gnichols, Old Dawg asked: "On a 'nuther subject: Hey Terry, are you and that motley group known as "The Del Monte Trophy" gonna be down at Santa Barbara for T.R.O.G. in March?" Rob is planning to run both that event and the RPM with the Baldwin.
It is an Irwin Lancer. Powered by a 59A Flathead. It has a true Lincoln transmission (not just the gears) and a Columbia 2 speed.
Good eye, its a Manning clone/recreation I'm making from his blueprints. I'm trying to be as accurate to the original as possible, all the way down to the b17 anti ice tank and seats as well as the p38 rear view mirror.
================================================= Hello, Joel!Your red (orange a little?) special is true beauty and would be magnificent when finished with planned details! Very elegant two-seater sport-car body. One automatic gear-box (probably 3 speeds) and one 2 speed - does that means that it has 6 speeds in total? Another two in process of construction or re-construction look quite promising for interesting specials. Keep working with joy and fun, driving too. Regards, Zoran
3 speed manual Lincoln Zephyr side loading case with 2 speed Columbia rear axle. So total of six forward speeds but I'm not sure if most guys would've split every gear.
Thanks! like Jeremy said, it's a 3 speed manual transmission that technically could have 6 speeds but the 2 speed rear is really only meant to give a 4th/ overdrive gear. The amount of shifting/ lever pulling to get the 6 speeds would be too much work.
There is a terrible 1950s movie that has a ton of cool specials in it (coolest being the Tatum special) called Johnny Dark. There is an Irwin Lancer in this movie, and it might be my car. I'm still working on proving it, but the odds are in my favor since Irwin only made 12ish complete cars.
I had a '47 Ford coupe with three on the tree and a Columbia rear end. You could split shift it and indeed get 6 evenly spaced gears. It was a fun combination.
The only racing film that was worse than "Johnny Dark" was "Devil's Hairpin" staring Cornell Wilde! I watched as they made some shots at one of the races at Paramount Ranch race track....OUCH!
Ha! You are correct about The devil's hairpin, I have that on 16mm film. The movie called "The Road Racers" is particularly awful even though it has old yaller II, and Ak Miller's el caballo dos and his Devin bodied car.
Getting the car off that steep hill was quite the adventure. The seller was in the the pickup and he didn't have a smooth driving style. Big sigh of relief when we got it down without a scratch on it...
Dude, your manning build is going to end up so much nicer than mine. This is why I was embarrassed to post pics of mine. What type of steering box is that? I just noticed that the rear radius rods are on top of the torque tube, why? Did you guys go with a longer wheel base and is that why the spacing of the center cross tubes are further apart? If so that was a very smart move, I almost don't fit in mine.
Joel no way, yours looks fantastic, keep up the good work! It’s a 70s dodge van manual box, same as the 60s-70s passenger car boxes but with a beefier sector shaft. The radius rods are on top to prevent them from interfering with the lower crossmember when the rear suspension drops and it also helps steer them out of the lower seating area. Yes the wheelbase is a few inches longer to facilitate a bit more cockpit area.
Here are a couple of "Specials" raced in California back in the 50's1 The #145 is an MG (XPAG engine) owned and driven by Marion Playan. The second photo is car built and driven by Ken Miles. The chassis is a Cooper. The engine is a Porsche "Four-Cammer". Ken beat all the "Factory" 550 Porsches. The Porsche people threatened the West Coast distributor, John Von Neumann the engine's owner. Ken had to sell the car. The photo of the MG Special was shot in 1955 at the one race held at Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale CA. The photo the Cooper/Porsche was at the October 1956 race at Pomona, CA. The photos are the property of John Kerr.
The Cannon brothers and a cousin,. Jim Seely (their stalwart driver) raced two "Specials" back in the 50's and early 60's. Dave Seely (Jim's son) has a new website: https://www.cannon-racing.com, These guys were a bunch of innovative Hot Rodders
There will be a big turn out of Specials at the Rolex Reunion (Laguna Seca ) in two weeks. Both Baldwin sports cars and his original roadster will be there. I will have the Parkinson Jag Spl running, too. Please stop by and share stories!