Faffing Around with Frick

Marrying Italian bodywork with American chassis was a passion of the 1950s in the USA. For such adventures Turin’s Carrozzeria Vignale was one of the best addresses.

Early in 1956 I took a break from my industrial-design studies at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute to mosey out to Rockville Center, Long Island. My mission was to make words to go with Dan Rubin’s photography of a new Bill Frick special for the May issue of Sports Cars Illustrated (in which I had three other stories). The unexpurgated result follows, as do photos of a similar car, the sole survivor.

Most sports-car fans enjoy the passive pleasure of spinning dreams about THE car, THE car being one of the fine existing machines or an amalgamation of the best features of many different cars. This is the car they'd like to own, if, when, and in spite of. For almost all of us this is just talk but there are a few men who can make their dreams come true. Chances are they don't want to do it themselves, though, and this is where Bill Frick steps in.

Famed for the time-bomb Fordillacs and Studillacs, honored for the 1950 Le Mans Cadillacs, and revered for the Cadillac-Allard, Bill Frick is probably the greatest Caddy exponent east of Frank Burrell at that company's experimental garage. Bill has reached a complete understanding with those rugged OHV engines, and knows just what he can and can't get away with. As a result, the only standard part in a Bill Frick Special is a current Cadillac powerplant. From that point on, it's up to you.

Bill Frick Motors, of Rockville Center, Long Island, will build that dream car for you, just the way you want it. For that reason, there's really no such thing as a "catalogue" Bill Frick Special. The specifications are as flexible as your imagination and pocketbook, the finished price being remarkably low for a completely custom-built and personalized automobile. The minimum tag, for a reasonably unmodified interpretation such as the shop demonstrator, will run around $8,750. As inferred before, there's no upper limit.

Naturally, you can't have a dream car right away. A wait of four to five months from order to first drive is required for an "ordinary" Special, while you might have to control yourself as long as seven months for a more spectacular version.

First decision in building a Bill Frick Special is the selection of a chassis. Frames are never of a specific make, Studebaker components having been used among others, since all parts are extensively reworked and built-up. A characteristic layout might include two channel side rails, with one front crossmember, a large X-member in the center, and two rear crossmembers. All channel sections are reinforced by boxing, which results in exceptional stiffness for this type of frame.

Wheelbases can vary from 110 to 124 inches, the demonstrator measuring 114. This car also had a slight crab-track, the front track dimension of 56 inches being an inch larger than that in the rear. Equally problematical and irrelevant is the exact origin of the unequal wishbone front suspension, the lower arms of which are connected by a torsion anti-roll bar. Coil springs support the weight, and enclose Armstrong shock absorbers with any settings either side of 50/50.

A Ross gear handles the steering problem, and a Thunderbird column can be used to provide easy wheel-position adjustment. Rear suspension is by semi-elliptics, but the axle is positively located and all torque reactions absorbed by two radius rods and a lateral sway bar. Armstrong tubular shocks are again used, "sea-leg"-mounted to fight roll. Actually, with a sway bar in use vertical mounting might be even more effective, but again this is your choice to make.

Braking is usually by Chrysler-type two-leading-shoe front mechanisms in combination with the Bendix pattern at the rear. These operate within 11½-inch drums, and can be actuated by a single Lockheed master cylinder. Many wheel options are available, the choice running from Detroit discs and Dayton or Borrani wires to Halibrand's magnesium lightweights. The size is usually 15 inch, though, and a typical tire might be 6.70 x 15.

Reposing just behind that front crossmember is, you may have noted, a Cadillac engine. Bill Frick is prepared to give you anything up to 350 horsepower, but he doesn't like to do it by modifications of valve timing, carburetion or anything else that might spoil running smoothness. The Special is primarily a fast touring machine for an owner who appreciates refinement, and Bill would like to retain this characteristic above all else.

This still leaves room for his standard Cadillac techniques, though, which include extensive boring, a McCulloch supercharger or a combination of both. Frick Motors have long been stretching Caddies to 390 cubic inches, and with a blower on this you have real speed with silence. The factory car has a standard '55 Cadillac engine, with special double air cleaner to lower hood height.

Torque can be transmitted via dual-range Hydra-Matic, which can be fitted stock or with raised shift points. Early floor controls were straight-line progressive type, but a new lever gate is being devised, for surer selection by "feel”. If you want something a little more flexible and challenging in gear changing, Bill Frick thinks he has just the answer. He has already built some cars with the good but expensive German ZF four-speed gearbox, but he's now trying out a new French unit. It's the Pont-a-Mousson transmission, as used in the De Soto-powered Facel Vega. Also supplying four speeds, this box looks to Bill like a good candidate for use with U.S. V-8's We will have a better idea after his pilot installation gets on the road.

A Hardy Spicer propeller shaft with two universals carries the load to the hypoid rear axle, which is often found to be of Lincoln origin. Final drive ratios may vary from 2.91 to 4.15, according to your touring tastes, and the Lyeth Hi-Tork differential can be substituted for a less discriminating unit.

            With the addition of American electrical wiring, these parts make up a running Special chassis, which is then ready to be shipped to the bodybuilder. This has always been the well-known Italian Vignale firm, which has also supplied bodies to Perry Fina and Cunningham in the U.S. This company's broad experience allows it to fill most requirements accurately and with taste so the purchaser again has a free hand there. Through its size, the car lends itself to occasional four-seater treatment, and both convertible and coupe bodies have been fitted.

Upholstery is usually in unborn calf hide, interior hardware of German silver. The driver sits behind a wood-rimmed 18-inch steering wheel facing a suitably imposing array of dials. Instruments have Stewart-Warner works with Vignale faces, and on the demonstrator included clock, speedometer, tachometer, oil temperature and pressure, water temperature, manifold vacuum, and fuel level and pressure.

When all these amenities have been supplied by Vignale, the car goes back on a boat and Frick Motors does the rest. Quite a few tasks remain, not the least of them being the job of trimming the height of the car with body fitted. There is no telling just how heavy a Vignale body will be, so much juggling of spring leaves is in order. The completed cars scale between 3,600 and 3,800 pounds, divided almost equally between front and rear axles. At this point accessories may also be added, most selections being made from the Cadillac range. After a tune-up, a touch-up and a final fitting-out, another completely personal Frick Special is ready for delivery.

Though not attempting anything even approaching a road impression, we kicked the "works" car around enough to get a general idea of its attitude. At roughly seventeen feet long and six feet wide this is not a small car. At first we felt a little lost amid the scaled-up sports car surroundings. The steering, at 4 2/3 turns lock to lock, was too slow for quick correction and had an annoying bit of play in the straight-ahead position. This would probably adjust out, at the possible risk of some stiffness. The two-leading-shoe front brakes quickly announced their presence at a pedal touch, braking being very sharp until the proper pressure was determined.

Most impressive aspect of the car was, understandably, the performance. With correct use of the Hydra-Matic control, the Cadillac could be taken to any desired speed in the gears, and it moved out with a satisfying surge. Thanks to proper radius rods, the drive line is slop-free and response is immediate. The slow steering can be bypassed and sharp turns made by a mere touch of the throttle, behavior being surprisingly stable and flat in most situations. The Special was above par for a car of its size in most respects save the steering, and one can't help thinking that Frick might do better to admit that he has a heavy car and fit it with quicker power controls.

Now going through the construction process is one of the most interesting Bill Frick Specials yet, with power by Eldorado. Transmission will be by Pont-a-Mousson gearbox and Hi-Tork rear end, the whole being clothed in a four-passenger coupe with a full-length sliding roof.

Bill Frick made three such cars. My drive was in the prototype, followed by a cabriolet and another coupe, the car described in the last paragraph. As shown below, it has survived.