Posted 1 day ago by Leo Nulty Motorsport

Motormouth’s Mutterings – Car SOS Mondello Style!

Back in the day (you know you’re getting old when more than half your stories start with back in the day!) I worked for Fiat Ireland and raced Fiats, Unos and Puntos at Mondello Park. Emer O’Brien was the Dunlop representative in the Paddock and she was always on top of everything from grids to championship points, to the Larry Armstrong produced Dunlop decals.

She drove a very distinctive car. A bright yellow Fiat Seiecento Sporting Abarth, with the registration number 99-D-600. Times moved on and, after the car was passed onto Emer’s daughter to use for going to college, it changed hands and seemed to be lost forever.

Having chatted to casually Emer about where it went, I contacted Larry Armstrong to ask about the car. Larry was a huge part of the Mondello scene around the time of the Dunlop era, his Applied Signs business producing all of the Dunlop decals, numbers, backgrounds and even complete race car liveries for many top drivers. Larry said he thought he still had the car but it had been left in a yard for many many years. He kindly donated the car to the cause, thinking it was a great idea to get it restored and surprise Emer at a Mondello Race meeting, Car SOS style!

The next piece of the puzzle was Jonathan Fildes. An accomplished driver himself, he had won numerous championship here in Ireland, before crossing the water to win the Clio Cup in his debut year and going on to be a front runner in the ultra competitive Porsche Cup GB/ All this, while backed by, you’ve guessed it, Larry Armstrong! Unsurprisingly Jonathan was immediately onboard and offered to collect the car, if it was still there, and see how much work it needed.

A few days later, I received a WhatsApp picture from Jonathan of a very sorry looking little Fiat. Half yellow and half green with mould, it was missing a headlight and the engine was half dismantled. Undeterred, he claimed it would be an easy fix!

Over the next couple of months, Jonathan and his team at Jonathan Fildes Services in Dunshaughlin got to work. The engine was rebuilt, body work repairs were carried out and the little Seicento began to look like it used to back in the day. In the weeks coming up to the Leinster Trophy race meeting in September, it seemed the car would be ready and the plan began to form. Richard Warbrick was “Mr Dunlop” back in the day and it was he who supported Motorsport so heavily. Dunlop Corner, the Dunlop Sexton Trophy, The Dunlop Uno Cup, The Dunlop RT2000 class, the list goes on and on. I called Richard, who these days works with the RIAC on their various Motoring events, and he also loved the idea and promised he would come down. Larry ad Collette were never going to miss it and Joe Molloy, a close associate and friend of Larry’s who actually ran Mondello in the 1990s was also happy to come down on the day.

Michael Cullen also helped me with the plan when I expressed concern that Emer might wonder what Richard and Larry etc were doing at the race meeting. “Tall Emer I invited them all down for the day and they can come to the suite for lunch.” I also contacted Emer’s family and told them the plan, swearing them to secrecy at the same time. If I’m honest, I was convinced someone in the paddock would drop a clanger or mention something but fair play, not a word was uttered in her earshot as the event approached.

On the Thursday of the event, as Jonathan had promised, the car arrived at Mondello Park. It looked amazing. We had to stop some of the staff taking pictures and hide around the back of the office, with a cover over it. On Saturday evening, we moved the car to a pitlane garage, covered it again and closed the doors.

We had arranged with the See It Live team that we would televise an interview with the Dunlop team immediately after the last race before lunch and we were all set to go. Unfortunately Jonathan had been called out to a customer breakdown and wasn’t going to make it do Glenn Montgomery was drafted in to watch from the garage, wait for me to wave, and drive up behind Emer.

All was going well, and I had a quick chat with everyone about the Dunlop days and I got to Richard who was holding the Leinster Motor Club. Whilst chatting about Dunlop’s involvement with Mondello, I motioned towards the famous Dunlop corner, nowadays Southside Motor Factor Corner. It did look like a wave so, as we had agreed, Glenn cranked up the yellow machine and started heading up the pitlane. Luckily I spotted it and went back across to Emer to ask her what car she drove when she looked after the Dunlop Fiat Championships. “Oh, my little yellow Seicento!” she said with a smile. Timed to perfection, Glenn pulled up behind her! To say she was surprised is a bit of an understatement!