I don't know how many of you are familiar with Octane magazine out of the UK, but its a very high end, glossy monthly with great photos and articles, mainly on classic European racing and sports cars. I caught this fantastic article in the October is... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
It's amazing what a bit of ingenuity will create when a few guys decide to go racing. I see a lot of things on that car that a lot of guys think of as being relatively recent idea and yet they were used on a car that is now 80 years old. <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
Yeah, Octane magazine is a good read. I was even fortunate enough to have my own car featured in it. Some interesting, and different cars in there! That Bloody Mary car is too cool!
The car was at Shelsley Walsh earlier this year doing some 'demonstration' runs up the hill car was taken out of 'hibernation' for the event, turns out that the crankcase on one of the engines is in about a dozen or so pieces and had been temporarily tacked together to get it running I understand that 'funds permitting' it may be restored to a more useable condition. still great to see the car at a real historic venue. . .
There's a couple of vids on youtube of the car at Prescott: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHC7_vV6zDU
Ooh. John Bolster's car. It was as important in the history of the Special as cars like the Duane Spencer roadster were in the history of the hot rod.
JAP V twins were THE pre-war V twin motors in England and Europe. Brough-Superior used them until around 1936.Lots of record attempts were done using them. Morgan used wooden frames for a long time.Actually stronger and more flexible than steel ( don't try to Z it though). Great story.
The earliest Fords had wood frames as well. Including Henry's race car the 999. I love these real oldies. Is this the next level of rat rod? Wood frame, maybe even air cooled roadsters. You notice that the only fender on the Bloody Mary car is the one next to the driver, asymetricly stripped down roadster is very cool. I've seen the 999 several times at Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. It set a landspeed record on Lake St. Clair in 1904. 91 mph. How Cool is that?
Bloody Mary lost her engines temporarily - they lived here briefly... http://www.flickr.com/photos/29043759@N03/2825209437/in/set-72157608892153628/
Diggin it a lot. Like the extra frame rail straight up the middle. Well guys, there's a set of plans there....
Bloody Mary has always intrigued me. Glad to see it on the HAMB. Low buck, low tech, high ingenuity, and high results, isn't that what hot rodding is all about? Can you imagine a conversation between John Bolster and Bob Rufi?
I've had an interest since I read the Profile Publication booklet on 'Bloody Mary' about 35 years ago in the local library. Two big motorcycle V-twin engines and as I recall only about 800 pounds... must need nerves of steel to drive that thing... Or maybe as the British say you need to be 'a little daft'... maybe both. Piper106 Question for today. I recall Bloody Mary being listed as 7 cwt plus a few pounds. Why are there a 110 pounds in a British 'hundred weight' (cwt)???
Here are a couple of photos, one of the 4 engined version. The rear shot backing up is interesting also... Just a cool piece of history... '22
Question for today. I recall Bloody Mary being listed as 7 cwt plus a few pounds. Why are there a 110 pounds in a British 'hundred weight' (cwt)??? My converter says 112 pounds for a "hundred weight". Ok, why are there 112 pounds in a hundredweight??? Piper106 <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
Yeah ... think about the wind chill on a frozen lake at 91 MPH in a car as open as that. BRRRRRR!!! Oh, and the engines in the cars (there were two, actually) were ... well, the Wikipedia article about them describes them like this: Let's see, 18.8 liters is almost 1150 cubic inches, right? And that's a 4 cylinder engine, so over 280 cubic inches per cylinder! Not too many racing cars with engines like that being built today, eh? Those things must have sounded like tug boats!
Profile Publication also gathered 3-5 booklets together and bound them, creating a very enjoyable series of books. My library had these available when I was just a sprout, and eager to read anything about wheeled vehicles. "Bloody Mary" was definitely a favorite. Can anyone recall how many Bloody Mary versions were built?
Not bad for a couple of kids with basic hand tools! Love it! My favourite line from the write-up; "a car that travelled mostly sideways"
Love it. The look, the ideas, the construction, the name. Awesome that something like that was created nearly 90 years ago. Hats off to the Bolster brothers. And thanks for the article Ryan, another car I would have missed without your help.