Angelo Giampetroni
Angelo Giampetroni is best known as the guy at Ford SVO who helped FMO keep its high profile with the racers and hot riders, but his history in the sport is long and varied. Angela’s first job was with Gratiot Auto Supply at the age of 12. While his duties at first were restricted to sweeping up and putting things in place, it wasn’t long before he was becoming more and more involved with the business side of Gratiot.
As soon as he could legally own a cart, Angelo purchased a 1932 Ford five window coupe with a 292 cubic inch flathead engine for power. This also became his first race car to complete with Grancor heads, Isky cam, and as many “goodies” as were available at the time. While the car was his daily transportation, it was also stout enough to clock over 120 mph at Motor City Dragway and Detroit Dragway. One of Angelo’s more famous race cars was a rear engine 1920 T Roadster powered by a 480 cubic inch Buick and affectionately known as “Li’l Billy”. Li’l Billy was one of the quickest and fastest cars at the time, turning 168+ MPH within an ET of 9.30 seconds.
Using the knowledge gained in his years at Gratiot Auto Supply, in 1969 Angelo founded Detroit Hi Performance and begin distributing performance parts on a nationwide basis. In 1970 the business became Gratiot Auto Mail Order and was soon shipping performance parts around the world. Gratiot Auto soon became one of the best known and recognized names in the hot rod world. Angela promoted the business through the weekly enthusiasts’ newspapers, in magazines such as Hot Rod Magazine, local newspapers, and was one of the first speed shops to incorporate the use of TV in its promotions. To add more zip to his TV promotions, Angelo brought Miss Hurst, Linda Vaughn, on board as one of Gratiot’s most visible spokesperson.