the owner told me that he got his inspiration for this car from the indy cars and lakes racers of the early 30s. The inspiration for the engine was an engine he read about that Caddilac commisioned to Miller for Indy. The engine was supposed to be half of a V12 Caddilac. The story he told me was that Miller went broke before the engine was finished, and when Offenhouser bought out Miller it was finished in late 33 under pressure from Cadillac. The owner of the car built the chassis and body himself, an impressive feat in itself, especially considering he had never done any metal work before he started this build. He told me that Saturday had been almost 5 years to the day since he started the build. If I recall correctly he said that the tail light lenes are LaSalle, and the grill insert is LaSalle. I dont recall if he said what the rear axle began life as. The top end of the engine is dressed to look like the Miller/Offenhouser 1/2 V12 with period valve covers, distributor (converted), plug wires, and spark plugs. The intake manifold, header and exhaust pipe is all fabbed by the owner. Undeneath all of these period pieces sits an engine and transmission out of a ......... Datsun 260z.
No kidding? So I guess the other valve cover is a dummy... Those are pretty neat little motors. 2.5 or 2.6 liters... something like that anyway. I think they made around 150hp.
Yeah, thats what I thought... I looked around on Google Images a bit, and the 240/260 is the only straight 6 I could find with its Distributor in that spot...
Well, thats what caused me to walk around it two and three times, I followed the engine down the passenger side and saw the other valve cover and the other set of wires but only six exhaust pipes..what is it? handbuilt? OK I'm gonna open the other link and see if the engine mstery is revealed...
after looking at pics of a Datsun 260Z engine, I would have to agree. Dizzy, water pump and other stuff looks to be dead on. Interesting idea and craftsmanship, but about as lame as a chevy 350 with fake Ardun or Hemi valve covers.
caught the rest of the post...260Z disquised to look like Miller/Cadillac/Offenhauser..that was one of the cars in the whole BIG show that caught my attention, the other one was that black/black 49 Cadillac convertable..drool, drool
The car was built by Jim Pendleton. Many of the progress shots are posted in the galleries over at Metalshapers. http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/communityalbumdirectory.cgi?searchword=lakes I remember the begining of the build in 03 when I was active at the MSA site. I didn't follow the build but should have! Its a beautiful machine with a lot of great work in it.
I was going to throw out that maybe it was a Datsun motor as a joke, but it surprises me that it is infact one... although it does not diminish what the car is, and why everyone is so hot to trot over it, it is like a let down for me... I would be very interested to know and understand the engine choice... I am assuming that the datsun gives the builder a platform from which to build a clone Miller engine, which I can understand due to the rariety or non-existance of the actual thing... I would just really enjoy hearing from the builder or someone close to the build, what the powerplant rationale was. Never the less.... still an out of the ordinary car which hits a lot of things dead on!
I renig on my previous post.... that engine looks cool... after looking at the metal shapers site... Are these the Datsun engines that were based off of block castings formerly of chevy 235 origin?
Way kool duel overhead cam, twin plug, inline six. And that dash. What a fantastic car, from it's concept, to it's finish, KOOOL!
So, the engine is a fake, dressed up to look like a Miller/Offy. That's a shame, but it's still a fantastic looking car. And clever!
Since the cat is out of the bag... Its still a 6 running on 6 plugs, the others are dummies. Inside that dizz cap is the real dizzy. Every other wire is real firing. Its not a DOHC head like it appears. No matter, its still an outstanding car.
That motor is loosely based upon a Benz OHC 6 from the sixties. They made a four cylinder that shared much of the components with the six, but I think the four actually came first. Toyota is the one that had a OHV inline six based upon a Chevy motor they used in Land Cruisers for years.
Thanks Zeke... nice to know a bit more about the engine... i too am taken aback in surprise at the engine choice, but given the motor the guy is trying to replicate, i can understand the route that he took.... I agree.... still 100% hotrod, although I'd love to see a true earlier engine too, but hey, he built it, is driving it and is sure to be having a heck of a time having fun in it! all I got is a frame on the floor.... but thanks to him, I have some new ideas!
I saw the car while it was being built. He had it in San Antonio at Sonny Rossi's house for the Texas Inliners yearly meeting two years ago. I asked him Saturday if it was the same car and he said yes it was. At that time the car was not that close to being finished. Do not remember if he took part in the racking contest. A "T bucket" with a Datson 240Z engine had the loudest pipes there if I remember correctly.
Once again, an unusual engine choice that will actually get you anywhere you want to DRIVE to. Seems like a GREAT idea to me. Looks cool, works great and is not like every other cookie cutter car, nice.
Li'l Slide really dug on that! I took a few more pics of the car. See them here. As for the motor, I wondered about it, but then I was examining the cylinder head, and noticed it looked like it was made of sheet metal. After more looking, I never ID'ed the motor for sure, but I knew it wasn't what it "was". This is definitely something more than putting Olds Rocket valve covers on an SBC. It's really a pretty elaborate disguise, and from what I could tell from talking to the owner, all in good fun. He said he built it to drive it on the street, and for that, I'd much rather see him wearing out a Z motor rather than a rare piece of history. I sure hope I get to see that thing blasting down the freeway past all the minivans someday.
This is a great car, when I first saw a pic of it a couple years back I thought it might be an old lakester, until I saw the other build pics. Here is some other build shots http://rides.webshots.com/album/502266144UrkTSl?start=0
Man, I was getting worried that some fool had found a new way to drop in a sbc in that thing and then disguise it. Whew, what a welcome relief.
Okay, Raise your hand if you want to BE THIS KID! Honestly, it's a great build, and I bet the owner has nothing but fun with the car- I am inspired, period.
i gotta an extra straight sitting in the shop...i was wondering what to do with it...aaaaahhh, i love insperation!
The Jalopy Journal
