Sorry Ryan, my lack of internet skills sent my reply to tjm73 to you directly. Thank you very much for such kind words and show casing my father's ideas and talents. He was a pattern maker, machinist, welder and a great story teller. His many friends from growing up in the Los Angeles area included Roy Richter, Jot Horne, Ak Miller and from San Diego, John and Don Vesco, John Cramer and Bob Higbee. He built the roadster to show case possible products he could develop for sale; headlight posts, IFS system to use Ford spindles and steering box machined from billet aluminum using Franklin gears. He never had the money to road race the car, just ran for fun at the lakes. My great pleasure was to vintage track race it and have lap times equal to anyone in our grouping (1950 - 1955 sports racers). I did upgrade the front brakes (still drum style) after a situation where I had to slide sideways through the Laguna Seca "corkscrew" after a complete fadeaway. Posting a few more pictures, God bless. Also:/adriansmodelaeroengines.com/catalog/main.php?cat_id=20 [AT TACH=full]4716714[/ATTACH]
Dang....I guess if you're into bad ass, homebuilt race cars/hot rods...this is right up your alley. Great car. Thanks so much for sharing Jim.
@Jim Hassad - Thanks for sharing the additional photos of your father's roadster ... and all of his cool innovations! Speaking of innovations, do you have any more details and/or photos of the "beautifully machined, finned rotary vane supercharger": ... your father designed & built? Also, I really dig your family photos taken at Bonneville: ... do you have any more "on the salt" photos in your archives?
Crazy stuff! Some amazing fabrication and engineering in that one! Would love to see more pictures of it, that car is still cutting edge tech!
Thanks, for the additional pics. I loved this car when I first saw it in Street Rodder. Great to see a car from back then cared for and not hacked up and changed over the years.
Yes, I have had my dad's slides digitized and can send them. Please tell me the simplest way to share, possibly not on this website, I don't know how much B'ville stuff they want here.
To HEMI32, Also regarding the supercharger, dad made all the patterns and machined it himself. The design was based on an English unit, but he scaled it up to 240" displacement, so driven at engine crank rpm, it would give 15lbs boost on the Dodge. He tested it on our family's Plymouth flat head "six" (seen in the rainy day photo a B'ville). The wagon would break the tires loose and top 100mph with it's overdrive tranny! On the first day of running at Speedweek, he qualified for the class record at 172 mph. Back then, cars were impounded on the salt overnight for next morning's record attempts. Sadly, when he started the car to warm it up, the blower went "bang" and split the case. He disassembled it and discovered a washer in it, which jammed the vanes into the ports. You can see in the picture there is no room for an aircleaner and the front carb is directly under the hood scoop. No one ever fessed up at the meet, nor did my dad have any problems with any competitor. As I matured and realized how much effort he had in the project, it always made me very sad. He, however, put it behind him and went on to other successes away from hot rodding. Much to my happiness, he used the roadster as a classroom to educate me on all things automotive, which is why I have always used exhibiting the car as a trbute to his engineering and craftsmanship. These photos are all I have of the supercharger.
Jim, Vintage Bonneville photos are very welcome on the H.A.M.B. ... perhaps not in this thread (about your father's cool roadster) ... but maybe start your own thread entitled something like "1950s Bonneville National Speed Trials Kodachrome Slides" or simply "1950s Bonneville Color Photos". If you're not comfortable starting a H.A.M.B. thread on your own, I would be more than happy to assist you. NOTE: I sent you a Private Message (i.e., started a "Conversation") to work out the logistics.
Jim, What amazing photos and info on your dads car. Clearly your dad was a genius! The front end of that car is awesome to look at, and to think he did it all those years ago, without CAD or a digital mill. Please do share more photos of it and the salt, we kinda live for that stuff here.
The more you look at the photos, the more you notice the details. If a few more had been made and sold, imagine the records they would have racked up. I can visualize one on a dais in a museum with a Cobra on the floor next to it.
I wish Jim would show a pic or two of Dad Ira's Hassad tether car engines: 'twin stack' exhaust, beautifully finned (investment cast?) castings. Absolute running/racing jewelry. Truly unsung hero in hot rodding, Ira Hassad!
Thank you, Mike, for the kind words regarding dad's eye for design and his craftsmanship. Unfortunately, I do not have any of originals, they were left for my son's custodianship. Dad had made one each of everyone of his miniature engines as a legacy for his grandson. My son made the decision to separate from our family after receiving the collection. However, I was able to find a set of original castings and copies of machining blueprints from Don Sohn and made a "continuation" engine. I knew the castings I had were originals because they fit perfectly in the lathe fixtures that he made and I ended up with after his passing! When dad would start one up, it had a real "bark". BTW, all were sand castings Next is a continuation version from Don, using his patterns and castings. This one is my "second generation" continuation engine with a tether car flywheel and glow plug.
Here’s some good reading...I’m fortunate enough to be the next caretaker of this particular Hassad Proto Edco “Sky Devil”, which does exist and is currently installed in a Proto Edco car . Both are displayed proudly in our collection...
The more you look the more you realize Mr. Hassad's attention to detail and it is so well executed it amazes me the car has been virtually unknown, I would love to see The Rodders Journal do feature on the car. HRP
The Jalopy Journal
