I'm constantly amazed by the Old Photographs that you and others have found and keep unearthing. Thank Y'all for your diligent , many hours of hard working efforts . The history that is carried on and preserved for future generations of gearheads..
All I am going to say is that few would have thought then new Studebaker V8 with a set of chrome headers. It took Jimmy's good eye and memory to see that it was the car in the photos he had that had evolved from the time the first one was taken. That is a point a lot of guys miss now, those hot rods in that time frame evolved over a period of time from a rather rough around the edges bare bones piece into some of the nicer finished rods of the era. Most of them didn't stay in the rough state forever.
Great article Joey, it always shows character to write the wrongs . With the photo you had to work with it was a logical assumption to say it was a flathead powered roadster. Given flatheads were still the weapon of choice for many Hot Rodders in 1950-51. Now I have stuffed up a little I should have dug out my copies of Rod Dust. In February 1951 issue there is a Flathead powered T, I didn't pay much attention previously as it wasn't Stude powered. Looking at the roadster more it is an early version of this mystery roadster before it got the Stude powerplant, owner Fred Chiesa. I was going thru folders of photos and came across the same roadster at speed on the dry lake outside Reno (AHRF photo). Now there is another photo of this car in full street trim on the side of the road in the Bay area, it was on the AHRF site but that particular Jim's news August 26, 2013 is no longer on the site. And here is where the link to Fred Chiesa in my mind is cemented. In 1952 a new build was in the works a tube frame '26 T roadster with Stude power, check out the independent rear made from Citroen parts. There is a photo of this setup in another early 50s magazine. I don't know this car was ever finished, but wow what a car it would have been. Thank you to linking to my new Hot Rod Art book Cheers Jimmy
wow, write on dude! great stuff. Stude power would have been an interesting pick for the salt as it is heavy and looks like more iterations of this car leave more questions to answer amazes me how you guys dig up stuff thank you
More on Fred Chiesa's roadster. Looking thru photo's I noticed Fred's roadster in the bottom right corner of this photo of S.F. Ramblers club display, 1950 (G)NRS. Photo was sent to me years ago by George Zaft. Fred roadster ran a Ardun! I have seen other pics somewhere
I always get a kick out of seeing pictures of things that "were never done back in the day" being done back in the day.
The Jalopy Journal
