Register now to get rid of these ads!

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

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by Joshua Shaw, Jan 17, 2008.

  1. SUHRsc
    Joined: Sep 27, 2005
    Posts: 5,093

    SUHRsc
    Member

    Sure is a nice looking car!
     
  2. Mitch G
    Joined: Dec 9, 2008
    Posts: 101

    Mitch G
    Member

    Thought I would share a wonderful photo of the late great Dee Jones on his way to winning a trophy dash at Ascot. Most guys had trouble at Ascot with both hands on the wheel!!
    1962, in the Morales Bros. "Tamale Wagon", that's Dee's actual notes on the photo!
    [​IMG]
     
  3. 28dreyer
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 1,166

    28dreyer
    Member
    from Minnesota

    Looks like Jones's pit crew forgot to buckle the hood down and he's trying to keep it from flipping totally open.
     
  4. SUHRsc
    Joined: Sep 27, 2005
    Posts: 5,093

    SUHRsc
    Member

  5. 28dreyer
    Joined: Jan 23, 2008
    Posts: 1,166

    28dreyer
    Member
    from Minnesota

    Enlarging the thumbnail clearly shows the rear torsion bar mounted outboard of the frame and body unlike original Kurtis. I am presuming the car was changed over from originally being either a cross spring or a quarter elliptical rear.

    Can any one expound on variations of parallel torsion bar upgrades and who was prominently doing them and/or if kits were offered?
     
  6. Rootie Kazoootie
    Joined: Nov 27, 2006
    Posts: 8,134

    Rootie Kazoootie
    Member
    from Colorado

    Both Halibrand and CAE offered parrallel setups and I'm sure most others did also. Theirs used conventional bars but another setup used bars where the arm and adjuster were on the same end with the arm floating and the adjuster turned down on the arm.
     

    Attached Files:

  7. Oskie, Carson at Warbirds

    The Edmunds / Moser Tamale Wagon

    [​IMG]
     
  8. ron kramer
    Joined: Nov 26, 2008
    Posts: 94

    ron kramer
    Member
    from penna.

    I believe the #3 Vargo car was originaly a midget, stretched to a sprint car by Ken Hickey. Perhaps Hickey did the parallel bar set-up? I'm sure someone here knows the history.
     
  9. jimg12
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 307

    jimg12
    Member

    Had the please of watching Dee race a few times, also Dee flew into Louisville to see Joie Ray[the black driver]. Charlie Masters and I went down to Joie's house for a home cooked meal of fish and all the trimmings and a night of BS[truth]. He seemed to be a first class person.
    Jim
     
  10. mac miller
    Joined: Jan 13, 2007
    Posts: 524

    mac miller
    Member
    from INDY


    Using parallel torsion on the rear of my Fike Plumbing sprint car just as Hank Henry used on the real Fike. Cross leaf front.
     

    Attached Files:

  11. LittleFauss
    Joined: Feb 2, 2008
    Posts: 272

    LittleFauss

    .....'Hey! Of all people to chime in, thank you, mac miller! I've always noticed that back in the day, whenever Wally and later Paul Leffler would build their sprint cars with parallel bars on the front, the bars were always mounted 'above' the front axle. Whereas, two well known midget car builders, George Benson and L. T. "Red" Caruthers and even Mike Fedorcek's "Munchkin," their bars were always mounted 'below' the front axle. Since you are our resident expert, what do you think was behind their way of thinking??? I know those little LTC cars were very successful, but how can you argue with the sprint car design of the man that built the Sheraton-Thompson Special dirt cars???
     
  12. Rootie Kazoootie
    Joined: Nov 27, 2006
    Posts: 8,134

    Rootie Kazoootie
    Member
    from Colorado

    Meskowski's was a leaf spring conversion.
     

    Attached Files:

    • pb1.jpg
      pb1.jpg
      File size:
      65.1 KB
      Views:
      369
  13. What about Gary Bettenhausens #99 sprinter?
     
  14. Mutt
    Joined: Feb 6, 2003
    Posts: 3,219

    Mutt
    Member

    Here's an article from 1948 Popular Mechanics about portable midget tracks. I copied this years ago so I'll have to look for the final page of the article..


    Mutt
     

    Attached Files:

  15. I HAVE A QUESTION-

    I have recently come across 200 ( or close to) old "Buffalo nickels".

    I swear I've seen them on rear bumpers, yet I can't remember which side was up.

    I bought 36 of them, and if they are good luck charms for guys like us, I'll be getting the rest of 'em.

    chime in please.
     

  16. By the way-

    I don't think they're good luck if I sell them. So I'll have to give them away when the time is right.
     
  17. Mitch G
    Joined: Dec 9, 2008
    Posts: 101

    Mitch G
    Member

    Buffalo Nickels are 90% silver, which is selling at over $30 an ounce, even if the coin is in bad shape, no visible date of mint mark, it's still valuable silver!
     
  18. TommyA19
    Joined: Dec 3, 2010
    Posts: 240

    TommyA19
    Member

    Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy or as cheap as the article said, for putting that track up. From what I know, it only had two races at the Polo Grounds in NYC, then was moved to the Rose Bowl out in CA where it held quite a few shows. Some well known drivers came east to run at the Polo Grounds, back then. Latr on, there was a paved track in the Polo Grounds that held NASCAR sanctioned midget races.
    Hope ya find that last page of the article!
     
  19. Rootie Kazoootie
    Joined: Nov 27, 2006
    Posts: 8,134

    Rootie Kazoootie
    Member
    from Colorado

    Back in 1939, they built a 1/4 mile board track inside Soldier Field for midget racing. Wasn't meant to be portable though.
     

    Attached Files:

    • sf-m.jpg
      sf-m.jpg
      File size:
      86.4 KB
      Views:
      347
  20. easter
    Joined: Nov 25, 2010
    Posts: 554

    easter
    Member

    I wonder if the "crossover" through the infield and the parking area/pits were wooden as well. I can't imagine racing on wood tracks of any size.
     
  21. Rootie Kazoootie
    Joined: Nov 27, 2006
    Posts: 8,134

    Rootie Kazoootie
    Member
    from Colorado

    Being exposed to the elements like that, it probably didn't take long for those boards to start warping and cupping. Must have been a bumpy ride indeed.
     
  22. I saw them several times in the Rose Bowl, when I was a kid. They ran in July and August for several years, as I remember. The track, erected each year, looked pretty good. But, then again, "it never rains in California":cool:
     
  23. baldtireman
    Joined: Aug 3, 2009
    Posts: 378

    baldtireman
    Member

    I had them on the rear bumper of my Gambler chassis sprinter with a factory issue bumper. As many times as I saw the world from an inverted position,I question"Lucky"!!! lol:D
     
  24. baldtireman
    Joined: Aug 3, 2009
    Posts: 378

    baldtireman
    Member

    Did Dick Linder drive this Vargo car? :confused:
     
  25. metal bender
    Joined: Apr 1, 2009
    Posts: 178

    metal bender
    Member
    from texas

    Never seen a frame like that be for , was it a supper be for, made to a sprint ?
     
  26. RABs32
    Joined: Nov 14, 2009
    Posts: 807

    RABs32
    Member
    from new jersey

    Joe, I got a call from Spike today,he's allright and alive.He's been busy,with work and building the diecast sprint and midget models and concentrating on them and staying off the Hamb so as he wouldn't get distracted.He's finishing his last car soon and will come back on board shortly.....Rich
     
  27. ron kramer
    Joined: Nov 26, 2008
    Posts: 94

    ron kramer
    Member
    from penna.

    We went to the Reading Fairgrounds Reunion show where the car was displayed, hence I read the info about the car, and the drivers. Yes, Dick Linder is listed as one of the drivers. Its a beautiful piece of history.
     
  28. Lumpy95
    Joined: Jul 26, 2010
    Posts: 87

    Lumpy95
    Member

    The shop I know that makes hundreds of bumpers used coins at heads with the date showing then in the middle of the year would go to tales to show late bumpers.
    Now I machine fancy radius plugs that push in look great and cheaper.
    they do pop out in a wreck , oh boy!
     
  29. Lumpy95
    Joined: Jul 26, 2010
    Posts: 87

    Lumpy95
    Member

    1956 usac yearbook
    This has stats and bios of the top drivers, I will scan them if anyone wants to see them
     

    Attached Files:

  30. gearguy
    Joined: Jan 27, 2010
    Posts: 286

    gearguy
    Member

    Flew into Philly Wednesday & noticed what looks like the remains of a 1/4 mile race track at the edge of the property. Can someone advise what the place was and who raced there?

    Chuck Schultz
    Winfield, Illinois
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.