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

1981 Lynn Paxton with one of his babies!

 

1981 7th annual Williams Grove Old Timers Convention!

 

For Josh Shaw,
Josh, I too will enjoy the flood of posts and photos.
Recently had only the second flood experience of my life though with 8" of rain in 2 hours .
The house , shop , cars, Fresh Offy's ,and all went under!!
Bit of a nightmare really.
If I could be allowed a blatant product plug though, the tidy up ,dismantling ,cleaning ,drying and re-oiling and assembly (Its still going on 3 weeks later) would have been very much harder if I hadnt been aware of and bought a box of it into this country with the Shilala Sprinter,
The product ?
"Gibbs Brand".
It has really taken a heap of the work out of what can be a soul destroying job.
The job it does on Magnesium is nothing short of amazing !!
In this case , thank God for US technology
Cheers Greg

 

Cages were on some sprinters and champ cars in 1969, don't know the year exact but love the look of the old Viceroy Camp dirt cars or any old Grant King Cars round nose cars. I am sure they must have been early 70s ???? I to dig the old pictures of cageless, t-shirted drivers with a bandana on the face and tall skinny tires,... brave men drove those cars!

 

Geez, I must be sleeping a good part of my life away. I didn't know anything of this "GIBBS BRAND" before this. Probably a bunch of you folks did.

Once I read your post, I Googled it. Sounds like really GRRRRRREAT stuff.
A Mega Penetrant, Ultra Lubricant, Corrosion Inhibitor, Water Repellant, Rust Remover, Surface Conditioner (and seemingly more).

THANKS, I'm gonna get me some!!!

 

I'm surpised he didn't post this himself.

RABs32 (Rich) eMailed me that former TQ, midget & sprint car driver and contributor here .. BILLY COURTWRIGHT (racerbillyc) fell off a ladder while on a job he was doing.

The result .. a fractured hip (which he had surgery for) and a dislocated shoulder. Rich has spoken to him and it seems that Billy is resting easily and paying close attention to the cute nurses.

Billy is in the Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ and the last word that Rich had is that Billy should probably go home on Saturday, for the three R's .. Rest, Relaxation and Recuperation!!

We older racers heal slow .. so as soon as I have some contact info on Billy I'll pass it along, so 'ya can cheer his healing on.

I'd also bet that as soon as he's comfortable enough at home, he'll be checking in here too .. to help pass the time .. so maybe in the meantime, wish him well here too.

OH!!! .... Bob Cicconi eMailed me that rather than climbing ladders for a living, maybe Billy should have been doing something a lot safer ..... driving race cars!!!!

 

Great shot of Lynn Paxton.. I'll take him a copy of this next time I go!

Trentesept: Damn! That rough.. but good call on the product. This last spring I just happened to be at a shop when a flood came in the same way! within 15 min there was 2" of standing water in the shop. We helped put welders and parts we could lift up on benches but it was a long clean up there too.

JD

 

Awhile back there was discussion about an old sprint with "skids" under the front axle. It was said they were for safety in case a wheel came off the car wouldn't "dig in" and flip. I noticed this car has one on the right front. This must be a progression (or regression) from two to none. I understand the right front being the most important for not "digging in". I might put a couple of these on my work truck just because they're cool looking. And, by the way, this car is incredible looking.

 

Spoke with Billy Yesterday and he is set to come home maybe today friday. He wont be doing much for awhile and he has some work in the race shop to get done. He sounds his fiesty old self and thats a good thing. With the help of Rich, Freddy, Ronny and myself the work will get done.He is like ooooohhhhhhhhhh well no big deal.Those of us that know him really well know thats Billy.Rich or myself will let you all know whats up. Peace.

 

Jimmy, when I talked to him yesterday and he told me that while working at a construcion site the 10 foot ladder he was on jumped the cushion and went for a ride,he said that if the ladder had a rollcage he would have walked away(LOL) and that was the next project we were gonna work on was building a cage for his ladder (lol) could have been the pain meds talking, but the conversation got cut short when a cute nurse came in to take his blood presssure. Tried calling him this morning for an update but didn't get an answer.....Rich

 

Rich the Gilmores stopped in last night to see him when I talked to him. I will call u when I know what s up. His brother told me they need to replace the concrete floor that he fell on.LOL

 

Floyd Trevis built only four of these cars. Here are two .. side by side.
The former Charlie Nagy #36 and the former Ken Brenn #24.

I've lost track of the other two cars.
Does anyone know of their where abouts, etc.?

One was owned by Jerry Willetts from CT and the other by someone (whose name I forget) from Westchester, NY I believe.

THANKS in advance.

 

I found some info from a picture that was posted by daveww1 (13727) of the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com</st1laceName>EMMR <st1laceType w:st="on">Museum</st1laceType></ST1 and the Hillegass Exhibit. I have this picture and studied it several times but the size I have did not bring out the detail like this one. Behind the midget tail is a two piece vertical nose that has not been welded. This is the nose I have on my 37 Hillegass that I have been told by some people that Hillegass did not make. When I repaired and restored this midget I found original paint under the nose and cowl which led me to believe these were original. This car was flipped very badly in its early days and the tail and hood were replaced with the one in the picture. Until now I was confused as to the nose but this confirmed its originality. Now, I know for sure this is a complete Hillegass Midget, frame up and parts and dates correctly, this is a rare car and made before his shop in Allen Town. I have an original grill that will replace the one in the car and I also have the original steel wheels with two<ST1 Ascot knobby tires which are very old but still hold air. Point being, due your due diligence when restoring these cars and if you feel you have the correct parts don’t give up searching. Thank you, to this site and daveww1 for the pictures.

 

"Horvath was killed at Vallejo by a simple tip over."

Lumpy, did you know Horvath? He was the only person ever killed in one of my dad's cars, from what I was told someone opened the gate to cross the track while he was qualifying and he hit it, do you have any more info on this? you can pm me if you don't want to post it on the board

 

Hi Ken,
The Willets Trevis is in the McCollum collection in Grand Junction, Co.
The Hennesey car was owned by Pat Whitehouse in N.H. for years but has been sold after his death. Not sure where it went.

 

Hey recer5c: Horvath was qualifying when he spun in the 2<SUP>nd</SUP> corner, he
was pushed off and he hauled it in the 3<SUP>rd</SUP> the car slid up the track and
they had no fence for the out gate just a cutoff telephone pole about
4 feet up.. he slid up and bumped the stub of a pole the car tipped up the
pole went into the drivers seat end of story , everyone though they were
going to push him off, but the ambulance came over and took him away
with no hurry Mel Kenyon was the one that told us what happened.
sorry . I was also there at Corona when Danny C was injured, that is
right Danny was driving for the first time in someone else&#8217;s car(stuck throttle)
I have seen way to much and I was always appalled when someone would say
that race was no good no one crashed !
I would like to say Jimmy C was a real good guy if some one was in
trouble he would always spin near there car and be the first one there
very honest caring person ..Alan
PS I have a real good story about Bob D and Jimmy C. but I will
wait until I scan the pictures. I&#8217;ll put them in the midget section .

 

it's Sarah, my dad better not be looking at any cute nurses I searched this on Google about my dad falling off a ladder (I don't know why) and I found this. so tell him to NOT look at ANY cute nurses! at ALL!

 

...it's what racers do darlin.

 

Sarah,I found out he was lyin.He had a male nurse, must be some good pain medicine or embaressed.....Uncle Rich

 

Hey Guys, beware of those ladders, they can be killers:

Ray Baker, who founded Baker Engineered Racing Engines of Spring Lake,Mi. in 1968 and ran it through 1989, died Friday of accidental injuries sustained while building a shop in Mooresville, N.C. Mr. Baker, a Muskegon native who lived in Mooresville with his wife, Linda, was 68.

This fall from a ladder occurred last Dec.2010 !