I picked some remains from an old racers scrap pile. I though it was too nice to throw away. I really don't need another project. But I might have enough stuff laying around to make it a roller, maybe even make it move under it's own power.
That is pretty cool! Very unique. Would be interested in knowing what it was? Good on you for saving it. I would have done the same!
It's an old midget or sprint car frame. I think. Or maybe it was an amusement park ride! lol Belly pan was an old car hood. Still has a strip of chrome attached to it.
That may be an Essex frame. In the pre-WW II era there was an automotive chassis that was popular with circle track builders that looked similar to the one you brought home. Someone with better knowledge of race car fabrication in that era would have to confirm it, but I think Essex.
Measure the approximate wheelbase from the center of the front spring to the top of the arch of the rear kick up. Midgets are nominally 72 inches and sprint cars 82 and 86.
Saved idea... curved front crossmember works with a bullet shaped nose. Speaking of bullets... 55 56 Cadillac Dagmar? Sent from my VS835 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Frame kick-up does not look as abrupt as an Essex. It looks like the very back of frame curves back to nearly horizontal. I'm thinking that the kick-up is actually from the front of the donor car. Isn't the rear crossmember a Ford piece? Curved frame front corners were common, although usually smaller radius, interconnected by a short straight crossmember section. I'm told that Dreyer chassis were so constructed. Can you see any weld evident, were the rails transition from straight to curved, or does it seem formed this way? Front belly pan is clever and kind of cool. I don't think engine belly pans were commonly used way back then. As suggested above, I'm curious what the wheelbase is. Although, it may not be evident whether the rear crossmember was over or behind the rear axle. In any event, it's a neat piece, and a good starting point for a cool project that could be built with inexpensive pieces you could pick up at a couple of swap meets. I'd scrap the bullet nose idea, and hold off on the front belly pan until you can mock-up the rest of the car, so you can better envision what it would look like.
I don't for sure know what it is, I don't even know what it was. I do know that it could be very cool what ever it is or was.
Some form of Vintage Racer sounds good to me...There were a Few Dry Lakes Racers with bullet noses one a 34 Coupe...I think its certainly worth researching...Time has not be kind to many a dream from back in the day...But theres enough there for some serious admiration... Look forward to more @oldolds
The Jalopy Journal
