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HWM "Stovebolt Special"

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by rodncustom, Nov 18, 2007.

  1. rodncustom
    Joined: Sep 24, 2007
    Posts: 1,313

    rodncustom
    Member

    Here are some pictures I dug up while getting some info for a fellow HAMBer on this car. These pictures were taken right after my dad finished restoring the car for a customer about 25 years ago. That year we took it to Monterey to run in the Historics, then it was shown at Pebble Beach on Sunday. Just thought the HAMB might want to see these old shots.

    I can't figure out how to make them bigger though.:confused:
     

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    aussie57wag and kiwijeff like this.
  2. rodncustom
    Joined: Sep 24, 2007
    Posts: 1,313

    rodncustom
    Member

    Here they are right side up... I'm still figuring this picture thing out:rolleyes:
     

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  3. Thanks for posting the pics. mmmmm road racing hot rod.
     
  4. Chebby belair
    Joined: Apr 17, 2006
    Posts: 849

    Chebby belair
    Member
    from Australia

    Nice, very nice, what's in it?
     

  5. fur biscuit
    Joined: Jul 22, 2005
    Posts: 7,828

    fur biscuit
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    send them to me i will post them larger.
     
  6. Royalshifter
    Joined: May 29, 2005
    Posts: 15,579

    Royalshifter
    Moderator
    from California

    I am speechless..........simply awesome.
     
  7. fur biscuit
    Joined: Jul 22, 2005
    Posts: 7,828

    fur biscuit
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    the special was built by the guy who became Sterling Moss's mechanic (if I recall) Alf...

    the car is still in existence and racing over in jolly ol'england
     
  8. noboD
    Joined: Jan 29, 2004
    Posts: 8,458

    noboD
    Member

    Thanks for sharing.
     
  9. pimpin paint
    Joined: May 31, 2005
    Posts: 4,937

    pimpin paint
    Member
    from so cal

    Hey,

    Yes, I beleve that the car is now owned by an editor of one of the
    major motoring magazines in England. "Classics & Sports Cars "or
    "Classics & Troughbreds" or something.


    Swankey Devils C.c.
     
  10. RichFox
    Joined: Dec 3, 2006
    Posts: 10,020

    RichFox
    Member Emeritus

    I would use extreme care about who I sent those pictures to. Email would be alright.
     
  11. Westside Lefty
    Joined: Jul 25, 2007
    Posts: 332

    Westside Lefty
    Member
    from Venice

  12. Double wow!
     
  13. rodncustom
    Joined: Sep 24, 2007
    Posts: 1,313

    rodncustom
    Member

    It's a tri power small block Chevrolet.

    Curious, why? You may PM me if you choose.
     
  14. GaryC.
    Joined: Mar 24, 2007
    Posts: 1,557

    GaryC.

    "The Stovebolt Special" was in the late 50's - early 60's movie...
    "The Racers".

    When I was a kid I saw that movie
    and the car stuck with me all these years. Thanks for posting!

    I believe it had a small-block Chevy with a 3 deuces.
     
  15. fur biscuit
    Joined: Jul 22, 2005
    Posts: 7,828

    fur biscuit
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

  16. fur biscuit
    Joined: Jul 22, 2005
    Posts: 7,828

    fur biscuit
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

  17. fur biscuit
    Joined: Jul 22, 2005
    Posts: 7,828

    fur biscuit
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

  18. PeteFromTexas
    Joined: Apr 4, 2007
    Posts: 3,837

    PeteFromTexas
    Member

  19. fur biscuit
    Joined: Jul 22, 2005
    Posts: 7,828

    fur biscuit
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Does anyone know who built the nose for this car? I remember reading that the grill treatment was some guys trade mark with the pointy bits on the top/bottom/ sides. and that be built either noses or whole bodies for sprint/ race cars.
     
  20. fur biscuit
    Joined: Jul 22, 2005
    Posts: 7,828

    fur biscuit
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    here is another nose with the same treatment.

    [​IMG]


    sorry for the hijack.
     
  21. pimpin paint
    Joined: May 31, 2005
    Posts: 4,937

    pimpin paint
    Member
    from so cal

    Hey,

    A street driven Alta, wow! talk 'bout a real "hot rod"! Didn't those
    have Anzanis for engines?


    Swankey Devils C.c.
     
  22. Westside Lefty
    Joined: Jul 25, 2007
    Posts: 332

    Westside Lefty
    Member
    from Venice

  23. TKuhl
    Joined: Feb 7, 2007
    Posts: 80

    TKuhl
    Member
    from Pac NW

    Giggidy Giggidy!
     
  24. noboD
    Joined: Jan 29, 2004
    Posts: 8,458

    noboD
    Member

    Hey Wisenheimer, I'm thinking you better find some MORE pics of that Alta.
     
  25. fur biscuit
    Joined: Jul 22, 2005
    Posts: 7,828

    fur biscuit
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    definately. more pics of the single seat, street driven Alta.
     
  26. noboD
    Joined: Jan 29, 2004
    Posts: 8,458

    noboD
    Member

    I did a google on Alta and wound up in Russia somewhere. I've never heard of it.
     
  27. fur biscuit
    Joined: Jul 22, 2005
    Posts: 7,828

    fur biscuit
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Alta Car and Engineering Company...

    Alta Car and Engineering Company

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


    Jump to: navigation, search
    <!-- start content --><TABLE class=toccolours style="FONT-SIZE: 90&#37;; FLOAT: right; MARGIN-LEFT: 1em; WIDTH: 24em; TEXT-ALIGN: left"><CAPTION style="FONT-SIZE: larger">Alta as a Formula One constructor</CAPTION><TBODY><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center" colSpan=2>[​IMG]</TD></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH>Official name/s</TH><TD>Alta Car and Engineering Company</TD></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH>Base</TH><TD>Surbiton, Surrey, UK</TD></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH>Founder/s</TH><TD>Geoffrey Taylor</TD></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH></TH><TD></TD></TR><TR><TH style="FONT-SIZE: 108%; PADDING-TOP: 0.6em; TEXT-ALIGN: center" colSpan=2>Formula One World Championship career
    </TH></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH>Engines</TH><TD>Alta</TD></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH>Entrants</TH><TD>privateers</TD></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH>Debut</TH><TD>1950 British Grand Prix</TD></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH>Final race</TH><TD>1952 British Grand Prix</TD></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH>Races competed</TH><TD>5</TD></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH>Race victories</TH><TD>0</TD></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH></TH><TD></TD></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH></TH><TD></TD></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH>Pole positions</TH><TD>0</TD></TR><TR style="VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><TH>Fastest laps</TH><TD>0</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The Alta Car and Engineering Company was a sports and racing car manufacturer from England, commonly known simply as Alta. Their cars contested five FIA World Championship races between 1950 and 1952, as well as Grand Prix events prior to this. They also supplied engines to a small number of other constructors, most noteably the Connaught and HWM teams.
    <TABLE class=toc id=toc summary=Contents><TBODY><TR><TD>Contents

    [hide]
    </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><SCRIPT type=text/javascript>//<![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } //]]></SCRIPT>
    [edit] Early history

    The company was founded by engineer Geoffrey Taylor in Surbiton, Surrey, and produced its first automobile in 1929. Alta's first vehicle was a sports car powered by an 1.1L engine, featuring an aluminium block, wet liners and shaft-driven twin overhead camshafts, which he designed himself. It was offered in normal or supercharged form giving 49 or 76bhp. A choice of 4 speed non synchromesh or pre-selector gearboxes was available. These were mounted on a low-slung chassis frame with open two or four seat bodies. Thirteen were made of which five are thought to survive.
    [​IMG]
    A pre-WWII (c. 1938) Alta competition model fitted with twin rear wheels for added traction in hillclimb events.


    This design, and its later 1.5L and 2L sister cars, sold steadily, but in limited numbers, right up to the outbreak of war in 1939. With the highest power option the car was capable of 120 mph and 0-60 mph in 7 seconds. In 1937 the company introduced front independent suspension to the chassis. They became popular among club racers due to their ability to be converted easily from 1.5L to 2L or vice versa, allowing drivers on a limited budget to contest more than one class without having to buy a second car.
    [​IMG]
    A pre-war Alta competition model in circuit racing trim.


    In 1934 Taylor produced the first Alta to be designed solely for competition. The resulting light-weight, off-set single seat voiturette cars achieved quite a reputation in shorter events such as hill-climbs, sprints and time-trials. Once again, Alta's keen pricing, in comparison to the expensive ERA models, resulted in many sales to amateur racers. However, a lack of reliability kept the Alta name out of the long distance Grand Prix events. A revised voiturette design appeared in 1937, with independent front suspension. George Abecassis had some success with this design, winning a string of events before the war interrupted. As war approached, Taylor was drafting designs for a new straight-8 engine and a third-generation voiturette, this time with fully independent suspension. This last prewar car was highly advanced for its time, and was very nearly complete in late 1939. However, as soon as war was declared, Alta's production capabilities were given over to the war effort, and production of the new designs was halted.

    [edit] Post-war


    [edit] Alta GP

    Despite Alta's diminutive size, and their status as a primarily road car manufacturer, Alta was in fact the first British constructor to produce a new Grand Prix car following the end of World War II. Austerity limitations of raw materials did not stop Taylor beginning production of designs he had been developing throughout the war years, and the Alta GP car appeared in 1948. He also restarted production of the road-going sports cars, although without further development funding the popularity of these models rapidly dwindled. Prior to 1948, the last pre-war Alta was campaigned with varying degrees of success.
    The Alta GP car was a development of the pre-war design, but was powered by a supercharged 1.5L engine, developing approximately 230bhp, and retained the 4-speed pre-selector gearbox of the prewar cars. Taylor developed the independent suspension design further, introducing wishbones and rubber linkage bushings. The first car was supplied to privateer driver George Abecassis, who campaigned it throughout 1948 and into 1949, but only finished once. Abecassis would go on to use Alta engines to power his HWM team from 1951 &#8211; 1955.
    Modifications were made to the bodywork and gearchange for the subsequent 1949 and 1950 GP2 and GP3 vehicles, GP3 also gaining a two-stage supercharger. Once again they were built to order, and supplied to Geoff Crossley and Joe Kelly respectively. Crossley took GP2 to the 1949 Belgian Grand Prix, but could only manage seventh place. In 1950 he set a number of speed records over 50 miles, 50km and 100km at the Monthl&#233;ry circuit. Kelly concentrated mostly on Irish races, and his best finish was third in the 1952 Ulster Trophy. Both drivers took their respective chassis to the 1950 British Grand Prix, the first ever Formula One World Championship race. However, while Kelley finished, he was unclassified; Crossley retired with a transmission fault.
    Kelley later carried out extensive modification and rebuilding work on GP3, running it as the Irish Racing Automobiles (IRA) car during 1952 and 1953. His most significant change was to replace the Alta engine with a Bristol unit.

    [edit] Alta F2

    [​IMG]
    An Alta F2 with bonnet removed.


    Lacking the funding necessary to develop a Formula One successor to the GP design, Taylor decided to move into the junior Formula Two category. The engine produced was a 1970cc inline 4-cylinder, naturally-aspirated unit, developing around 130bhp. Unfortunately, Alta's own chassis design followed the preceding GP car very closely, and this resulted in an overweight car considering the greatly reduced power available from the unsupercharged motors. Tony Glaze and Gordon Watson took F2/1 and F2/2 on a tour of European races, but good results were hard to come by.
    Indeed, the F2 chassis was so much like the GP design that the uncompleted GP/4 machine was converted and became F2/3, although this machine was no more successful than its siblings. F2/4 followed in construction and was sold, before Peter Whitehead placed an order for what was to become the last Alta car built: F2/5. This was the only F2 Alta to be entered for World Championship Grands Prix events, first driven by himself in the 1952 French Grand Prix, and then by his half-brother Graham Whitehead at the 1952 British Grand Prix. Neither run produced a points finish, but this was not to be the last time that the Alta name appeared in Formula One.

    [edit] Alta the engine supplier

    [​IMG]
    An Alta straight-4 engine, installed into a Connaught Type C Formula One car of 1959.


    While the F2 engine might have been overwhelmed by the chassis' bulk, tweaks made by Peter Whitehead to the unit in his car showed that the design had tuning potential. Alta engines had already been used by the HWM team since 1949, and from 1953 many more mechanics would come to know the Taylor-designed power plant. Peter Whitehead led the way by removing the engine from F2/5 and installing it into a Cooper T24 chassis, which he ran in the 1953 British Grand Prix. Also present at Silverstone that day were no fewer than four Alta-powered HWM cars. HWM had, the previous year, scored what was Alta's only significant victory, when Lance Macklin won the 1952 BRDC International Trophy race at Silverstone. Over the next few years 1.5L and 2.5L Alta engines would find their way into many British-built F1 hopefuls, the most successful of which were Connaught and Cooper. Ultimately the engine would prove to be capable of approximately 240bhp. With the collapse of Connaught in 1959, the Alta name disappeared from Formula One for good.

    [edit] Recent history

    Geoffrey Taylor died in 1966 at the age of 63 years. In 1976, his son Michael attempted to revive the Alta name with a Formula Ford car but was not successful. A handful of the pre-war sports and single seat cars survive, all in private ownership. GP1, after having been converted to Jaguar power in the 1950s, is now back in original configuration in the Donington Grand Prix Collection. F2/5 has also been reunited with its original powerplant and has participated in a number of Historic race meeting in recent years, including the 1999 Goodwood Revival meeting.

    [edit] Complete Formula One World Championship results

    <TABLE cellSpacing=0 border=1><TBODY><TR><TH>Yr</TH><TH>Main drivers</TH><TH>1</TH><TH>2</TH><TH>3</TH><TH>4</TH><TH>5</TH><TH>6</TH><TH>7</TH><TH>8</TH></TR><TR><TD>1950</TD><TD>G.Crossley, J.Kelly</TD><TD>GBR</TD><TD>MON</TD><TD>500</TD><TD>SUI</TD><TD>BEL</TD><TD>FRA</TD><TD>ITA</TD><TD> </TD></TR><TR><TD>1951</TD><TD>J.Kelly</TD><TD>SUI</TD><TD>500</TD><TD>BEL</TD><TD>FRA</TD><TD>GBR</TD><TD>GER</TD><TD>ITA</TD><TD>ESP</TD></TR><TR><TD>1952</TD><TD>G.Whitehead, P.Whitehead</TD><TD>SUI</TD><TD>500</TD><TD>BEL</TD><TD>FRA</TD><TD>GBR</TD><TD>GER</TD><TD>NED</TD><TD>ITA</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
     
  28. Winfield
    Joined: Feb 22, 2006
    Posts: 59

    Winfield
    Member

    I remember seeing the Chevy powered HWM at a vintage race at the Westwood track in Vancouver, BC years ago. I believe it was owned by someone named Masterson? Also, is that your green Olds powered hotrod in your avatar. Is that the one John Barbero built?
     
  29. 50Fraud
    Joined: May 6, 2001
    Posts: 10,101

    50Fraud
    Member

    Tom Carstens had a Cad-Allard that was very competitive in sports car races in the Northwest during the early '50s, driven by Bill Pollack. Eventually he retired the Allard and acquired (commissioned?) the HWM-Chevy. Apparently the HWM never handled well, and didn't have much of a competition record. Here it is at Pebble Beach in '56, again with Pollack up.

    When "Bat" Masterson ran the car in vintage races years later, it still wasn't competitive. Still, it's an outstanding looking car -- I particularly liked it with the white-painted wire wheels shown in this picture.
     

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  30. fur biscuit
    Joined: Jul 22, 2005
    Posts: 7,828

    fur biscuit
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    One more cool detail on the car, is the dash plack which reads: "Built in the woods by squirrels"
     

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