"Some dang fool gave me a Model T roadster when I was 14 years old and ruined my whole cotton-pickin' life." - Dick Kraft Dick and Art Ingles built the above roadster as it appeared on the cover of the October, 1952 issue of Hot Rod Magazin... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
That is cool, I wonder if they are still around? It will be interesting to see what pops up with this thread.
It's hard to get a handle on just how big or small this thing is. Ryan, it sounds as if it is on the small side. Are there any photos that you know of that show the roadster in comparison to some other vehicle so that its size can be estimated? In any event, a pure work of art and a thing of beauty! Would love to have it parked in my garage...
That is very cool. I wish the pictures were of today's quality. I'd love to see clear pics of how the chassis was put together. It looks like it'd be in the 80-90" wheelbase range judging from the 15" wheels it says it has in the first picture.
If I were this hotrod, and someone tapped me on the shoulder and said your it,I would smile and say thanks,I knew that.
Anyone know if Dick Kraft is related to Charles Kraft? There's a sweet channeled 3w duece on page 227 of the 'Rod and Custom Magazine in the 50s' book (I think May '58, but not 100%) that I've been trying to get more pics and/or info on forever and the article says it belongs to Charles Kraft. Anyone?
In the early 90's,the original was in Ron Fourniers shop for some work..A friend of mine in East Tennessee contracted Ron about building an exact copy of it..Many thousands of dollars later,it was finished,with the only difference being a full sized flathead.Almost identical in every other way,with that beautiful aluminum body...There was a small shot of it in R&C,taken while it was still in Fourniers shop.The owner of the clone and I aren't on speaking terms anymore,and I won't reveal its whereabouts.In fact,he got very pissed when Fournier allowed R&C to publish the photo,with his name and Knoxville mentioned in the writeup.Anybody who went to the Nats South during the 90s saw the car,not IN the show,but we always did the hotel crawl at night.Most had no idea what it was. We went to California in '95 and hung out with Dick Kraft,and his lovely wife,and his nephew...who happened to be Stan Betz..That was a very memorable trip,and Dick couldn't have been nicer..He and my ex-buddy had corresponded a lot about the original,and Dick thought it very cool that he would have the car cloned.. I don't know where the original is now,but Ron Fournier would know..Assuming that Fournier is still around,think he had some heart trouble a few years back..So if you see the clone running around Knoxville,your eyes aren't playing tricks on you
Stuff is still around........ lotssa stuff you just have to work hard and get a little bit lucky. It does help to obsessed
Funny quote,"...form a race car that looks almost decent adoring street trim" Almost decent, that's rich.
About a year ago we went a guys shop to look at a '32 Phaeton he had for sale. There was an old picture on the wall of him in one of those 2 cars around 1970- it had wide 5 slots and a Chevy engine. He said it was dangerously fast. It had Cal plates on it and a small plexi windshield. I've seen pictures of it around that same period in Rod & Custom (I think at an L.A. Roadster show). He didn't know where it was now. He was an old time bodyman who knew everyone and had worked with all the big names- neat guy.
"Flawless aluninium body work hints at the master's touch", complete with scollops and full race v8-60, what a combo and state of the art in it's day. I'd love to stretch it's legs a little! Interesting story from Williebill too. Also, wouldn't want to be bent over Hans' knee, or have him touch my ass, glad I'm already a member!
Great post Ryan. The HRM feature was Oct. '54. There are some pics of the car in Hot Rod History book 2. I searched the net a while back and these are the only 2 pics I found.
Some day someone will find that car sitting in the darkest corner of a small shop in a real out-of-the-way little burg. It will be covered in dust and probably with a crisp, old tarp pulled over it, possibly with a few neglected old parts piled on top. I can only hope that someone will be me, and I'll go in hock up to my chin to make the deal and take it home!
I saw one of the cars -- looked exactly like the red one in post #17 -- at the 50th Detroit Autorama. What was that, 2002? I believe it still had a 60 in it, and it was in perfect condition. I shot a couple of pix of it, but I can't find them.
A beautiful car. Somewhere in the archives I have a magazine or annual with the photo article on it. It may have been in one of the stories on Dick Kraft from the early 60's.
The one at the 50th cobo hall was supposed to be the Kraft car that Fournier restored. I think the long time owner is from the Detroit area. Art Ingels twin was rumoured to have been blown apart in some insurance scam long ago. I sold the Tennesee clone owner a 8 grand winged tach 15 yrs ago. I was quite impressed with the lengths he went to when he replicated the car;I remember he said he had $8000 just in the rudge wire wheels.
Can you imagine how nervous that dude was when he dropped those wheels off at the wheel shop to be cut down to 15"?
The Kraft and Ingels roadsters are two of my favorites. Pat Ganahl wrote the definitive article on these two cars in the October 1992 issue of R&C Magazine. I have that article if anyone wants me to scan and send it. Ron Fournier did a metal shaping newsletter in the 90’s in which he covered the restoration of Kraft’s car as well as the recreation mentioned earlier. Norm Crum owned the Ingels car in the early 70’s when it appeared as a single photo in the March 1971 Hot Rod Magazine and the fall 1971 Street Rod quarterly. It was wrecked and only the nose remains, owned by someone in San Diego. Here is a link to the Ingels car as it was raced in the 60’s http://www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/KurtisCars.html#Holmes2
Ron Fourniers work on the clone was amazing..and yeah,the clone owner had many sleepless nights during the build.I always told him if anything ever happened to him,I would help the family out,and give his grieving widow exactly the amount she THOUGHT he'd spent on it..Hey,that's what friends are for,right? The car is damn light,absolutely stunning,and damn quick,too..Last time I talked to him,he had gathered up a bunch of V8-60 stuff,in case he ever went that route.He only had one major problem after the car was finished.The flattie that was built by MCF blew up immediately,and he had to build another one..After seeing Fourniers work,I said if I ever won the lottery,I was gonna own a clone of the Phantom Corsair,if I could get him to build it for me..
Thanks for digging up another great story Ryan - Not to get too far off track, but do all of you know that Art Ingles is credited with being the originator of the Go Kart? A very clever and talented fellow indeed. I assume the Dick Kraft mentioned is the fellow who built the legendary "BUG" - the little flathead machine that's recognized by many (including the NHRA) as the first "rail" dragster. What an amazing pair.
Doug Caruthers was my dad. He also owned the 25 Chrisman car before it was the Chrisman car, was a member of the road runners, and at the time of his death was the winningest car owner in USAC. He had everything from lakes cars to Indy cars during his life.