Product Description
This Grand Prix 1923 Fiat SB-4 Eldridge Mefistofele Model is fully built & assembled and ready for display (not a kit).
The 1923 Fiat SB-4 Eldridge Mefistofele Grand Prix Racing Car model is completely hand-built & handcrafted of metal with a metal frame. The rear view mirror, exhaust pipe and all other parts are welded into position (no parts are glued on). The wheels roll.
This Fiat SB-4 Mefistofele racing car model is hand painted a rustic yellow to give the model a vintage antique look. There is a seat, steering wheel and shift lever.
This model is the manufacturer's artistic interpretation of a 1923 Fiat SB-4 Eldridge Mefistofele Grand Prix Racing Car and so some details are not entirely correct. This piece of racing automotive history is sure to attract attention & become a conversational addition to your automobile decor.
In 1923. A typical sports car can extract only about 60 hp from a 5+ L engine, and a race car is lucky to reach 200 hp with twice the displacement; on the other hand, it's an age of experimentation and rich gentleman drivers putting their life on the line to test their insane ideas.
Enter rich gentleman driver Ernest Arthur Douglas Eldridge, from London. He appeared on the motorsports stage at the wheel of several second-hand one-seaters he had rebuilt with absolutely massive aircraft engines, which were, at the time, the only way to break the 200 hp barrier. His contraptions weren't terribly successful, but Eldridge didn't seem to care: he was in it for the adventure.
In 1923 he turned his attention to the World Land Speed Record. To break the 199.70 km/h record set in 1914 by compatriot Lydston Granville Hornsted, he set to build another Frankenstein monster on wheels, his best yet. As the platform, he bought the wreck of a Fiat S.B.-4 Grand Prix car whose engine had failed rather spectacularly (a cylinder-bank-flying-up-through-the-hood kind of spectacular).
Eldridge acquired a military surplus Fiat A.12bis - a 21.7 L, 300 hp I6 that was big even for an aero engine. By increasing the compression ratio to 5:1 and giving each cylinder four spark plugs, raising the power output to 320 hp. He gave the engine an exhaust manifold and pipe, but no silencer, to extract as much power as possible.
Eldridge's 1924 land speed record attempt at Arpajon, France, was clocked at an average speed of 230.56 km/h over two runs of the flying kilometer, 30.86 km/h faster than the standing record. His car, with its huge, angry, unmuffled engine and bad attitude, caused quite a sensation with the audience, and the French press nicknamed the contraption the "Méphistophélès", after the Faustian demon. The car swerved, screamed and belched fire, and the press praised the considerable strength Eldridge showed in keeping it under control. To read the full gtplanet story please goggle "Fiat SB-4 Eldridge Mefistofele 1923".
- Size: 13" length x 5" width x 3" height
- Weight: Approx. 1.25 lbs
- Material: Metal
- Handpainted (minor differences in finish may occur)
- Handcrafted individually
- Free shipping within the continental 48 U.S. States
- Packaging: Foam inserts banded to pieces of cardboard
