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Part II: Perry Fina, Master Mechanic and Car Builder for over 50 Years

Cover of July 1954 issue Italamerican Magazine featuring Perry Fina, inside reads:

Our Cover “Pictured on our cover is the exclusive “Fina Sport”, the car which was awarded the Grand Prix in the Custom Sports Car Division at the 1954 World Motor Sports Show held in Madison Square Garden. Builder is master mechanic and racing driver, founder and owner of Fina’s Imported Motor Car Company and Perry Auto Repairs Inc. situated at 145-147 West 54th Street, New York City. For the past 40 years, Mr. Fina has been servicing the finest imported sports cars, building up a celebrity-packed clientele. He was the first in 1937 to use the now common four carburetor manifold and invented the Perry Silencer for sports cars. Read our interview with Mr. Fina on pages 7-8-9-10-11.”

 

Norwalk, Conn. – Perry Fina was born in New York City in April 1892 of immigrant Italian parents; he was taught to speak fluent Italian at home and showing an early mechanical aptitude, he returned to Italy with his mother and younger brother Fil in 1902. In Italy he began a nine year apprenticeship in the automotive industry initially with Fiat Motor Company and later Isotta Fraschini, receiving his master mechanics degree. After extensive travel around America, Perry settled in Saratoga, NY and opened a foreign car service center with his brother Fil, who had also apprenticed in Italy. The garage became very successful specializing in foreign built cars. Along the way, Perry married his wife Lillian Kane, bringing up four children, his son Joe and three daughters. Joe also showed his father’s aptitude around machinery and automobiles and started work in the business at a young age. In 1928, following the sudden loss of his father, Perry decided to move back to New York City, leaving the Saratoga business to his brother. After several starts and stops, he opened a garage on West 54th St. and gained a reputation with wealthy owners of foreign cars for quality service. His customers in the day included celebrities Dave Garroway, Jackie Cooper, Skitch Henderson and Paul Whiteman, all owners of exotic sports cars.

Fina Sport logo went with the slogan “Perry Makes ‘em Purr”

Perry Fina also formed an import company to bring in cars from Europe, and was one of the earliest Allard dealers in the U.S. Vintage Allard owner Lindsey Parsons remembers Perry’s shop where purchased his first Allard in 1953, “The Perry Fina shop was a wonderful place to anyone who enjoyed interesting cars,” Lindsey wrote, “In those days there was always an Allard or two present, along with other marques on the shop floor. Fina’s shop had a reputation for excellent work and I believe he serviced many different exotic marques for his customers.”

April 1953, Lindsey Parsons in his first Allard J2X shortly after purchase at the Fina shop
Photo courtesy Lindsey Parsons

A Perry Fina prepared Allard J2 is in the Simeone Museum collection in Philadelphia. Allard register data on this car reads “Car was ordered with left hand drive by Perry Fina of New York. Engine installed by Bill Frick. Engine includes special manifolding and carburetors. Perry Fina nameplate is on firewall. The engine mounts to hold Cadillac motor. Shortly after it arrived to Perry Fina’s shop for his work, Bill Frick installed the 1951 engine. These gentlemen represented the most experienced Allard assemblers in America at the time”.

1950 Perry Fina-prepared Allard J2 at the Simeone Museum

Perry and his son Joe also gained a reputation in post-war sports car racing with a 1948 Nardi-Denese 6C Corsa-Barchetta, one of only three built for the Targa Florio and Mille Milia with an Alfa Romeo 2.5 liter twin-cam marine engine. The Fina Team raced the car at tracks such as Palm Beach, Bridgehampton and Watkins Glen. In the early 50’s, they installed a Cadillac V8 in the car in an effort to keep up with the more powerful Allards and Jaguars and it was campaigned as the “Perry Special.”

The “Perry Special “with Perry Fina at the wheel before conversion to Cadillac V8 power

Perry Fina’s Nardi-Denese Cadillac Special at Watkins Glen in 1953

Contemporary newspaper account of the Perry Special Nardi-Cadillac

Source: Etceterini.com

In addition to building, servicing and racing automobiles, Perry Fina designed and fabricated customized parts for his customers including special inlet manifolds to convert engines to dual and quad carburetion as well unique cast aluminum mufflers. Automotive writer Karl Ludvigsen campaigned a 1949 MG-TC in the early ’50s with a Fina designed muffler system. Ludvigsen wrote in the day “From Perry Fina in New York, I obtained and installed one of his special cast aluminum silencers. The normal silencer was removed and a straight pipe fitted to almost the rear of the chassis. There sat the Fina silencer shaped like three tines of a fork. The outer two tines had perforated caps holding in steel wool packing that did the silencing. In the center tine was a butterfly valve worked by a T-handle on the floor. With a pull of the handle the exhaust went straight through. The TC’s race preparation was simple. I just pulled the T-handle and presto! I had straight open exhaust”. In 1953, Perry Fina was granted a U.S. Patent for what was termed a “Valve Controlled Muffler with a Plurality of Through Passages”.

Perry Fina installing custom exhaust system on vintage Bugatti

U.S. Patent for Perry Fina’s unique muffler design

To be continued next week, Part III: Fina Motors, Move to Norwalk, Connecticut in 1957

Original Photographs & Artifacts contributed by David W. Reed, Redding, CT
Article compiled by Nick Ord, New England Auto Museum
nord@nemuseum.org

Part I: The Inspiration and the Cars

1954 Fina Sport Special

Norwalk, Conn. – Perry Fina was an American born, Italian-trained master mechanic who opened an imported car dealership and service center on West 54th St. New York City back in the early 1930’s. After World War II, Perry’s son Joe, who had served with distinction in the Army Air Corps during the war, joined the business with his father. Together they came up with the idea of building a stylish Italian sports car on an American chassis.

As Perry was quoted at the time, “Many of our foreign car customers with expensive Ferraris, Mercedes and other high quality cars would consult with us on the safety of a long trip; always fearing a break-down in some forsaken place a long way from home where service and parts would be impossible to obtain. It was this that started my son and I on a venture of building an American sports car with foreign influence and handling characteristics. Having had considerable experience in racing, we constructed a chassis with excellent handling qualities, along with all American components, including Cadillac or Chrysler engines. We made arrangements with the Vignale Company of Torino Italy, for our coachwork and they do such an excellent job for us that our Fina Sport, with its elegant interior appointments and all leather work, is the most beautiful sports family car in America.”

Perry Fina with 1954 Fina Sport

The Fina Sport was advertised as “An Exclusive Car to please the man of discriminating taste.” It was built on a modified 115 inch Ford chassis with a Cadillac V8 engine reworked to produce 300 horsepower, Cadillac Hydromatic transmission and an aluminum body by Vignale. Other V8 motors such as Chrysler or Lincoln were said to be provided at the customer’s request. Vignale was a Torino-based automobile coach building company who built their first body on a Fiat in 1948. Features of the car included 12 volt battery system, Marchal headlights, turn signals, dual electric Marchal horns. Suspension was knee action in front with dual shocks (one telescopic and the other adjustable arm type), semi elliptical leaf springs in the rear also with dual shocks. The car had an overall length of 15 feet 8 inches, width 70 inches and height of 54 inches. At the 1954 World Motor Sports Show held in Madison Square Garden in New York, the car was awarded the Grand Prix in the custom sports car division.

Another view of the Fina Sport Special – “A Bargain at $14,000”
(As captioned in the July 1954 issue of Italamerican Magazine)

A model at the World Motor Sports Show,
Madison Square Garden, 1954 (Italamerican Magazine)

Brochure for 1954 Fina Sport

Data plate for unbuilt 1956 Fina Sport

1955 Fina Sport Convertible with Continental Kit and Borrani Knock-off Wheels

Here are excerpts from the press release describing this 18-foot-long convertible introduced in 1955: “In addition to such fancy accessories as Carlo Borrani wire racing wheels with “knock-off” hubs, Continental mounted spare wheel and tire, radio, heater, defroster, 6,000 RPM tachometer; the Italo-American creation also features fully adjustable airplane-type reclining seats and a manually adjustable André Tele-Control shock absorbing system. The sleek body … is upholstered entirely in genuine calfskin leather … the tire size is 6:50 x 16″. Suspension in the front is by coil springs, aircraft shock absorbers and manually adjustable tele-control shocks; the rear suspension is the same except semi-elliptical springs are employed instead of coil springs. The Fina Sport is fitted with two sets of Marchal lights, one for driving in normal traffic, another for night-time highway touring; these are fitted gracefully into the radiator grille. The very professional looking steering wheel is of the competition type being made by Nardi-Denese of Italy. The wheel frame itself is made of aircraft duralumin and polished Honduran mahogany; lock to lock 2½ turns.

Other features of this automotive masterpiece includes a panoramic “wrap-around” windshield, Rochester 4-barrel carburetor, automatic windshield washer, electric windshield wiper, 22 sq. ft. of luggage space and triple-chromium plated fittings. The car had optional power brakes, a 3.31:1 rear axle and an estimated top speed of 120 MPH.”

Overall height with top up was 56 inches; wheelbase and width were 114 inches and 74 inches, respectively. In early 1956, the convertible won the prestigious Concours d’Elegance trophy at the Philadelphia Autorama.

1956 Philadelphia Autorama trophy 60 years later courtesy David Reed

To be continued next week, Part II: Perry Fina, Master Mechanic for over 50 Years

Original Photographs & Artifacts contributed by David W. Reed, Redding, CT
Article compiled by Nick Ord, New England Auto Museum
nord@neautomuseum.org