Harry Robtoy built and raced big cars from the early 1920's and into the 1940's. Sometime just prior to the war he was involved in an accident and retired as a driver. He did, however, continue dealing with his racing passion by working on and owning... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
it would be one of the very few extant pieces of Frontenac equipment found. (not the model T heads). page 168 in Griffith Borgesons book "The GOlden Age of the American Racing car" has an excellent picture of the radiator and the car is it was one attached to.
Harry Robtoy was a nice guy and he had quite a collection of Pre WWII Race car parts. I think this is a radiator off a 1920 Frontenac INDY 500 car, note the wreck photo and crossmember dip. The radiator has a dip also. If it were me, I'd take the radiator to the INDY 500 museum and hold it in front of the MONROE engine the late Ed Roy restored and see it things match up. Glad the radiator has a new home! Bob
Thanks Ryan,..... I came across this radiator and shell about 5 weeks ago and hammered out a deal on the phone after first posting some pictures on the HAMB and getting some really interesting information,..... (I love a good treasure hunt) if you want to read the original post you can find it here,.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=352591&highlight=frontenac Whatever this radiator was on,..... I would love to find the true history on it, thanks in advance for any information,.... This is what got me kind of excited,... this picture of the Gaston Chevrolet 1920 wreck and my shell,..... look at the damage on the drivers side on both pictures ( how not only the shell is pushed in between the 1st and 3rd tab but the side of the radiator as well , kind of a big coincidence) and the configuration of the water outlets mounting tabs,....... could it be ??? I don't know,... that's why I need you guys.
I don't think that is the same radiator. Notice how the edges on the face of the radiator are squared off compared to the smooth transition on the radiator in question.
I love a race car ID mystery too! I'm back to my original line of thought that it is from a 4 cylinder fully cowled Fronty from 1920. The shell on the eight has flat and angled inner shell edges were it meets the core.
doh! guess I better get back to the books when I get home. Also a picture of the water outlet and inlet would be very helpful in determining the radiator's origin.
Correct, I just noticed that too. I'm just so happy this piece is out in the open again, makes you wonder what other treasures are hidden away.
That wreck photo is in the Jack C. Fox book The Indianapolis 500, my digital photo is crap. Chances are that an original is in the INDY photo collection. If you can get one and do a CSI type of inspection of the honeycomb radiator you may see repaired cells that match the core as it is today. Years ago they ID the Eddy Sacks car by the weld bead patterns.
quick link to the 2 Frontenac Indy winners: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.geocities.com/johnsonindy500/theindy500/carpictures/1920c.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.geocities.com/johnsonindy500/indy500/museum.html&usg=__uUwNZquewnWrAyy6K6JKyarbAcE=&h=66&w=118&sz=6&hl=en&start=37&um=1&tbnid=FctcpLey78cQGM:&tbnh=49&tbnw=88&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfrontenac%2Bchevrolet%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D36%26um%3D1
Both sides have three bolts, studs, or maybe tubed holes, can you tell us what they are? I think they may be the attachment points for the aero cowling. If readers don't know it the Chevrolet brothers built the Frontenac and MONROE cars that ran at INDY, it was a sponsorship deal, so if one is mentioned, mechanically they were the same.
Are there any other pictures of the wreck in existence ?,.... or even a sharper copy of this one ? ,...... it might be hard to see but the damage on the one side of both radiators is very similar,..... I will try to get some detail shots, but I don't have the best camera.