Old Race Car found... updates.

Me too...

This is going to be a lot of fun.

 

Just read through all the posts and see that the car once lived here in Connecticut, so it must have raced at Lime Rock Park. Give them a call or email and see if they have any info for you.

 

Bttt
Had a blast on Sat. Can't wait to see this thing come together. There was a pretty good flow of poeple by it all day. Word seemed to travel fast through the pit area.

 

Thanks again for picking me and the car up and bringing us to the Track, Miles.
You drove a lot of hours to make it all possible.

Yeah, when we were there, there was a lot of interest...
Lots of questions, and nice comments.
Most people there seemed really excited about the fact that this car was found, and that it will be brought back to race ready condition again...

 

Some more updates...

I'm still collecting Parts and Info for the Car.

And I got this pic.
Sofar, this is the only known pic of the Morgensen/Bird special.

 

So, aerodynamics weren't a concern...?
Keep at it. The specials of the 50's intrigue me.

 

This is a kool car deal. I'm glad that the car fell into the right hands. Where did you get that pic? What track was it takin' at and when?
Have fun,Smokey

 

I got that scan from the guy who took the pic at March AFB in 1954.

The Owner/Driver was Tracy Bird.
The car was built by Dick Morgensen and his Fabricator Boyd Hough.
And it is the Sistercar to the Morgensen Plymouth ( which later bacame Old Yeller #1 )

 

Alex, I love the photo and I love the car! That thing just oozes character. Good luck with the build.

 

looks great can't wait to see more pics

 

Damn cool info and pic.........that thing is crazy.

 

I am looking for Whitey Theusen's sports racing car to restore for vintage racing. Does anyone know of its location or present owner? I was told that a gentleman named Reagan Rulau (sp?) may own it or know of its whereabouts. I would appreciate it if anyone can point me towards the car or Mr. Rulau.

QUASAR

 

Come on, you can do better than this for an intro.
Here I expected to see more info on Alex's car.
Harrumph!

 

That's ok look how old the post is.

 

My car is still waiting patiently waiting for me to restore it.



So progress has been slower than I weanted it to be, but at least its sitting in a dry spot.

I have been able to find some more Info ( mostly about the sistercar before it went to Max Balchowsky, but that should help me with the specs on mine...)
And I've been collecting period pieces that are right for the car.

I'm going to mate a Nailhead Buick to a XK120 gearbox.
This was the hot setup back then, and from what I've found out Morgensen and Hough ( his Fabricator ), liked that setup.
I have those, and a aftermaket bellousing that should be a good start ( the same brand as Balchowsky had in his when it was in one of the Magazines )

I have the correct rear fenders ( Chevy Truck ), and the correct taillights.

6 deuce intake, steering wheel, seats, and a sparewheel cover that I can make front fenders out off.

I have been taking this slow, because I want to do it right.
And do right by the car...





As far as Regan Rulau ( sp ) I believe he was on the HAMB for a little while and Ernie Nagamatsu was too.

If they still are, maybe they will post a reply or send a P/M...

 

That's March AFB in the background with what look like B-47 bombers all over the ramp. Track is either Riverside or perhaps a road course at the old Flabob airport. I don't think Riverside's track was that close to the runway at March but my memory is faded. On second thought, that might be on the base at March? I know General LeMay allowed racing on SAC bases back then so perhaps that is a race on the runway at March. That big red fire truck looks like a USAF airfield fire truck so that's probably a race set up on the base.

 

Yes.

That pic was taken at March AFB.


Driver was Tracy Bird.

 

Here are the entry lists of that race.





And a better version of the pic.

 

Alex...in the pic of your bare chassis...am I seeing a reversed split wishbone, setup as a trailing link or is the pic simply blocking the view of a leading link split wishbone?
The cross rod thats in two pieces...broken sway bar???

I'd love to see some various angle views of that frame. I'm sure there are many interesting little details!
Good to hear your still "on" it!

 

The reversed split wishbone is a later mod.

And its done pretty crudely...

It looks like the guy who started to restore the car before me was already trying to remove it ( thats why its cut )

It has some brackets welded to the chassis with way too much weld, the swaybar itself is welded to the wishbones ( cant be good for spring steel ),
Its in the way of where the bodywork will be,
And there is no way to R & R the pillarblocks that it all pivots on.

Fortunately there are some pieces left of the original mounting points,
of regular split bones, where you'd expect them to be.
Behind the axle...


It does have many cool details.

Some of them would be pretty hard or even impossible to duplicate.

Most of the welds on it are absolutely top notch.
( the most beautiful O/A welds I've ever seen )

And some welds ( the later modifications ) are rough.
It has some flamecut modifications that are rough, done in a hurry...

Most of the bodymounts are missing, but when I strip the paint off at the spots where the LeTourette see through drawing ( the one off OY1 ) has them, you can see that it had its mounts in exactly the same spots.



It also has the connected rear spring shackles ( this was a Morgensen trick )

And there are signs that this car has been upside down, before it got its rollbars.
( scraped and damaged tubes, which could not toch the ground with the hoops on it...)

So its very similar to OY1, but there are also differences.
The front spring is different, buggy spring Vs torsion.
It doesnt look like it ever had a 4bar in the front
The outside brake handle is different.

And there are no signs of repair from a crash like this one that OY1 was in.

 

Glad you finally found a photo of the car, and at speed, that is even better! There are a lot of clones of different race carsout there, but having a real one and tracking down its history is part of the fun IMO. It is whjat is is and I'm sure you'll have a nice period correct car when youare finishes. Keep us updated, and now that we know what it looks like maybe more photos will turn up.

 

Yeah, that would be great.

If anybody finds any Pics or Info, or knows about someone who might have any,
Please let me know.

And you are right.
Tracking down the History is a lot of fun.

 

Awesome news!!!

This morning, these pics were in my Email inbox.

This gives me the info I need on the placement of the spare tire, the taillights, the colorscheme, the licence plate, etc.


Sent by a HAMBer who is also into vintage Road Race cars.

Thank you Tom.

 

VERY happy for you and your find Alex!

 

These pics are a huge find for me.

Its a big piece of the puzzle that was missing.

I might have to push it up the "cars waiting to be built" line now...

 

I am going to throw up some pics of an old "road racer" my brother has.

 

Wow, great to follow this.

 

I notice on the above entry list for March AFB 1954 that Max Balchowsky was there in the '32 roadster with Buick.

I run the Parkinson Jaguar Special in the Monterey and Sonoma vintage races. We pit with the Manning and Baldwin Specials, so please stop in and chat about these unique old road racers.

 

Neat stuff. Could I ask for some larger scans when you have the time? As you know, I really get stoked on this early road racing hot rod stuff, too. Gary

 

Thanks guys.