I grew up in Midland, TX. To most, Midland is the place where Jessica fell down "the well"*or maybe just the "oil town." BUT to me, Midland will forever be a car town. As a kid, I spent a lot of time at Rattlesnake Raceway watching my heroes of the ... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
I used to work in the Oil Patch around Midland, Texas and just outside of town was the largest Rolls Royce dealership in the world. Big Oil was King and people flocked there from all over for the jobs, housing was hard to find and workers slept in their cars in parking lots. Today there are probably more abandoned buildings than Detroit. Cars were a big part of the economy. Jim Hall built the Chapparell race cars there and a lot of the industry took advantage of the test facilities to develope new prototypes.
Was this the only Mabee Special? I seem to recall a sports roadster that was run by Joe Maybee, also with a Ray Brown engine, and also from Texas? Thought it was yellow....
200 mph with 350 hp is very impressive.If that speed is for real there might be something to learn from this old car.
If this thing is still sitting in a hangar, it would be an ultimate barn find! Maybe it's time for you to take a trip to your hometown...
WOW, what a spectacular body! And a spectacular achievement...I think I saw pics of a roaster like this somewhere...maybe. I wonder if there were very many of these made, or were they one offs? There's a caravan of HAMBers heading for Midland now! Impressive! Eric
I was raised in Odessa, finished school in Midand around 1987. Ryan really understates the point of this being a car town. Really, Midland and Odessa can't be separated much more than Dallas/Ft. Worth. They are forever tied through oil. Mostly blue collar Odessa and Mostly white collar Midland, I remember rivalries that weren't always settled on the track. Nine mile, faudree road, telephone road, midkiff, grandview and andrews hiway. These are the battlegrounds I grew up on. Most were pushed farther out of town as the buildings came, but always, there was a beef to settle in the wee hours of a Saturday night.
Sure remember that article in R&C - what a great car. I thought the shape was very good. Obviously spoilers front and rear might have improved stability but perhaps not so much for top speed. Many stories of the Midland/Odessa car scene, including Jim Hall and Hap Sharp, from my friend Jim Baron who was from Midland.
Cool car! I just bought a pair of wing struts from Gary Austin's estate in Midland, TX, to use as the frame rails on my next project.
I worked at the R/R dealership, it was far from the largest in the world... and BTW it's Odessa /Midland not Midland/Odessa. Can you tell which I'm from? LOL
I was there in 53 and 54 and saw those cars run. Very impressive. The Mabee's were very nice people also....
That car may set a record for the combo of pure power/good looks. I can't believe its whereabouts are unknown!?!
Ryan, I thought Geoff Hacker told me that the Larsen car was currently being restored -- maybe I misunderstood.
Have you seen this article? http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z13379/Victress-S1A.aspx or: http://forums.autosport.com/lofiversion/index.php/t73698-100.html Scroll down about halfway to two postings from a Joe Entin.
there was an article in hotrod about a year ago that talked about the ray brown hemi and the guy mabee special and it was a small foreign sports car.
gotta respect a town where you need to check your boots in the morning for scorpions before you put em on...
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