Pictures from the AMRCA National Championship at Whittier Narrows racetrack this past weekend. Sent from my SM-J320P using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Many of these cars were hand made, but i have never seen another one with detail like this. Made by a local machinist and featured in May 1955 Popular science, everything was made himself, including vulcanizing molds to make his own non-skid tires. My uncle is the current care taker of all of this stuff including the molds, and was kind enough to show me and my friends this June. You can see some old pictures of it racing on the desk. I really wish I took more pictures but I was taking it all in, as were my friends.
Here is my cutaway Thimble Drome car. This came from my grandfather's hobby shop. The cutaways were display models for shops. Unfortunately I played with it as a kid, so the finish isn't the greatest, but it's pretty much all there. My buddy Justin Brunmeier did an awesome illustration of it too.
I met a man years ago who gave me a bunch of late 40's to early 50's speed catalogs. We talked many times about period correctness and one day he shows up with a tether car. Where it gets real interesting is that it had a motor that he designed and built from scratch and this thing was frigging cool. He also told me that the Boulevard Drive-In used to have a tether car track.The Drive in is still being run by a former employee (Since his high school days in 1954) and he verified the track's existence. I've often wondered if we could get another one going, I think it would be cool, as I have a defunct tether car that need to be resurrected.
Tomorrow I’m going to post a few photos of my Jocko Johnson Custom built supercharged Cyclone .60 aluminum tether car . Also For anyone interested YouTube has some fantastic videos of 200 MPH TETHER Streamliners and the worlds fastest tether boats that also began in the late 30’s and both hobbies are alive and well today.
I do not know. About a year after this photo, he claimed his inheritance of the collection. I was not aware of where he lived or his situation. Thanks for the photo memory.
I just finished restoring a 1939 Speed Chief. They were a little un-gainly in appearance but were one of the first complete kits available for the pre-war hobbyist. Many of the early racers were made to resemble real race cars with dashboards, steering wheels, leather seats etc., looking more like model cars with gas engines. These cars were not very fast, but the detailing was great. Post-war cars were built more streamlined and built more for speed and heated competition, with not as much consideration for authentic realism. Mick
Very nicely done! While the Speed Chief is often characterized as a bit of an ugly ducking by tether car collectors, it is a significant part of the history of tether car racing and no collection is complete without one. Your restoration is outstanding! Your car appears to be powered by a correct Sky Chief model engine, which was produced by the same company who produced the Speed Chief race car, American Supercraft Corp. of Chicago, IL. Interestingly, both the race car and the engine were also distributed by Sears Roebuck, although Sears renamed the engine a Kloud Klimer.
Thanks John, a compliment from you is greatly appreciated, you are certainly well respected in the tether car community. It does have the original Sky Chief engine that I am just getting the ignition system done now. The wheels & tires are repro Voigt items but I have the Original Seiberling tires. I should have given credit to my good friend Bruno Perry for the beautiful hand lettering and silver leaf work, it really made the car. Mick
My Supercharged Cyclone . Hand formed aluminum built by by friend the late Robert “Jocko” Johnson following my design sketches. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
That is absolutely beautiful. I would love to see some more photos of it. Jocko was a genius on all levels. Here is another Jocko built supercharged tether car, with wonderful workmanship. Mick
Always lusted after tether cars, but they have been way out of my budget...until today. Picked this one up at an auction for a price I could afford. Roy Cox Thimble Drome Champion. It is in "as raced" condition, but it looks fine on the shelf. It does not have an engine, so I guess they are referred to as "pusher" cars. I understand how the motorized cars work, but someone school me on how the non-powered cars worked.
a boner is right, think of yourself as the motor as you whip the car around on the end of the string or cable. Unfortunately, they often ended upside down, which explains the scrapes on the cowl and headrest on your car, just shows they've been used. Mick
Bought this little wood gem at a rummage sale probably 20 years ago as a basket case. Got it up on wheels a couple of days ago..... figured it was about time!
Thanks for the info. That’s more or less what I thought. Couldn’t bear to see the poor thing so abused, so I bought a new grille for her, and replaced the missing screws underneath, so she doesn’t drag the belly pan anymore.
Bought this one about 20 years ago on the way to my wife's friends wedding. Couple of guys had a little card table set up on a street corner and I caught a glimpse of it, thinking it was probably like 37hotrod's. Asked how much and was told it was another guy's that was using the bathroom in the house. Told them I couldn't come back, gimme a price. $15 bucks later we were back on the way to the wedding. Never fired it but spin the wheels everyone and then, engine still has lots of compression.
Still have these from my childhood. The '57 was a straight line car, drove 2 nails in the street, strung some fishing line and it'd fry the tire almost the entire run. Buggy had locking front wheels and it'd just chug around doing slow circles.
Beautiful!! Jocko was a dear friend and I really miss him. The headrest tail car he built for me was the very first one built from the sketches I sent to him . The jackshaft driven supercharger Was also from my sketch pad . Those little super chargers he hand carved were absolutely masterpiece works or art!! The body’s and suspension ,etc. were also mind blowing . Many don’t know that I was the spark of inspiration to get him going on the building of tether Cars . I had been collecting some tether cars and painting and lettering many other cars for local collectors.in fact that’s how I became fascinated and involved way back in the ‘80’s. I showed Jocko the sketches That I drew for a supercharged Cyclone .60 GR hand beat aluminum race car and he said yeah that he could build one. He completely blew my mind with the end result. I will post some more photos as soon as I can. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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