Thanks Ryan! Absolutely fantastic series. Un-frickin-believable. It'll take several reads to fully digest. Excellent photo's. The HAMB is King, long live the King!
Random thoughts... 1. teaser - any chance of a video of that flatty....really would be a fitting element to finish the series....(other than taking it for a lap at speed..) 2, Coby - kicking it....Soul lives...as per Juan....have seen legends shape metal better with a tree stump and a tired old hammer then some guys with a shed full of top tools....whens a 'coffee table book' coming out...put me on the list to buy... 3. any more shots of that carb arrangement...I'm inspired...and I've just got my newly machined 8BA block back 4. Ryan - this is just the beginning.....like shifting up a gear....wind it out.... 5. Mr Cobbs....thank you Cheers, Drewfus
Not only very well written, but the photography is simply outstanding. After reading this series and viewing the photographs, how does one "not get it"?
Ryan, great thread ,great story. allways good to see something from the past resurface. thanks again ........... Jack
Ryan, That was the BIGGEST tease 3-part story line I've read. Way bigger tease than any girl I ever met. Who you been hangin around with?? What a bitchen story with an absolutely great conclusion. It's good to see the roadster is in capable hands. Coby could have had a Kodak Brownie and still made this roadster shine with his talent. Just beautiful. Keep up the great work!!!!! Gaters
You guys are like Raiders of the Lost Art. (The lost art of Traditional Hot Rodding that is). Pure Hot Rod archeology. That's amazing that Tom Cobbs kept everything!! I can't wait to hear about all of the parts and where they're from. Thanks for the great work!
that is a great car.. as well as a great story... and the pictures are very cool... but to tell you the truth I would have liked to see front and rear 3/4 views from a standing position as well as the artistic visions of the photographer. I'm seeing this as a trend in some magazines as well as online magazine style sites. too many artistic photos and no straight up "this is what the car looks like when you see it in person" shots.
i work on my rod, then i read this stuff, i read this stuff then i work on my rod. thanks so much for the greatest inspirations. great story.
Within days after realizing what I had found, I began thinking about how best to tell the hot rodding world. Should I take it to a show? How about Bakersfield? Pitch the story to the editors or a popular magazine? Then I read Ryan's Bob Roddick pieces. I was blown away to see the color shots of the little red roadster from Roddicks 1951 Bonneville shoot. There it was looking just as I had found it only weeks before. I had the answer--Ryan should tell the story. Man did I make the right call. I have felt great satisfaction reading the series and all the super responses and accolades. Satisfaction that Cobbs has been duly honored. And in the perfect place! It was a true pleasure working with Ryan and Coby--the readers' have already said it, but these guys are pros! They honor their crafts just like---well like Tom Cobbs did his! Hope some of you have a chance to stop by and see us in Winnemucca. We'll have the coffee on and the cars out. Ralph
Ok, that's it, I'm done. That car is awesome! So nice it hurts. I need to stop now and just go home and try to forget I ever saw it. You just can't make stuff better than that.
Ok, still dealing with the shock on this one, but also wanted to add nice pics to Cody as well. You take some great shots. And thanks to Ryan too for putting it all together and telling the story. Ok, might need a designated driver to make it home safely tonight.............crap that's a nice car. Man, wish I could 'find' stuff like that.
Articles like this bring a tear to my eye. Looking down those Strombergs made me say: "Holy shit". Beautiful job to all envolved. Thank you for making me feel alive today.
Tremendous story. These historical stories give me a chill. Thanks to all involved for the great coverage. So great to see that induction gear back in service. Thrilled to the bone!! Sololobo
Put everything that's been said all together and you've scratched the surface of what this car is and what the HAMB is. Just about every day this place is like opening King Tut's Tomb. We get to see "wonderful things", things that might go unrecorded or brought to the attention of a hungry observer. Thanks to all who contributed to this series and thanks to Ryan for this sight. We haven't seen the total impact of what you started with this deal. It just keeps getting better. Frank
And let's get up a decent scan of the old magazine article...it's up in part two, but very fuzzy. It gives the car's development history in its racing years, explains carb setup, and not least, gives you even MORE to appreciate in great modern photography replacing little grainy shots on bad paper! AND it shows the missing lid...
Those pictures put everything into perspective. Now I know what Archimedes must have felt as he cried "Eureka". That is one beautiful roadster, matter of fact and to the point, just like it should be. Its just like the apple the snake offered to Adam. Too tempting to turn down but knowing it would get him in a whole lot of trouble once he got into it.
What a great series! Does anyone have any history about where it raced? I assume it was drag raced? More info on that please!
The 1951 "Motorsports" feature I have covers the roadster's development and racing. There is a bad scan in part one...need to get a good one up in this section!
From the streets of Sana Monica, Glendale and Van Nuys beginning in late 1947, to El Mirage, 1948, to Goleta Airport, 1949, to Bonneville,1951. Raced both Coupe (removeable hardtop) and Roadster classes--trophies galore. Primarily dry lakes racing--with some limited drag racing, but other than Goleta not significant. Still researching the car's race history (if any) after 1951. Records show Cobbs went on to race various cars on the salt (primarily coupes) up until at least 1964. Still researching any subsequent activity. Have a look at Ryan's pieces on Bob Roddick and the accompaning color pic's from 1951.
Steve Muck was just in....the guy who took that picture of Mas' truck, and who's roadster is being towed behind it. I asked him if he knew Tom Cobbs and he said "Oh yeah I know Tom!" Steve is from Santa Monica and says he didn't remember the roadster, that Tom must have sold it before he moved there (from Woodland Hills). Used to hang out in the garage with Tom all the time. Told me how Tom kept burning the tops off of all his pistons so he started rounding the tops before they got a chance to burn, which lowered the compression too making it good for the blower motor. Says when he would go to Tom's there were pistons all over the place. He remembers Tom's coupe very well, was pretty excited about seeing the picture of it in part #1. I'm e-mailing him links to the 3-pert series here, maybe he'll pop in.
Incredible that this car survived like it did. I wonder how many people realize that this is possibly the most significant hot rod ever.........
And take not that tom cobbs was a great friend of my grandfather phil freudiger. In fact tom ran his motor in my grandfather's modified in the 50's. The top was cut off by tom and my grandfather phil freudiger. The car is a coupe, not a roaster. Tom cut the top off. My grandfather phil still remembers how hard it was cutting the top of the car off was. The wood was harder to cut threw then the metal. I have many timming tags of freudiger and cobbs. When cobbs went over 200mph it was in my grandfather's modified driven by phil freudiger. REAL HISTORY!!!! This kind of stuff needs to be written down so it is not lost. Another fact on the car....The dash appears to be done by phil freudiger; my grandfather. Furthermore;with another fact, my father william freudiger was to be given that car. My father remember tom wanting to give the car to my dad when he was a kid. The car sat in tom's garage covered in boxs and other debis. If anyone wants true history of tom let me know. My grandfather lives today and still remembers his good friend tom cobbs.
The Jalopy Journal
