success in 1972 and 1973. Paul on this forum is lucky enough to have a fine example:
viewtopic.php?t=166
However, even before the 125T initiative, the standard 125's raced with great success, even against much larger and more powerful cars. A Fiat 125 won the inaugural Levin 4-hour race outright in 1969, a meeting which was a warm-up for the famous Benson and Hedges 500 saloon car race (New Zealand's equivalent to Bathurst). In the B&H 500 that year, 125's monopolised the 1600cc-2000cc class and performed impressively against the bigger cars too.
(It is very clear from that report that, while our classic racers have made a few gains in horsepower over the years, the real progress has come in tyre technology!)
Here is a Fiat 125 hard on the brakes in the 1969 B&H 500 race at Pukekohe:
My own 125 was stripped, rustproofed, seam welded and caged by the previous owner, and he did a very thorough job of stripping out excess weight wherever possible.
The motor is a 2L 8V with Delorto 45s, ported and flowed head, custom 4/2/1 headers, forged high-compression pistons and lightweigh forged rods, chev V8 bearings, lightweight steel flywheel and Croma Turbo clutch, later 132 5-speed gearbox, and Ford LSD. Brakes are Wilwood 4-pot front on custom race rotors, and stock 124 front brakes at the rear.
I will post some engine bay photos when I have tidied it up. The repair budget only ran to an external paint job so far - the bay is still a mess of primer and sealer! Before the accident it looked like this:
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Sad to see you had a bingle, good to see you got back to it so quickly. We need more Fiat racers with that passion in NZ.
Mine is 99% back from a run Big End ( broken sump baffle) and will be out for the Southern Festival of Speed in Feb ...... can't wait.
Could you send me high res copies of the 125 info you posted here? Fiat125T@hotmail.com
thank you
Paul
Mine is 99% back from a run Big End ( broken sump baffle) and will be out for the Southern Festival of Speed in Feb ...... can't wait.
Could you send me high res copies of the 125 info you posted here? Fiat125T@hotmail.com
thank you
Paul
Keeper of a 125T the flyin' New Zealander Fiat.
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Paul - no problem, I will send you a decent copy. I have a good library of period articles on 125 and 125T racing which I am happy to share with forum members (subject to copyright rules of course!) - just PM me.
Here are a couple more photos: one from the Whittakers meeting at Manfeild, trying to fend off a very quick and beautiful Abarth Prototipo; and one from the New Year meeting at Taupo, on the A1GP track.
This weekend will be my first full race meeting without an alternator - will report back next week!
(photo courtesy Barry Styles)
(photo courtesy Barry Styles)
Here are a couple more photos: one from the Whittakers meeting at Manfeild, trying to fend off a very quick and beautiful Abarth Prototipo; and one from the New Year meeting at Taupo, on the A1GP track.
This weekend will be my first full race meeting without an alternator - will report back next week!
(photo courtesy Barry Styles)
(photo courtesy Barry Styles)
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What times are you getting around the full track at taupo? so it was the GP circut at that meeting, with just the one corner from the new section through to the old esses instead of having the chicane through to the hairpin on the old part of the circut?1969race125 wrote:Here are a couple more photos: one from the Whittakers meeting at Manfeild, trying to fend off a very quick and beautiful Abarth Prototipo; and one from the New Year meeting at Taupo, on the A1GP track.
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Testament - no we were still running through the chicane and old hairpin - they didn't approve the new turn 9 until the very last minute before the A1GP. I managed around 1:57/1:58 and had a great tussle with the Odlins 124 coupe who was running the same times. I ran 1:24/1:25 at Manfield this weekend.
Andy - yes the car handles beautifully on the throttle. Nothing too fancy about the back end - just rebuilt and reversed leaf springs, and Bilstein shocks, plus a Ford LSD. The original 125 was always nicely balanced and handled remarkably well for an old-fashioned live axle.
Andrew
Andy - yes the car handles beautifully on the throttle. Nothing too fancy about the back end - just rebuilt and reversed leaf springs, and Bilstein shocks, plus a Ford LSD. The original 125 was always nicely balanced and handled remarkably well for an old-fashioned live axle.
Andrew
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Andrew.
Do you know anything about the X1/9 Abarth Prototipo in your pic? It must be a replica? There are only 5 genuine Prototipos made, and basically priceless!! It was shown in testing, that the Prototipo was faster then the 131 Abarth that Fiat went ahead with for commercial reasons into rallying. It was a shame that this car was not used as from the start it was a world rally winner!
Andy.
Do you know anything about the X1/9 Abarth Prototipo in your pic? It must be a replica? There are only 5 genuine Prototipos made, and basically priceless!! It was shown in testing, that the Prototipo was faster then the 131 Abarth that Fiat went ahead with for commercial reasons into rallying. It was a shame that this car was not used as from the start it was a world rally winner!
Andy.
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yes they are replicas, and I know for sure that one of them is a 16 valve. They'll be out at the scope classic this weekend, I'll try and get some more photos if anyone's interested. They're raced by a husband and wife team(she's quicker) I've been for a ride around the local race track in one of them and I couldn't see a thing except the roof or floor, as we were either braking or accelerating and my neck wasn't strong enough to hold my head up, they're really quick.
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