Features VINTAGE SPRINT CAR PIC THREAD, 1965 and older only please.

I've been enjoying this thread and looking for a spot I could get my big foot in the door. I don't have any pre 1970 pictures to share at home but I do have a nice picture of Don Blair's car at Ascot back in May 1976. Jimmy Oskie ran up front in this beauty back then.
I grew up in Inglewood and once I got my drivers license I headed to Gardena on Saturday nights. My all time favorite race track.
Auge

 

Welcome Auge,

I was lucky enough to run in the last race they ever had at Ascot, is it still an empty lot? I wish I coulda ran there more!

 

For no other reason than we've been kicking around the Meskowski Champ cars, here's a shot of some bare bones, after race work going on. I believe this is the Forbes car circa 1961 which Shorty Templeman wheeled and would originally have been the Schmidt car.

 

Thanks for the pics Rootie, I must have an Offenhauser heart because mine beats a bit faster every time I see one... anyone know what I mean?
PK

 

Yep, I'll bet most all of us know what you mean.

 

Speaking of Ascot, a shot with current relevence. The late Walt James sending off Don Thomas in his (now our own Steve Bonesteel's) niffty little roadster 1962.

 

Yes the no. 1 is a copy and just as good as the 99 may be even nicer,not run by the same drivers though and side lined for a new roadster . The 99 kurtis was built for Meyer and Drake they sold it to Bellanger .

 

The Schmidt car was a Kuzma , and had no head rest on it , lat 50 s and 6o s

 

The first thing I noticed is the big front brakes and the right hand steer.

 

That was the first one, which Meskowski wrenched on. For 1959 he built one of his own design for Schmidt.

[The first car he built for Pete Schmidt was the first of his winners, taking the “checker” twice with Eddie Sachs, and once with Bobby Grim. Demand for Wally’s products was so high, the team had to use its old Kuzma dirt car for one more year, after selling the Meskowski to Bill Forbes! This particular car was modified beyond easy recognition over the years, but its path from owner to owner is still possible to follow: From Schmidt over Forbes, Jack Zink and Jake Vargo to Bob Harkey, last photo confirmation from 1974. Zink used the car only as a stop gap, until the in-house creation was ready for Jim McElreath, and other drivers included Shorty Templeman, Lloyd Ruby and Larry Dickson.]

 

Hi Rootie,
Regarding the #36 champ car, I do not see any any Wally qualities on this frame. If you look at the Federal Eng. #15 from the Darlington photos, you will notice that Wally did not mount his front torsion tubes either up and down or one behind the other, he staggered them. I restored the Hopkins Wally car and it was the same. Ican not verify every car, but every photo I have seen, suggests they were the same. Also, Wally did not put the jacking bolt thru the adjuster, but thru a plate on the chassis. My sprint is the same. Any comments?

 

I figured you would be the one with the technical knowledge, and I do agree. Some better side view pics of the frame tubes would really tell.

 

Thanks on Mal's behalf to you for your efforts.
The car was bought from his friend Stan Lobitz in Pennsylvania.It came to Stan from a deceased estate with a 220 Offy which he syphoned off for another project .It still has the Offy engine plate in the car .
Somewhere along the line it grew a hood with cut outs for Chevy rocker boxes but I think that can be discounted as an add on.The right hand steering is original.
The lower chassis rails are parrallel to the ground until they reach the centre line of the back axle where they rise up 1 1/2" - 2" which he was told was characteristic of a Wally chassis.
It came with 18" Indy Hals on the rear and 16" large window Hals on the front

 

Corngrower, that #28 is very, very nice, a work of art. However, please explain the pic showing the front end, suspension, steering, etc. What are the thin chrome rods that run along the side of the car & are connected to the backing plates?? braking ?? Secondly, what are the silver attachments at the very front of the car, bolted to the frame??
mlight9.

 

Looks like mechanical brake rods and friction shocks to me.

 

Went by there on the way home from the Rod Riders banquet last March. It is now an auto auction. But, I still have a jar of Ascot dirt and the hand painted "No Standing in the Aisles" sign the used to be next to the Cragar 19 sec. board. I'll never tell how it came to me either!

 

I saw this Duesenberg in 1975 in the Cunningham collection when it was in California. Was it Briggs car at the time or on loan? Ran across a photo of it back in the car when it was on tour racing in New England.

 

I like how he articulated the rods at the wishbone to minimize, what would you call it? Bump brake?
All in all, a very sanitary piece.

 

Thanks for the extra pics Josh. I love cars that have a stereotype cartoon look to them. Very clean.

 

A couple for PK
Tampa fairground IMCA races.
I believe the first is Jerry Blundy on the outside pole but unsure about the others. 1962
Tom Bigelow leading the pack into turn 1 1965.
Doesn't look like they had too much trouble selling tickets.

 

There's a nose/grille similar to that on eBay today. Type "vintage sprint mask" (no quotes) into their eBay Motors search box to have a look.

 

Thanks Rootie, the place was always packed. The weather was usually cool in Feb., and the Florida State Fair was a big draw. In '62 I was hangin' around with Pete Folse's sons in the pits. In '65 I was probably in the stands about midway up where the shade begins... funny how you remember those things
PK

 

Hanging around the pits was the place to be in 62 it seems. Pete Folse with Miss Tampa a real cutie! Have any idea whats up with the straps around his leg? Reminds me of Vietnam when we straped our legs like that to keep the leeches from crawling up our legs. Don't think that's a big problem in a sprint car though.

 

The KEY car was bought by E.T. Morse from Frankfort, Ky. He made it the first EZRA BROOK's special #91 and put Bill Putterball in it about 68. Then Charlie Masters drove it. Then it was bought by Melvin Moffit from Shelbyville, Ky and Charlie drove it. He traded it to Leffler for a Leffler car in about 72. It was the first Sprint car that Greg Leffler ever drove. The last time Charlie Masters saw it the fram was hanging on the wall at Leffler's shop. I just talked to Charlie.
Jim Graybeal

 

Old Bill
The Red/Black 20 is thhe whiskey bottle car. The 21 in the front of the picture should be at Winchester Sunday.
Jim Graybeal

 

'Wow, Rootie! 'First of all, thank you for your service to our country. 'Had no idea you're a VietNam veteran but, I'm really glad to know. So, I salute you! But, you've done it again with your pics of Miss Arrrrrrrg!....at the Tampa Winternationals. And I'd like to ask either you or PK; 'What goes on today during the usual beginning of Feb. Tampa Winter Fair? Back in the 60's I happen to know that a lot of west coast CRA stars used to tow all the way down to Florida for the Winter Fair............'thanks again, Rootie.

 

Can any oldtimers name these 3 guys, all were pretty well known. One was an owner, the other two were drivers. The track should be easy.

 

You're sure welcome. Back in the day the Tampa deal was the 'gathering of the clan' kinda like a early Knoxville. Sure seems it has lost its luster over the years though, especially after moving to East Bay years ago. Of course racing at any fairgrounds nowdays ain't nothing, prestige wise, like it use to be.

 

Rootie, I'm guessing he's got something strapped to the inside of his calf, inside the suit (kinda looks like it, but hard to tell).

Maybe the trans was getting hotter than he liked??

 

Rootie, Wynns and Joe, while I am waiting for Mal to send me some panels off shots of the #36 Champ car so we can get an idea of what it might be (Wynns says not a Wally) I thought you might like to see a couple of shots of the Shilala Sprinter , Does anybody remember it running Black#89 in CRA??
Cheers Greg