RACE CARS - The other NieKamp roadster...

[Kevin Lee]

I posted this before and not too much notice was taken. I just really like the pictures - some of the little details in the chassis and susp. make me smile. Look close. There are quite a few parts of the build that are unconventional but more traditional than a lot of cars claiming the label today could ever hope to be. Some of these ideas will eventually find their way into my next car. (Bonneville racer) Three more pages coming...keep your mitts off of the keyboard.

[Kevin Lee]

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[Kevin Lee]

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[Kevin Lee]

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[fab32]

Grimlock, Thanks for posting this. Bill has been one of my heros since I first read about his AMBR roadster in the mid fifty's. That car remains at the top of my list of favorites. I couldn't believe it when Jake Jacobs found and restored it. It was cool that Neicamp was still alive when Jake was doing the car and there were some photos published with him being united with his old car.

Frank

[DrJ]

I was just looking at those pages just yesterday. I saved them from the last time you posted them! Thanks for the chunk of history... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[scarliner]

Grim,I never saw those pics before.We should all look at those real close,and hope one day,we could get close to thier abilities.The trigger tripper for me is the pic of those gages in the cowl,wow what a cool deal that was!And the stance of that car,makes me shiverrrr all over.Sounds like to me your havin some evil thoughts about,some of whats going on with them there pics!Good luck.

[disastron13]

Hundred hours on the drafting table for every hour cuttin metal.
What a great car.
Wish there were more pics

[L B]

Awesome mid engine car.........Fab,Did you say that this car was restored ? Is it in the PET or NHRA's museum ?

[sodbuster]

Grimlok,
I was just at a garage sale and I picked up a "FORD TIMES" December 1950 for a quarter and it has the NieKamp roadster in it as a "Custom Conversions". There is only two pix. There is also a pix of the 34' Ford Roadster that Albert Marx of Hollywood built with the "duvall" windshield that Mike Bishop posted a while back. I will try to get it scanned this weekend and post it on Monday. Oh yea, and there is an article on the Xydias & Batchelor SoCal Special 777 car as the first to break 200mph, but the car is light blue with the red Divco wheels.

Chris Nelson
Kansas

[sodbuster]

Pix from the camera. The scanner does not work with XP.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v473/sodbuster/DSCN1213.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v473/sodbuster/DSCN1212.jpg

[lurker mick]

Sodbuster, just to set the record straight, the light blue "777" car is not the So-Cal streamliner.
it was built by Bill Kenz and Roy Leslie out of Denver.
It was the first car to go 200 m.p.h. in 1950, and the first to go 250 in 1952, utilizing 2 flathead ford engines.
It was later powered by 3 flatheads, and was painted red & white.

[sodbuster]

Yea, I posted on the other post by VAPHEAD with the streamliner in it & in the FORD TIMES article it called it the SoCal Special. Thanks for the info.

Chris Nelson
Kansas

[Evel]

very cool thanks for the repost....

that frame looks like somthing Jimmy White would build...

evel

[flynj1]

Not trying to start anything but for those that understand front end geometry check out the front steer and tie rods to king pin location. Can you image giting in trouble at 200mph. I dont want to

[Brad54]

Look at the roll bar/cage and imagine getting in trouble at 200. Or 100.

Bigger than mine. Harrier and made of brass, too.

-Brad

[metalshapes]

Am I missing something, or are you talking about the backwards mounted spindles?
That screws up the Ackerman, but with the tiny little bit of steering input you use at Bonneville I doubt if that matters.
I like that car, and the nose kinda reminds me of the 2 '40 Hoods welded together like another famous Bonneville Car... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[**DONOTDELETE**]

There are super rare pictures I found of BOTH cars in later incarnations in the story I did for the Rodder's Journal #18. The AMBR car has a rootbeer brown Watson fade job and full '56 Ford hubcaps and W.W.W. tires and the race car is Metallic Orange with spokes on the front and solid Halibrands on the rear set up as a drag car. Really it was a show only car at that point but they used the numbers it had run 10 years earlier to sound impressive.

[flynj1]

Yes the spindles and ackermen are what Im talking about. Yes Im shure your right with very little steering input its no problem but if you get in trouble at even 50mph you are in trouble. The worst thing is I see this done on street driven rods fare to often. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[metalshapes]

You are right, that should not be done on a street car.
I did mess with the Ackerman on one of my old Road Track Cars ( a byproduct of getting Quick Ratio Steering the Low Buck way...)
It did fine on the Track, one of the theorys is that the more heavyly loaded wheel on the outside will have a larger possible slipangle before breaking loose.
I took it out in the street once for a friends wedding, and it was terrible.

[Christian]

On the Ackerman thing, I can't tell from the pictures if this car has the right geometry or not, but if you have the tie-rod behind the axle the imaginary lines drawn through the kingpin and the tie-rod holes should meet at the rear axle, common knowledge, but you can run the tie rod in front of the axle if you make those imaginary lines meet halfway, not-so-common knowledge http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif