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Precision Miniatures 1:18 1964 Dragster "Mondello Topolino"

Reviewed by: Bill Bennett

The ‘60’s was the decade of the Fuel Altereds, California was the place and the Mondello and Matsubara blown Chevy-powered Fiat Topolino was one of a small group of top-level performers that thrilled drag racing fans in ways the dragsters and funny cars could only dream of!

Take an unstable, short-wheelbase (96”-105”) chassis made of chromemoly or exhaust tubing, install a fuel burning blown 400+cu. in. dragster motor and top it with a T-bucket, Bantam or Fiat body and you had an unpredictable, ground-pounding monster that, on a good day, could turn times comparable to a Fuel Dragster and on better days would be all over both lanes of the dragstrip with the driver never “lifting” and only getting it “gathered up” when he popped the ‘chute at the far end of the track.

“Sush” Matsubara started in 1964 with an Ed Weddle chassis, and a 374 cu. in. Hilborn-injected small-block Chevy running gas, but soon partnered with cylinder head magician Joe Mondello of Mondello Porting Service and replaced the small-block with a 427 cu. in. blown fuel Chevy “Rat Motor” to run in AA/FA. Sush had a reputation as a tough, fearless competitor racing the likes of the Marcellus & Borsch “Winged Express”, Rich Guasco’s “Pure Hell” and the “Pure Heaven” car of Fitzgerald, Rockman & Reed. The purple Fiat’s best time was 200.88 mph and a 7.72 e.t.

Precision Miniatures has done another masterful job of putting together this historic fuel altered Fiat. The first thing that strikes you is the pink and purple paint…… I mean isn’t pink and purple kinda’ girl’s colors?… well yeh they are, but don’t be fooled, this was not a car for sissies! The pink paint is smooth and is accented by miniscule scalloped fish-scales in purple, “Mondello Porting Service” in gold-leaf lettering and all the secondary sponsors’ names done in white lettering. White lettering on the side of the hood also proclaims: “427 Chevrolet Powered”. The team’s mascot, a pink fire-breathing dragon serves notice to all that even though he’s pink, he’s nobody to trifle with! The inside of all of the body pieces were painted with “Zolatone” a speckled finish used by some automotive manufacturers, at the time, in their trunks and not an easy finish to do in scale. But PM did a great job of duplicating the distinctive finish of this paint. Get out your magnifying glass and you can even read the names of the painters that did the work! But the real focal point of the car, as in real life, is the engine. The 427” rat motor has a GMC 6-71 blower and Hilborn injection and, as with all of Precision Miniature’s altereds and Willys gassers, the engines are marvels of detail and finish. The blower has a sand-blasted case and the Doug Thorley headers were painted in white Sperex VHT high-temperature paint. Both these finishes are spot-on! The front suspension is a four-link set-up with a transverse leaf spring. All these components are faithfully executed.

The scuffed rear M&H Racemasters mounted on mile-deep Halibrands and the motorcycle tires mounted up-front on twelve-spoke American mags look every bit as if they could have come off the real car. The cockpit is the essence of simplicity with only clutch and gas pedals, steering wheel and two levers to operate the brakes and the chute. One small oil pressure gauge told Sush all he needed to know about the engine. Also, PM has done a very nice job on giving us a really believable ‘chute pack and set of shroud lines.

A lot of credit has got to go to the guys at PM for putting together this car and, for that matter, the whole series of altereds. I know they struggled and sweated the details that a lesser manufacturer would have overlooked. And the results show. Creating models of cars that don’t exist any more is especially difficult and the guys at PM went to great lengths to get the details just right. The car comes in a foam shell inside of a box covered with historic pictures and paintings of the car in action. A brief history of the car is also included. I’ve been waiting for this car for a long time and it’s been well-worth the wait. This is a beautiful model and if you have an interest in drag racing, this is a great example of one of the really memorable cars from the “golden era of drag racing” and one that you should add to your collection.

(11/21/2005)