History Auto racing 1894-1942

Count 1/4 of the front wheel you can see. X-4, X-2 for front and back of the rain; that should be close.

 

Another Duesenberg from the same era, maybe a bit easier to count spokes. Bob

 

That reminds me of the time I was on a train speeding through the countryside. As we sped by the dairy farms the guy next to me was looking out the window proclaiming,
"37 cows."
"82 cows".
"49 cows."
Finally in disbelief I asked, "How do you figure out how many cows there are?"

"Simple," he says.
"I just count the legs and divide by four".

 

I think that's the very first Schoof Special, built in Milwaukee/WI by Bill Schoof, later Indy entrant. I don't know who the diver is, but the car was mostly driven by Bill Lauden from Milwaukee, it seems, but also by fellow Milwaukeeans Eddie Czapiewski, Barney Sullivan and perhaps others. The engine appears to be a Rajo overhead conversion of a Model T Ford. Built in 1923, as far as I can figure, it apparently debuted on the Milwaukee Mile in September of that year, but Czapiewski broke a con-rod in the first event, a match race against Stag Nowicki. In 1924, Lauden was 3rd at Cedarburg/WI in September, and 2nd at Sheboygan/WI the next month, both very short races by the local Badger Motor Contest Club. By 1926, the car ran in the slightly more ambitious Lake Shore Racing Association, and Sullivan won a 25-miler at Cedarburg in May and finished second in another in June, by which time the car apparently had a Fronty engine. Lauden was back in for a third at State Fair Park in September, before I lose track.

 

1907 Targa Florio
Dureste (top, 14th) and Paul Faure (bottom, 29th) on Gobron Brillie; the Lorraine Dietrich car of Gabriel (6th) and Duray (4th) in the middle.

source: Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung n.15 (1907, Apr 14)

 

That is an interesting belly pan on the Targa Florio. With no louvers on the hood in the first and third pics I wonder how the air exited the engine bay. Nice craftsmanship nonetheless.

 

Bob post = best post

 

Thanks Michael. Growing up in Milwaukee I always knew of the track at the fair park. About 20 years ago I learned of the racing held down on the lakefront. I never thought that there would have any racing in either Cedarburg or Sheboygan though.

 

How many years was the Gobron active? Seems that it keeps popping up over and over...years after you'd think it had been finished.

 

Chatted with those who know such things, most likely 2 different chassis. As noted, there are many other significant changes to the set up. Will have to research which classes the car raced in. The 40hp engine is 305 cu.in. The 50hp is 375 cu.in.

 

from movie "Roaring Road"

 

Cool!

 

Interesting set of tires on Franz Hörner's Benz 82 / 200HP

 

I'll say. If they behave similar to cycle tires in the wet the sipes will squeegee water away from the tire and if they are in the opposite direction they will pull water under the tire. That may make for a very iffy ride on wet pavement, depending on which way the sipes are facing when the car is called upon to react aggressively.

 

Those unguarded chains scare the hell out of me. I've seen guys lose a finger on bicycle chains.

 

Those have been known to remove a head from it's body a time or two...

 

I was taking some hot laps while tuning my 1/2 midget with the rear cover off. The chain broke and hit me in the head. My helmet no doubt saved my life but was so badly damaged I had to get a new one.

 

On asphalt or concrete the noise must have been interesting...

 

first class

 

Weekend silliness, finally got to head home and see the parents. Poke the head in the garage, and look at something. Picked this up body up at the Jack Murphy swap a few years back, it came of the Bill Evan's S61 when it was converted back to being a FIAT. Came across a photo of Frank Verbeck racing an S61 at Tacoma in 1914, and wondered if it is the same body, more hopeful than anything. Couple of similar details. If the lip in the top of the cowl was hammered flat, it would bring the cowl back towards the driver and add more of a curve.

 

Are those Honus Wagner baseball cards in the spokes?

 

Indian powered . K.P. pic.

 

Picture from fathers garage wall. 1916 Corona road race (I think) William Durrant in the Chevrolet Cyclone (FIAT)...did this thing ever stop racing?!

 

Did they come in LHD and RHD, or are they two different models? Bob

 

Bob, my father made the same comment, "aren't FIAT's RHD? Yes, except, this js how Emanuele Cedrino built the FIAT "Cyclone", there is a book all about it, in Italian of course. Going to order a copy I think.

https://www.gilena.it/en/book/emanuele-cedrino

 

Uniontown 1.1 mile board track 1920

 

One of the Duesenbergs was killed in an auto accident in 1932, on route 30 Pa. near somerset.