History Auto racing 1894-1942

And "Trim" you did, Pete! Guys, I don't have a shot of the engine compartment; but Pete recreated a masterpiece. This car, as well as many others of the Blain collection will be in "Exhibition" (on the tracks) at SVRA's event at Sonoma Raceway in a few weeks; SVRA's event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July and at Watkins Glen in September. The drivers and riding mechanisians (not mechanics) will be in "Period Dress" (not Nomex and full face helmets). And, of course, they'll be at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion in August. And Pete, my last (and persistent) "jab" at you is: "Get YOUR car together and come play with us!". LOL....JK

 

Looking for opinions please. Is the axle assembly in the first photo Miller-Ford?

 

Looks like the assembly for the 1935 Miller Ford to me!

 

Fairly sure it is. Who's the guy with Art?

 

I just realized the nose pieces for those cars look like a vintage Ford tractor. Were they made from one? Or are they aluminum?

 

A friend of mine has one of the Miller-Fords. It appears to me that the body panels have all (including the nose cowl) been banged out by the metalshapers! As I read the history, the knock on the cars was that they were underpowered and the steering box was placed too close to the exhaust manifold (which burnt out all the grease). It's said that they were rushed into service with no time to work out the "bugs"! My friend's car (he occasionally runs it in vintage races) had a tendency to overheat as many Ford V8 flatheads do.

 

Thanks Old Dawg

 

Historian Kem Robertson stumbled across some Miller-Ford pictures on Facebook. He took a close look at them, and compared it to the image of Art Chevrolet from the Wayne State University archives. Kudos to Kem for connecting the dots. I was familiar with the WSU image, but never put 2+2 together.

Great question there Michael, but I am afraid I don't know. Perhaps Ford historian Robert Casey has an answer. I plan on e-mailing him the images, and see what he says.

Wouldn't that be a hoot if that were the case? My dad went to Fordson High School in Dearborn, so I have sentimental reasons for wishing that were true.

 

Here is a film of the 1935 Miller-Ford effort. Art Chevrolet is seen at the 1:38 time mark.

 

Thanks for answering the question that came to mind, think there is a photo of it in your driveway with a new radiator somewhere on the HAMB, or was it there when Debbie and stopped by for a visit? Bob

 

Thanks for an excuse to show another tid bit that has been on the shelf for 40+ years. Bob

 

This is an in-car-video shot from a '35 Miller-Ford of a warm up/practice session at the 2008 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. There are some unfortunate comments made by some YouTube viewers who didn't understand that this was NOT a race. The crew of this car were still struggling with several problems (mainly cooling) with the 21 stud Ford "Flathead"!

 

Nice video! Far better from inside a car that watching in the stands. See you in August. Bob

 

1923 Monza G.P. ...

 

Was that car banged up before, during or after loading? Maybe it even was done on the track!

 

Kinda' depends on if it is being loaded or unloaded.

 

More from 1923 Monza GP:
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1923-italian-grand-prix

 

The driver was killed in this car.An Alfa P!. The number 17 was never assigned to an Italian racing car again.Driver : Ugo Sivocci.

 

Very sad that the driver was killed in that car, but interesting to learn that the #17 was never used again, just thought I needed to explain why I hit the like button. Bob

 

That's the trouble with the "like" response. Generally speaking it means we agreed or truthfully "liked" a post. However,there are those times,like this ,where we feel the need to acknowledge the sentiment but "like" is the simplest response.When we do...we hope we don't give the wrong impression of our response. Yes,Bob...I know what you mean.

 

Thanks Bob, I've never hit the UNLIKE but thought of it and thought my reply above was more fitting.

Bob

 

Sorry Bob, but that's one of those 'facts' which has been passed down as true when it isn't. Admittedly there wasn't a #17 in the 1924 Italian GP - but that's because there were only twelve entries. In the same race in 1925 Santoleri's Chiribiri carried 17 ... etc ... etc ...

However, the number is generally considered unlucky in Italy - just as 13 is viewed elsewhere. This is because the Roman numeral XVII is an anagram of VIXI, which in Italian means 'I have lived' - or in other words, 'I'm dead'. Italian buildings generally don't have a 17th floor, hotels don't have a room 17 and if you were ever to fly Alitalia you'd find the plane doesn't have a seat 17. And Renault even changed the name of the Renault 17 to 177 for the Italian market:

 

Interesting. Thanks for the correction. However, if it is unlucky....why would the driver/owners choose to use it for the '23 GP?

 

Presumably they weren't superstitious?

 

I see that on page 339 of this thread, there was quite a discussion about I.M.C.A. driver Jimmie Costa. Much of the mystery surrounding Jimmie Costa and his Fiat has now been uncovered: http://KansasRacingHistory.com/tripod/Costa/Jimmie-Costa.htm

 

Excellent!

As usual, Bob, you have again uncovered a lot of very interesting information about a rather obscure driver from a century ago. This is great stuff, and I'll need to find the time to go over my records, and see if I can add little titbits of information, just to show my gratitude.

Many thanks!

 

Thanks Michael. I'm glad that you like it. I know that I really enjoyed doing the research and learning a lot in the process. Yes, anything that you can add to it would be greatly appreciated.

 

You racing historians fascinate me. Thanks