Neat car, I love a turtle deck T. I would like to know if the name and numbers painted on the side were original to it's last racing run or if they were added, they seem a little too perfect to me to be real, although they very well could be. A surprising amount of details went into making it look pretty, especially for a dirt race only car. Most of the old dirt track cars I've seen have a hunk of expanded metal as a grille and maybe a cut up flat piece of tin for a hood, or a stock hood crudely cut.
love this ratty old race car - wish I had a copy with lights & license plate. Note what looks like home made intake from square tubeing. even love many time smashed turtledeck. many old dirt cars had no schackle on inside of turns. U L.A. boys should visit Justice Brothers museum in Duarte Calif. f^&*ing fantastic collection of old dirt cars & rods.
Should mention - have to say it: these old cars were driven hard & put away wet. Not pushed off a enclosed trailer with a "do not touch" sign
A lot of the roadsters were well built, and nicely detailed. Troy Ruttman and Bob Sweikert being a couple of west coast 500 winners who started out in them. Somewhere I saved a pic of Ed Elisian in a really nice one, and there were also some nice ones in the Indiana/Ohio region.
A Jalopy on the Jalopy Journal...imagine that...wouldn't a blast around a track in that just fulfill a dream. Rough around the edges perfection. Theres only a few things better than a pic and a story...the real deal would be one of them. Thanks for bringing it back for another lap. It never loses its appeal... https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...genized-hotrods.1002926/page-51#post-12439607
That gas pedal is the tits. Also, anybody check out the supporting "struts" to the cowl steering box? Connecting rods welded to sheet steel! Perfect. Andy
FYI- Chuck Hulse's son Lee Hulse is/was a member here, having posted in the vintage sprint car thread. A bit of history- Chuck Hulse was a top driver in USAC in the early 60s, having come up through the track roadster/midget/sprint cars in So.Cal. By 1963 he had the plum ride in Al Dean-Clint Brawner's Dean Van Lines Champ Car team. However at a sprint car race at New Bremen Ohio 1964 he ran over the L/R of Bob Wendt's car and flipped a bunch of times. Though he survived, he was too dinged up to drive for a couple of years. This left the door open for a young hotshot by the name of Mario Andretti to take over the DVL Champ Car ride and the rest, as they say, is history.
Tried to put myself back to a day long ago when this was built, all I can is it's 'the bee's knees'. You have to remember the time and place and that this was created for one purpose, To Go Fast! Sure wish that you had snagged it, we wouldn't be wondering about it. I would Love to see this slinging dirt. Thanks, Carp
So interesting to check the details of all the home built pieces. The linkage from the pedal (including the pedal) to the carbs is really neat. Really get a kick put of the bolts welded head to head. Curious about the fuel system, tho; no hand pump or mechanical pump hook-up and the possibly modern looking filter and rubber hose connections before the sediment bowl, along with the schrader valve (tire stem?) in the tank.
I saw the Hemmings article a while back and was amazed that how complete this car was, with all of the trappings of a Track Roadster of the late 40's, along with the Chuck Hulse connection. These Roasters have been a passion of mine for the last 24 years, and I had the pleasure of meeting many of the men who built and drove them. I forget the count, but as I remember around 65 of the guys that started in them, went on to Indy, and 11 of them were winners. It seems that in every area where they were raced, there were always at least a couple of cars that stood above the rest, in appearance and performance. In southern California the Spalding Bros, and Yam Oka's come to mind. A late friend of mine named Palmer Crowell, was one of our locals up here in Oregon, who started in Roadsters and moved up a far as Silver Crown. I recently was given one of his photo albums of his early racing years, with lots of great pictures. When my work slows down (meaning when I get Pat's Spalding copy delivered) the photos will get scanned and I will share them with you. Here are a couple of his Roadster Rides. The # 17 is perfection in my mind !
^^ ( holy shit !! ) ... I LOVE when threads like this get broken down, and layered, with successive exceptional .... added posts. HAMB dandy stuff, fellas !
Glad that Marty saw this, and I appreciate his reply. Yes, there were plenty of nice track roadsters (as there were sprint cars)--but they didn't have to be. And yes, that foot-shaped gas pedal made with a door hinge is by far the coolest part. No, the distributor is not a Cad V12, nor an odd-fire. It was originally for a Nash Twin Six, an inline six with two plugs per cylinder, and two separate ignitions in one distributor. But this is a Spalding dual-point, dual-coil with a 3-lobe cam. See more on this (and much else) on Marty's build-blog here on the HAMB for the repro Spalding roadster. And our answer is--Can't find an original like this? Build your own...any way you want! Pat Ganahl
This is said to be Chuck Hulse and his Missus Betty. http://thecheckeredpast.blogspot.com/2017/05/?m=1 Credit to Photographer, Owner
^^^^ I second that. I keep coming back to it. Showed one guy (old dirt track guy) and he about flipped.
And our answer is--Can't find an original like this? Build your own...any way you want! Pat Ganahl[/QUOTE] Trouble is Pat if some does built one now the typically will be too nice and not how they built in the 40-50's for the dirt. Dirt guys were not "kind" to their cars then and are not now. My Patrick and I race a 1/2 mile dirt Super Stock/Pro Stock at Perris and other So Cal tracks and there is body work after every race and often bent rims, bumpers, etc. too. I love these old cars and the recreations like the one Marty and you are doing. When and if found they are only original once and from what I've seen on shows like Pickers when one is found after all it's race days are over and it's been sitting out side for over 40 yrs, it's pretty much toast. Love your work....keep it up
Uhhhh rat rods have saw blades and chains and tons of other useless shit welded to them. I'm pretty sure this is the real deal Holyfield...
RM's pre auction estimate for the car was $25,000-$35,000, but it netted $19,250 and was sold at no reserve, with two mounted spares sitting in the cockpit. Damn @Ryan you were actually only outbid by $1,250
When this Jalopy racer was made there where no automatics...or maybe there were......looking at the pics posted I am challenged to see...brake pedal, clutch and shifter. But the gas pedal is obvious and I see the tranny top and maybe the shifter is obscured. Let me know I'm all ears...
Stogy, If look closely at the shift tower, they bent the shift stick into a closed loop, for safety. And notice the hand clutch outside the LH frame rail.
Thanks Marty...and the brakes were a lever as well or gravity assist as in none? I see the shifter now it looks a bit like a heater element. Lots of gizmoes all over...and then there was racing...bit like flying a plane...
The brake pedal is just left of the trans, you can see the pivot point above, and the pad just beyond the torque tube connection at the rear of the trans.
What looks to be a factory casting at rear of GMC trans is obviously just that. Under the seat must be where the 'quick change' Chev/GMC torque tube remained, grafting onto the Ford torque tube just rearward of the sliding telescopic GMC tube. Amazing the brainpower of these fellows, with the limited resources they had! This car, like the Spalding car, followed NO "Flathead Forever rules". Those GMCs sure made torque!
Not sure if this racer saw pavement but this video seems possibly era specific...great footage athough sound would have been nice... It certainly clearly hightlights how dangerous this sport was...still would love to buzz around a track for a feel of what it once was like.
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