History Vintage "Cageless" Midget Picture Thread

Hey Guys, I've seen the Hot Rod and Sprint Car threads, so how about we get a Cageless Midget thread going.

Here is one that I restored. Originally it was built by Don Edmunds of Anaheim in 1968, and driven by Bob Tattersal. The chassis number is HB40. It won the "Best Restoration" at the 2006 VSAQ show in Brisbane, Australia.

It has a 110ci Offenhauser, engine number 199. I rebuilt this from scratch, and enjoy doing Offenhauser restorations.

 

Here's one of me and my younger brother (he's driving the sissy car with the rollcage). The second photo is me leading a Kurtis Roadster #9, driven by Arthur Sollitt.

Mine is an Kurtis/Offy that was driven by Leroy Warriner, and his is an Edmunds/Offy.

We have a great club in Brisbane, Australia, so if you're ever coming "Down Under" then please write.

http://vsaq.homestead.com/

 

A couple of shots of me in Kurtis midgets. In the first pic I'm hot lapping the '48 V8-60 Kurtis I restored in 1987, chassis # 275. The track is the Tulare Thunderbowl 1/4 mile. The second pic is me in my Dad's V8-60 Kurtis, chassis # 121, at Huntington Beach in 1947. I didn't hot lap that day. The family still owns dad's midget. It is currently in the Justice Brothers museum.

 

WOWWWWWW Dean! My dad has wanted a V8-60 Kurtis for years- someday....

 

Good idea for this thread. Hope it sticks around. Heres a couple pics of mine. It was built by Dean Meltzer of San Diego. Dean drove pre and post war in So. Cal. He was a long time friend of and fabricator for Jim Culbert. Tube frame , Aluminum body, Strong V8 60. Nice short track car on dirt or pavement.

 

I've always loved these old midgets and hope to own one some day......when I do I have the wife's permission to keep it in the living room....right in front of the couch.

My earliest memory was, as a little kid I got to go into the pits at Wall's Stadium in St. Louis after the races and every time my Dad would let me sit in Arnie Knepper's black #1. The Kneppers were old friends of the family. The sounds.....the smells, awesome.

 

That makes me smile at a memory of a pre-WWII midget we restored in the late 1970s. Restored it from a basket case and it turned out so nice that the guy who owned it decided to add a Den onto his home to store it inside, and enjoy. The construction costs over ran his estimate so much, that when he was done, he had to sell the midget to pay for them..
Also..LOTS of early/no cage midgets can be seen on my site, that is referenced in my signature below...

 

Here is one I just got from a historian of my dad's car. This is the one with the Willison 6 cyl in it.



Josh

 

TDC, great picture and I would love to see any other stuff you have on Wisconsin midgets including any inside stuff on Eggers and Vetting. Would love to hear more about any history you have.

But, I have to ask, what is a Willison 6cyl. ???

 

Years ago there was a V8-60 Midget in an old auto parts/service garage on Harrisburg Ave. on the east side of Houston. Neat piece.

 

Here is a Chevy II four bar car I am building, it is loosely based on an edmunds chassis. I have several updates on the build in the vintage sprint car thread. Mounting the engine and radiator are next on the list.

 

tractorguy

Here is a link to a thread I started earlier about the Willison 6 cyl.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=319043


Here is another nice pic I got recently. Eugene Meyer's car with who I belive is Al Muldenhauer driving



Josh

 

Josh,
That is Matt Tague in Gene Meyer's black #5. That picture was in 67 or 68 season please note the left side injectors of the Eggers and Vetting cast iron 8 port cylinder head. The Car that I drove for Gene Meyer in 69 was new car with a Chevy II head that was legal in USAC that year.

Thanks,
Al Moldenhauer

 

my father in law Fireman Al Jaquith

 

Here is a pic of the one that my dad bought a couple years ago. We are bringing it around to car shows hoping to learn some history about it. It is crosley powered and has a starter and trans in it so it is easy to use. Hopefully I will have the time in the near future to post more pics.

 

I love this thread. Midgets are great, wish the still raced them like they did back in the 40's & 50's. Here are some taken at the Chili Bowl. These are Bob Nowicke specials that were driven by Lloyd Ruby and A.J. Foyt back in the 50's & 60's.

 

kurtis!!

 

Thank you for the correction Al. I guess I didn't look close enough at the pic.

BTW: My Dad is interested in getting together with you and Roger sometime. Maybe we could come down and take the two of you to breakfast?

Josh

 

Here are some vintage midgets from New Zealand........

 

Very cool thread

 

To bad I don't know how to make these pictures bigger. Anyway here is a much younger me in what was a semi current midget at the time.

 

Rich: I didn't know you were one of old roundy-rounders. Butch

 

That car was run by an older guy that I car pooled to work with. I was just a helper, but I still have my Bakers Whites, the pants we were required to wear in the pits back then. He ran it at the old San Jose paved oval where EastRidge Mall is now. Anything that could convert money into noise was pretty interesting to me then and now.

 

Josh.....thanks for the link on the Willison 6cyl. I had totally missed it previously. Great stuff.

 

My Father

 

this one needs a cage

 

I was thinking that pic was so wrong until I read your remark. I'm ashamed to say, That's funny!

 

DOH! Sorry about that... blame my son that wrote this for me. These darn young kids don't know nothin'

 

Its a shame that this thread is not growing like the pre-69 Big Car one has. There must be a million old pics of the small cars from the glory days.
I grew up a half mile from one of the top midget tracks in the country; Hatfield Speedway in PA.
Back in the day we had one of the best ever behind the wheel of a Curtis with a "growler" under the hood. Im speaking of the great George Fonder of Lansdale, PA.
I will try and locate some old midget pics, try and get this deal off the ground!!

 

Danny Oakes at Balboa Stadium, 1946, in my dad's first Kurtis, chassis # 4.