The world is divided between people who want to start shit and people who want to help. I think you could argue that the balance of the universe requires both groups to function, but what you absolutely cannot argue is that David Tracy is in the group that helps. That’s what David does. And if there’s a car involved, get out of his way. We saw this in action right as we pulled into Pebble Beach, where David helped out a motorist in need. What makes this especially great, though, is that the car that motorist was motorizing was something wildly, incredibly special, and David had no idea.
I mean, sure, David could tell it was a lovely old Fiat, and an unusual one at that – he noted the tiny but impressive V8 engine under the hood and the elegance and drama of the design. He’s not made of drywall, after all, but I don’t think he realized he was poking at one of the fifteen 1953 Fiat 8V Supersonics ever built.
This is a $2 million car, friends. People dream of just standing next to these. And the man who eats groceries out of the bed of a pickup truck was gently caressing its carburetors, feeling for moisture.
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Let’s talk about this car a bit: in 1952, seemingly out of nowhere, Fiat shocked the automotive world by building the Otto Vu, or 8V, which featured Fiat’s first V8 engine. They didn’t call it a V8 because Fiat mistakenly thought Ford had a trademark on the name “V8” so they flipped the characters to get around the problem that didn’t actually exist.
Everyone was surprised by the 8V because it was so unlike the sorts of inexpensive workhorse cars that Fiat was known for – this was an all-out sports car with a tiny (for a V8) 2-liter displacement and advanced independent suspension and overhead valves and a finned oil pan and all sorts of refinements and innovations that added up to a real, no-joke race-ready car. The body design was dramatic as well, but Fiat was very open to custom bodies from coachbuilders, so of the 114 8Vs built, there’s a surprising number of bodies, with big names like Zagato and Vignale and Ghia all making their own versions.
The most beautiful version, if you ask me (and, unusually, many people with good taste as well), is a run of 15 built by Ghia to the design of Giovanni Savonuzzi. These were called the Supersonic because the design was inspired by the burgeoning jet age, with all of its wonderful visual vocabulary of aerodynamics and fins and intake and jet exhausts and an overall sense of exuberance and love of speed, in its pure, undistilled form.
Look at that roofline and you can see the Ghia signature 1950s look as clear as fresh gasoline. Its the same roofline and window design as, most familiarly, a Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia. Those Ford-like taillights are prime jet age exhaust designs, and holy crap, look at those incredible bent-tube bumpers.
Looking close, you can see a bit of patina on this one, because it’s essentially unrestored, which makes this example even more incredible. The car is absolutely stunning, perhaps the best-realized example of mid-century, jet age-inspired car design, perfect in proportion and line and character, but it was not in the mood to run well.
The owner had to have his car pushed into the parking lot where we had parked our cars after shooting some Pebble beach intro videos you’ll see soon, and that’s when David sprung into action.
The fact that the car was having trouble shouldn’t really be too surprising; Back in the 1950s, a GM designer had ordered one and had it imported, but was having trouble with it as hedrove it on a daily basis. He wrote to Fiat about it, who replied that the car was never intended to be a daily driver, but was intended for amateur racing drivers.
David’s assessment of the issue, after rolling under it to check an auxiliary fuel pump (a popular item to fit for owners of 8Vs) was that the problem was much simpler: it was flooded (as you can see in the embedded Instagram video above).
Yes, those twin Weber carbs had delivered too much fuel, so the mixture in the cylinders couldn’t be ignited by the plugs, and, really, the only thing to do was wait it out. I’ve had to do this in my Beetle plenty of times, and I think all of the old carbureted shitboxes I drive.
Shitbox or icon of automotive art, the solution is the same: time. And then starting with the gas pedal held all the way down, no pumping. David checked everything out, waited, coached the owner on how to start it, and then that incredible little V8 roared back to life, making this likely the most valuable car David has ever had a hand in getting back on the road.
Good work, David. Now they definitely can’t kick you out of here.
[Editor’s Note: I’m not sure I’d quite call this a “fix,” but it did get the gentleman back on the road. His initial inkling was that the auxiliary fuel pump he’d had installed was having some wiring issues, but I reached down under the car and squeezed the outlet line: I could feel the pulses; the line was clearly being pressurized. Looking under the hood, not only did I smell gas, but evaporated fuel vapors were pouring out of the intake. It looked like dry ice in a haunted house, spookily creeping out. A closer look revealed some gas-soaked gaskets on the carb, so it was clear to me this sucker was flooded. I’ve flooded my 1966 Mustang, 1965 Valiant, 1958 Willys FC-170, 1948 Willys CJ-2A, 1985 Jeep J10, 1976 Postal Jeep and I could go on and on — flooding carbs is just part of the game when you own old cars. And in this case, the common malady found in my junkers and in this $2 million masterpiece brought us together. I suggested that the gentleman keep his throttle open for a few minutes, let the fuel vapors evaporate, and then crank the motor. That little V8 purred to life; it was glorious. And it was a reminder that, though on the outsides these machines are totally different than cars perhaps you or I own, underneath they share a lot of traits. And these traits connect us as car enthusiasts. This guy seemed like a nice fellow, and I look forward to seeing him at the show, proudly displaying his beautiful Italian sports car. -DT].
Very few get to see this car in person and David got to hit it with a hammer.
Look, Pa. He left a rusty bolt. We didn’t even get a chance to thank him. Who was that bespectacled man?
Take a good look at that car and you have a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia with ugly round tail lights, a large front grill and a V8 (8V) up front. Looks like the designers at Ghia had very little imagination since they did this Karmann Ghia-esque design for Chrysler as well. And you just gotta love some guy with a ton of money who doesn’t have a clue on how to work on or start his own damn car… DOH!
The Weber in my 78 Corolla floods all the time, same as with the old stock Aisin carb. It’s just something that happens.
The 8V and the extremely similar Jaguar Supersonic are stupidly pretty. You can pick any line on the body and follow along the or around that car as it elegantly flows into another, fades and reemerges, or morphs into something else. Modern car designers have a lot to learn from these cars.
I once flooded our school bus while the driver was getting coffee, so we’d be late for school. The bus owner showed up and figured it out right away, then proceeded to scream at a load of kids.
I can’t be the only one who noticed the bubbling and rust around the chrome taillight on the right side. There’s even a close up picture of it. David’s unbroken record of working on rusty cars remains intact.
I’m gonna cry. I’m crying already.
Best part:
“Mind if I open the door?”
DT
“Yeah, sure (Thinking….just don’t pinch my boner in the door when you close it)”
I now fear for the owner of this near pristine unrestored Fiat…for why we all know David likes his cars rusty… the truth behind that is because he has ‘David’s touch!’…similar to Midas touch, but what he touches (or more accurately works on) turns to rust…latest example the $1 Olds! Next year that poor Fiat will look like most other 50ish year old cars and be rusting in David’s backyard! J/K David!
Ah yes, David Tracy at Pebble Beach. What a fantastic environment to place him in. I can’t wait to read more of his adventures there.
I had the privilege of attending Monterey Car Week several years ago with my sons and it was an incredible experience. Not much can prepare you for the array of cars, not only at the shows and the auctions, but simply driving around the area.
Thank goodness the Autopian has a representative here and I’m so glad that it’s David.
Godspeed, good sir!!
My apologies, I didn’t mean to leave Jason out of my comments. So happy to have you both providing story lines from this magnificent gathering.
Excellent getting it back up and running!
I would hazard a guess that the fuel pump has too much pressure and is overwhelming the needle and seats in the carb.
Flooded is a wide topic and can vary everything from wet plugs to a cylinder going hydraulic and bending a rod when you hit the starter. Luckily the last one is a rare occurrence, although I’ve seen several sad examples.
First bent rod I ever saw was from an Aerostar. Wife couldn’t get it started so husband jumped it with his diesel dually. Rod was only slightly bent: it got pushed up & partly through the piston which then released the hydro lock.
Pretty cool hanging on the Wall of Failures
Car nerds help me out here. At 2-liters is the the smallest displacement production v8, or is there something smaller?
Wikipedia says the Ferrari 208 GT4 had the smallest V8.
At a Barrett-Jackson in the 80s I saw a 2 liter V12(!) Ferrari. The one single barrel carburetor looked like it was lifted from a riding mower.
Apparently there was a 1.5 liter Ferrari V12.
I remember reading that the 208 GT4 was designed as an afterthought, and just a downsized 3 liter v8. This Fiat 8V would be the smallest dedicated V8, I think.
Yesterday, for another article, I wrote that David “would find that which he seeks” in California. I had no idea how prescient I was. The universe aligned to being David and this car together at the exact moment. If you ever wondered what kind of person DT is, wonder no more. He’s the real deal and an inspiration to all of us.
What a fantastic story to start off with! Kudos to DT for stepping up and solving a $2M car’s issue.
I don’t know how he did it without having rust raining down on him, but he did! Great work, David!
Awesome and what a beauty! It always gets me when people talk about ICE from different companies as if there’s magic involved in it when they all employ the same tricks to work with physics.
I was expecting David to have pulled some rusty and oil encrusted Jeep part from a bag and proceed to take bits off of it to fix the Fiat, and can you truly say that somebody fixed a Fiat ?
So Cool! Have you seen Carini yet?
Have we checked the historical archives yet? Can we confirm if this is the first time an automotive journalist has actually gotten down on the ground at Pebble Beach to slide underneath one of the show cars and get it running again?
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Yeah, but do you get down on the ground, and slide around, Gloria? That’s what we want to know.
Hooray for David ! what a good guy, gentleman and a scholar.
Well agreed it was a diagnosis not a fix but hey nobody else in this world of snooty million dollar cars was able to do it. Too bad DT probably messed up his new $20 Target shirt the first day he wore it. Correct me if I’m wrong an electronic fuel pump pumps to a preset psi and a whole line of them would not over pump the fuel pressure?
But I’m most impressed with is while DT was on the ground the owner was able to open the door over his head, chest, and stomach. I doubt my big old fat head would have fit and I’m sure none of the rest of me would.
Doesn’t a legitimate Autopian “Fix” involve a pebble, some welding, or duct tape?
Well agreed it was a diagnosis not a fix but hey nobody else in this world of snooty million dollar cars was able to do it. Too bad DT probably messed up his new $20 Target shirt the first day he wore it. Correct me if I’m wrong an electronic fuel pump pumps to a preset psi and a whole line of them would not over pump the fuel pressure?
But I’m most impressed with is while DT was on the ground the owner was able to open the door over his head, chest, and stomach. I doubt my big old fat head would have fit and I’m sure none of the rest of Mr would.
Reminds me of the story of Jay Leno at a similar event helping another owner open the hood of his Lamborghini after the cable broke. In the end, it’s just another machine. A very beautiful machine.
Good job, David!
That’s the great thing about automotive enthusiasts, they are always willing to help another automotive enthusiast out with their car.
I just hope that David’s good deed doesn’t accidentally cause that beautiful car to come down with an incurable case of the Rust Pox that seems to follow Mr. Tracy everywhere he works on old cars.
“making this likely the most valuable car David has ever had a hand in getting back on the road.”
Let’s be honest, pretty sure it’s worth more than all the cars DT has had a hand in getting on the road combined..
Well, considering he was an automotive engineer helping design new vehicles, I’m quite sure the combined value of ALL cars he’s had a hand in getting on the road is MUCH higher than $2,000,000.
Hell, the ADM on a Gladiator alone…