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Hot Rods v. Sports Cars

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by HealeyRick, Feb 26, 2012.

  1. johnod
    Joined: Aug 18, 2009
    Posts: 799

    johnod
    Member

    Just read your whole build thread, very nice.
    I also like your listing of suppliers, and already placed an order,lol.
    Also checked out the britV8 site, also very interesting.
    Do they modify MGAs at all?
     
  2. HealeyRick
    Joined: May 5, 2009
    Posts: 573

    HealeyRick
    Member
    from Mass.

  3. Offset
    Joined: Nov 9, 2010
    Posts: 1,871

    Offset
    Member
    from Canada

    I had a 1960 Austin Healey 3000 with a 327/4 speed combination. I bought the car from the "New Car Trade Center" which some HAMBer's from may remember in Toronto (Avenue Road and Davenport - long gone). It was medium blue with wire wheels on the front steel wheels of some description on the back.

    As a kid it was in my mind a beautiful car and I still love the styling of the big Healey. Their prices have just gone through the roof in recent years so I guess there are lots of people who really enjoy the the marque as well.

    As I recall it had a lot of chassis flex which it think was due to the frame having been notched and boxed to clear the Chev starter motor. An interesting thing about the V8 combination was that it was actually lighter than the Healey 6 and O/D transmission. A friend had a very early MGA with a 283 powerglide set up but it never worked particularly well.

    We had some great Canadian sports car cross over hot rods perhaps the most successful were the Bill Sadler/Doug Duncan Chevrolet powered road racers that were considered by some to be the very first of what was to become USRRC and CAN/AM cars.

    Great thread Healey Rick. Really interesting information.
     
  4. tommy
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 14,757

    tommy
    Member Emeritus

    [​IMG]

    A picture from the late 60s. A beautiful silver blue with a blue top SBF and it had a rep for being very quick.
     
  5. My poor mans Healey
     

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  6. Special Ed
    Joined: Nov 1, 2007
    Posts: 7,967

    Special Ed
    Member

    Frank Kurtis not only built open wheel cars, but he built virtually ALL of the Indy roadsters during the fifties. He also built dragsters, and just about every kind of hot rod imaginable, and transitioned into sports cars during the late forties...

    [​IMG]
     
  7. johnod
    Joined: Aug 18, 2009
    Posts: 799

    johnod
    Member

  8. Hmmmm I know where I can get a pair of these cheap!;):cool:
     
  9. johnod
    Joined: Aug 18, 2009
    Posts: 799

    johnod
    Member

    Huh?
     
  10. Truckedup
    Joined: Jul 25, 2006
    Posts: 4,661

    Truckedup
    Member

    56 or 57 Vette with a 301
     
  11. robber
    Joined: Nov 25, 2011
    Posts: 1,998

    robber
    Member

    Some of these cars are hard for me to classify as either sportscar or hotrod. When you make something faster and better, then to me you are getting into hot rodding.
    I used to run a modified MGB and I had a modified Corvette as well. I have seen many a Jaguar stuffed with a SBC just because it was cheaper then rebuilding the V-12. I even had a chance to buy a Jag with a 455 Olds! To me this was flirting with the Hot Rod mentallity. What Shelby did with the AC could be argued as being either a sports car, factory race car or factory hotrod. A Sunbeam Tiger is definitely on my list of cars that I would love to have... perhaps someday but more scarce than ever.
     
  12. Bigcheese327
    Joined: Sep 16, 2001
    Posts: 6,694

    Bigcheese327
    Member

    I love those. They're so much cooler than their better-known descendent the Muntz Jet. If I were made of sheetmetal talent, I'd be driving some rolled-over late model (Mustang, probably - or a shortened Crown Vic) with a body inspired by the Kurtis built on top.

    I love sports rods in all their iterations - Tea Baggers with American V8 swaps (MG-TC with a V8/60 would be cool); '20s and '30s domestics meant to handle a road course; or pure homebuilt specials with big American engines.

    -Dave
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2012
  13. caseyajones
    Joined: Nov 21, 2007
    Posts: 629

    caseyajones
    Member

    Healey3.jpg

    Healey.jpg

    TR.jpg

    00000013.jpg

    100_0727.jpg

    S5002027.jpg I am a hotrodder. I started on my 1st. car in 1962 @ 14 yrs old---a 1937 Ford. Also pictured is my current 57 Ford. In between, I have built many hotrods--several of them sports cars. The 1st a 54 Austin Healy 100-4. Sports cars are light, most had disc brakes and most handled better than domestic cars. The Healy was for competition only and received a 426 max wedge with a shortened torqueflite & ran 10 flat in the 60's. Also did a 100-4 w/sbc for street but no picture. In late 70's did a TR6/strong 331 sbc.In the early 80's a 240Z/331 sbc. Recently a 280Z/355 sbc. There is nothing at all wrong with sports cars for Hot Rodding!!!! note--I'm Casey's Dad
     
  14. caseyajones
    Joined: Nov 21, 2007
    Posts: 629

    caseyajones
    Member

    I guess there was no room for the 37 Ford and engine pic for 280Z
     

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  15. HealeyRick
    Joined: May 5, 2009
    Posts: 573

    HealeyRick
    Member
    from Mass.

    I'm very happy with the Spintech Cruisers. Because the Healey is so low at stock ride height it's difficult to find a muffler that won't bottom out. The 2 1/4" height of the Spintechs fills the bill perfectly and I think they sound awesome.
     
  16. I had a ERA 427 sideoiler for 14 years. It was the more fun to drive than any other car I owned. When I was 16 a friend had a late 50's MG that he put a 260 Ford in and I remember what a blast that was to drive.
     

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  17. KFC
    Joined: Jul 17, 2008
    Posts: 445

    KFC
    Member
    from UK

    Really ?

    Healey 3000 = 6
    JAG xk = 6
    E Type = 6 or 12
    Daimler dart / sp250 = 8
    Ac cobra = 8
    Ac ace = 6
     
  18. MARVIN CT
    Joined: Sep 17, 2010
    Posts: 55

    MARVIN CT
    Member

    My '52 TD with a '37 v8-60, Mustang t-5, 3.9 gears in a stock rear end. Still not finished (are they ever?) but a blast to drive. Marvin
     

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  19. DJCruiser
    Joined: Jan 15, 2012
    Posts: 316

    DJCruiser
    Member
    from CT

    haven't seen a MG w/V860 in years, great combo.
     
  20. foolthrottle
    Joined: Oct 14, 2005
    Posts: 1,402

    foolthrottle
    Member


    The v8 60 was a cast off motor for a long time. Morgan used one in at least one car in the fifties. As a kid in southern Cal. in the fifties I saw several European cars with v8 60's and then along came the Olds F-85 aluminum engine. The v8 60 motor that really impressed me was the simca Ardun head, now that really looked like a good idea for a small sports car.
     
  21. Ned Ludd
    Joined: May 15, 2009
    Posts: 5,026

    Ned Ludd
    Member

    Specials, Europe's hot rods:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Batten Specials were sort of semi-productionized

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG][​IMG]
    Other Fords, both American and British

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Austins

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    MGs

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Rileys

    [​IMG]
    Sunbeam
     
  22. Beach Bum
    Joined: May 7, 2006
    Posts: 573

    Beach Bum
    Member

    Add to the list of hot rodders turned sports car types Dan Gurney, Phil Remington and Jim Busby. Someone mentioned Carroll Shelby did some driving. Carroll was one of the top American drivers through the '50s. He drove in 8 World Championship Grand Prixs and won the 24 Hrs of Le Mans in 1959 in an Aston Martin. It was his racing record that gave him the credibility with the likes of Ford Motor that allowed him to get the Cobra project off the ground.

    Danny Ongais did more than just turn left. He was a top sports car driver in the IMSA series for Ted Fields Interscope team winning the 1979 24h of Daytona.

    Racers are racers and will race anything, anytime, anywhere. It's only in the last 15 or 20 years that they have gotten so specialized. Back in the day the likes of Andretti and Foyt would run a Can-Am race one weekend, an Indy car race the next and squeeze in a Sprint car race in between. Some F1 guys would run the Daytona 500 because it was still the off season for them. Back then they got paid for driving, not making personal appearances or sponsor commercials.

    Kurt O.
     
  23. Beau
    Joined: Jul 2, 2009
    Posts: 1,884

    Beau
    Member

    Hot rods go fast in a straight line. American

    Sports cars go fast through the corners. European.
     
  24. metalshapes
    Joined: Nov 18, 2002
    Posts: 11,138

    metalshapes
    Member

    And in two short sentences you dismiss a huge and diverse part of our automotive history...
     
  25. THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER
    Joined: Jun 6, 2007
    Posts: 5,369

    THE FRENCHTOWN FLYER
    Member
    from FRENCHTOWN

    I'm in the process of transitioning myself.

    Let's not forget Ohio George Montgomery and all the Spec motors he built for road racing (I forgot the name of the sanctioning body - somebody will chime in).
     
  26. metalshapes
    Joined: Nov 18, 2002
    Posts: 11,138

    metalshapes
    Member

    Some Europeans that went fast in a straight line.

    35rollout.jpg

    rekord_41s.jpg

    0,1020,622827,00.jpg

    2610404633_d412b237a5_o.jpg

    2614419099_b4f6e77af7_o.jpg


    Some Americans that went fast around corners...

    CIMG1188.jpg

    crmcarnesbob60bocar.jpg

    CHEETAH%20%283%29.jpg

    0d6124ba5ed87e25338246ffe73b952c20090225145944.jpg

    db_DSC03287__Small_1.jpg

    9c_1_b.jpg

    c54pc3a13lb.jpg
     
  27. Beau
    Joined: Jul 2, 2009
    Posts: 1,884

    Beau
    Member

    Yes.

    But in general, my two sentences are right.
     
  28. Ned Ludd
    Joined: May 15, 2009
    Posts: 5,026

    Ned Ludd
    Member

    But things eventually get a bit dull in the middle of each of them. Interesting stuff happens where they cross and flow into each other.
     
  29. Ned Ludd
    Joined: May 15, 2009
    Posts: 5,026

    Ned Ludd
    Member

    And this would be a cool concept for a hot rod:
    [​IMG]
     
  30. metalshapes
    Joined: Nov 18, 2002
    Posts: 11,138

    metalshapes
    Member

    If you are prepared to ignore a huge part of history, maybe.

    But these guys that put themselfs in the record books are proving you wrong...
     

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