MAGIC MUFFLER

Very well done ….. it sits beautifully!!!

You've got a good eye for Gasser style!!!!! Perfect stance! Nice job ...

Very inspiring!!! Really nice to look at.

Here's a 330 that I have been detailing for a guy for the last couple years. Love these!!! This should be a fun build for ya!

Welcome aboard Daniel. I'm originally from Victoria, B.C. and now living here in Southern California and recently joined myself. I used to compete in model show events in Burnaby right near you. They were model contests and swap meets too - are they still active? Bill

What a nice car to decide on building. These are really beautiful cars!! Here's a 500K that I worked on for Gooding & Co. doing some detail work to it. I have worked on several 540K's too. Good luck and keep posting with your progress.

Not many people notice the stance difference ….. but I'm kind of anal and this is the difference! Their shot and after I straightened it to how the car should sit. Not much difference but I see it.

Hi Guys, I'm the owner of the Magic Muffler Fiat - Blown Fuel Altered. It's nice to see so much interest in my car. I have been working with Jim Miles for the last 12 yrs restoring this car. It has been a very long and tedious project. There were no surviving pictures of the chassis and it took about 10 years before I actually got it right. Jim Miles built the chassis in his garage in 1965 and built it again in the same spot and same garage over 45 yrs later. Only he knew what the chassis looked like originally. I was pretty specific when the pictures - articles were done on the car that no detailed shots were done on the chassis. I never wanted anyone to really know what it looked like. I can say that I have sunk well in excess of 6 figures restoring this car. Someone started making a clone of it and that was stopped pretty quick. My attorney was ready to file suit against him for infringement on the rights to the Magic Muffler name, Genie logo, car etc etc…. Other racers have trademarked their names & cars too like Rich Guasco of the Pure Hell. Try making a real car in tribute to his first car and you will most likely wind up in court. There are other guys too but can't mention them all here. I know because I hang with these guys when we do our cacklefests. Someone is now making t-shirts and other things trying to make money from the car. Mark owns all rights to the name Magic Muffler and actually nothing can be copied. My attorney is working now where I own the logo and design of the car etc… This will stop anything being made with Magic Muffler on it. Personally, I'm not to worried about a few guys here trying to do a few decals to make the model. It would be nice to see some of you guys build this car. "GMP" made the model as you already know and they screwed up so bad on the model that I wrote them and told them how much of an embarrassment it was to have that kit produced and try to display it with the real car. All the fixes were supposed to be done before the release and they never did it because of costs. Papers were already signed and there was nothing I could do about it at that point. It was a terrible experience with them. The picture of the chassis you have shown is incorrect. It's maybe 50% correct but so many tubes are not right. I guess it's ok if one wants to just build an altered but, it's not right for this car though. The model that has been built of it here by a member was a good try at it too. The decals are placed incorrectly, pipes are at different angles, chassis is not as the real car either. I don't want to slam someones work but, it will be a hard car to replicate correctly if someone doesn't have the photos I have. The articles (pics) are good though but not precise. The picture that is shown in the first post of the Rodders Journal side shot really irked me when Rodders printed that shot. Here's why: I worked for over a decade to get the stance right on this car. When that shot was taken, Jeff or Steve tweaked that photo and gave the car a downward stance - in other words, they tipped the photo down. The car actually sits with the nose a little higher in the front. When I saw that photo I was really upset that the stance was not correct and then I realized that, they tilted the photo and then did the Print of - "Blaze of Glory". If you put a ruler along the bottom of the tires in the picture, you will see what I mean. This is not the stance I worked on for years. I have a few dozen original photos of this car that Jim keeps finding in his attic and gives them to me. I have studied this car till I put myself to sleep. I know what it is supposed to look like and that's not it! Anyway, I could ramble on here forever about the car. I hope I can get some decals for my build too as I started on it 15 yrs ago or more. I wanted the car since I was 12 yrs old when I lived in Canada. I now live in Southern Ca just 2 minutes down the road from Jim Miles. It's been an awesome journey with a child hood dream coming true. Again, I'm not here to slam anyones work because the talent on this site literally blows me away. I wish I could build as good as the samples I have seen on some threads lately. Bill Corbett Owner: Magic Muffler Fiat Topolino - Blown Fuel Altered

Okay ….. now that one is slick!!!! Great work and good luck at the show..

This has always been my favorite picture of the car : Also, each picture I have of this car, the color is different. It was really difficult to nail down a color that looked right. I'm still not happy with what I put on and might re-spray it. I like the color better in person than in my pictures of the build. Hmmm ….

I prepped this '31 V-16 for Pebble Beach several yrs ago. I detailed it many times. I may have pics in my archives should you need a few more shots of it. I like the build you're doing. Love the garage idea on the dolly - Great work! Keep us posted..

Hello all …. I have recently joined your club and happy to be here. Looking forward to building and adding pics of my drag cars etc. I try to build them about as 99% accurate as possible to the orig. I am the owner the "Magic Muffler" Fiat Blown Fuel Altered and happy to see it built here and the interest it creates. Mentioned in the magazine and this thread was how the crank and pistons blew out the bottom. To clarify >>>>> Elapsed times got it all wrong here and Rod actually gave them the wrong story. I corrected their mistakes for the article as I worked with Cole who wrote it. He made many mistakes actually. They said they would correct all the mistakes before it went to the newsstand but they never did. >> The bottom end blew out because -- there was a crack in the front of the block going from the front main up to the cam. Jim saw this when he tore the engine down in the pits after a run. He needed 2 more runs in for the day and figured it might make it through the next 2 rounds without any problems. Of course what happened next sealed it in the history books forever! There were 5 pistons and rods that came out that night. Jim was standing about 10 ft behind the car when it let go. That motor was actually put back together and was running in another car that next weekend. I'm not sure exactly what they did to it as I never asked Jim the specifics of the re-build. I'm not sure why Rod Hynes ( a friend of mine ) mentioned the bottom end wasn't torqued down due to brain fade!! It was all because of the crack in the from of the motor. There you have it! Also …. I would love to have some decals too as I started on the build 10 yrs ago. Any decals out there? Thank you Bill Corbett

Congrats!!!!! It turned out really nice and thanx for sharing this one. A quick note: My friend actually sold the real car. I remember sitting in it and was kind of blown away by the interior work. I think I took some pics sitting in the drivers seat. I also worked for Ohio George on his '33 Willys and had George sign some things for me. I started this kit about 20 yrs ago and then shelved it. Almost done and your pics are inspiring me to jump on it and finish it this year. I have many drag cars started and put on the back burner because I got so involved in building my Blown Fuel Altered the last 10 yrs. Time to get on the kits again! Cheers

I started this a couple years ago and since becoming a new member, I'm excited to get back on this one. Snodgrass - Andrews - Mahnken originally ran a '48 Fiat Topolino Fuel Altered. They swapped bodies and attached a Mustang body to the Fiat chassis. I scratch built the chassis identical to the Fiat as basically either body goes right on. I've worked pretty hard at getting the stance right to the real car. I have several articles to go by so, hopefully I can get the blue windows in and finish off a few more things soon. Cheers .. and happy to belong to a wild bunch of guys who seem to love old race cars!! I have many in different stages.

My name is Bill Corbett and live here in Southern California. I wanted to join many yrs ago and just never got around to it. Always busy as some of you already know! Basically the "about me" page explains who I am if you like to read it. I love building drag cars when I have a chance. I do build some other classics in 1/16 and have some drag boats I'm getting ready to attempt. I own the "Magic Muffler" Fiat Topolino Blown Fuel Altered recently published in "Rodders Journal" issue 62. It was also recently featured in Elapsed Times winter 2015 issue. I'm excited to be part of this group and hope I can learn more about model building. I have built for shows and competed in the past and looking forward to maybe doing this some more in the future. Thanx for having me guys and hope I can learn how to post some of my builds in my gallery for you to see. Your friend in model building, Bill