… or a Studillac. That’s what we’re looking for. We are specifically referring here to cars that received an engine transplant from a truly fabled shop, Frick-Tappett Motors, which was located along Sunrise Highway on New York’s Long Island. This shop deserves to be as well known as any hot rod shop in post-war Southern California, except that because it wasn’t located in Southern California, it wasn’t. The lead photo here is copied from a 1950 Sunday supplement that shows Bill Frick (left) and Ted Tappett installing a brand-new Cadillac OHV V-8 in a 1950 Ford that was also brand new.
Bill Frick was a gifted early mechanic and fabricator. His partner used the pseudonym Tappett when he raced Midgets and jalopies around Long Island, particularly at the old Freeport Stadium, but reverted to his given name, Phil Walters, when he switched to sports cars with extraordinary success and went all the way to Le Mans. Here’s what we’re looking for: How many Fordillacs and Studedillacs did Frick-Tappett produce, and during what years? Do any survive? How are they documented? Where are they located? And most importantly, do you have photos of the car? Write to me at jdonnelly@hemmings.com if you’ve got solid info. We’ve been trying to research these cars for about a year now, with assistance from Collier museum and the Watkins Glen archives, and have unconfirmed intelligence that at least one Frick-Tappett car exists in Georgia. The photos you see here came from the vast Long Island racing archives of our good friend Marty Himes in Bayshore; check out his Web site by going to www.thehimesmuseum.vze.com.