Roadrace cars... vintage, nostalgia, historic

Or, how about this one? It's running fast on a roadcourse.



I don't mean to be picking on you; but you should realize that a fast car, if it's designed, built and driven well; can be a "Hot Rod" (or for that matter, anything you want to call it).

I took this car to Buttonwillow Raceway (West of Bakersfield CA) some years back. We surprised a bunch of lads in their Corvettes, Cobra Replicas and Shelby clones. I passed a goodly many of them, going around the outside

 

Here's one more from Grand Central, before I got to "Hit the Hay"



This is Terry Hall in a 1949 or 1950 Talbot Lago T26C Gran Prix car. It probably was built, or at least designed, before WWII. This particular car never ran very well. In those days, it was hard to find guys who could "wrench" machines like these.

 

This car is a hoot, one of my all time favorites. One of the things I find interesting about T based cars like this is that, from afar anyway, you can't tell if they were oval, lakes, drag or road racing cars. The universal racer boy hot rod. Long live the T. Gary

 

Daytona Continental… Ken Miles and Shelby-entered GT40

 

Here are a couple that have shown up at he annual Putnam (Connecticut) Main Street Cruise over that last few years.

 

Oh Man! Yeah, those are just "bitch'n" cars. The red Stangelini is a Fiat based Formula Jr. They came out in the 50's as a "poor man's" race car. The all aluminium bodied Lotus IX (nine, for those of us that don't speak Roman) also came out in the 50's. This cars were part of Colin Chapman's early ventures into aero-dynamics. Generally, these cars were powered by a 1098 c.c., Coventry Climax,,SOHC 4 banger. Some put larger MG engines in them. Others put in smaller 948 c.c. BMC's. One SoCal doctor had a Porsche engine in his.

 

Great shot! By what we can see of the rear of the car, it looks like it's being pushed by a 427 motor.

 

Not sure about that. My understanding was Miles was killed testing the 427 version at Riverside.

 

Cobra at Meadowdale

 

And don't forget, this is the 50th anniversary of the Shelby Cobra. Lots of special events and recognition coming this year.

 

I thought he got killed in the J car.

 

Old Dawg check your mail box please...Mark

 

Ken Miles was killed testing at Riverside. A friend of mind Steele Therkleson was a mechanic on the car and was at Riverside when the accident happened. As a kid, Ken was my favorite driver..

 

The golden age of motor sports. What an incredible ride.

 

That may be. If the car in the photo was a Mark I, it was probably a 289 C.I.D.. Though if it was 1967, The two Mark II cars at Daytona used Merc 427's. I don't have any I.D. of that car number.

Miles was killed in the"J Car", which used a 427. It was an entirely different car. The body, for example, was the "bread van" style, for, what was thought at the time, better areodydamics. The chassis and suspension was entirely different, as well. I was told by reputable source, that the suspension came apart.

 

Hey Mark! I just got home from dinner. I didn't read everything before I shot off my "dinger" about the "J" car, and the 427.

It's funny, Steele was the one that told me about the test at Riverside. I talked to Ken's son Peter about it; but all he told me was that he was horrified to see his dad's busted body laying out a distance from the wreck. Bummer!

I haven't see a message in my box.

 

Here's another pic of the Grand Central races. This is Bill Murphy in his Kurtis Buick. He won a race or few with his cars. Years later, I did some flying work for him; and got to know him fairly well. He had a ranch just over the hill from me. I asked what happened to his cars. At that time, about 15 years ago, he told me he still had them (I can't remember how many). He said he had them all locked up so his kids couldn't get at them, and kill themselves Murphy died a few years ago, in his late eights or early nineties.


This is all for about a week. I've got to go down to SoCal; and then back to
Washington D.C. Enjoy! And keep this thread going.

 

All Mark I GT40s were powered by 289 small blocks. This was the car that scored the first win for the Ford. The first 427 Mark II cars were tested that April at LeMans, raced there in June, and won there in 1966. Ken Miles was killed at Riverside testing the "J car" which was eventually rebodied into the Mark IV that won Sebring and LeMans in 1967.

 

Old Dawg try one more time please. If this one doesn't come through I will put it on this thread...

 

Porsche 550s at La Carrera Panamericana 1954

 

Nickey Chevrolet Corvette at Sebring 1964

 

Dick Guldstrand Camaro at Riverside 1967

 

1965 24 Hours of Le Mans Ford GT40 bruce mclaren ken miles

 

Porsche 914 & 917. Most people don't realize just how small the 917 is.

 

Elvis could sure sing and dance but couldn't drive

 

More SAAB from the 2011 Roxton, Texas Rally.









And the adapter and modified intake manifold we made to adapt a single Weber from a Porsche 911. Even the biggest carbs SAAB ever put on their hottest engines were too small and were choking the engine at over 4000 RPM. With the new carb we should be good for 8000+ RPM. With the porting and compression we have the best power should be at 6500 RPM.

 

Acctually, Max Balchowsky said in an interview he was pretty good...

 

Back at Grand Central Air Terminal in 1955; this is Ernie McAfee in the number 76 Ferrari putting a move on Pearce Woods' C-Type Jag.

 

Uhm...yeah...it was in the script.


So, what was the car they put in the water?
I'd take the Red #90.

 

YEAH!!! Great thread!