When did Z frames appeared???

I was questionning myself about Z frames in timeline, when did people have started to build Z frames for A's, deuces etc., is it as old as hot rodding or it came later? Was it for the style or for speed purposes? I have no clue on this one... Early pictures of Z'ed hot rods would be great too! thanks!

 

The Rodders Journal form about a year back showed several from back in the day. my favorite was a roadster on El mirage. The car was obviously put together to go fast and not to impress anyone the frame was Zd about even with the spark plugs.

I'm pretty sure that as soon as someone decided that one needed to be lower they started Zing them. I've seen pics from the 30s and 40s that were that way.

 

The frame on my roadster was z'd in 1956..... They cut it at 45 degrees and then stacked it.... and then my grandpa bolted a 1/2" plate to the outside...... still how it is after all these years.... not even welded...... crazy when I think about it....

 

No reason that it wouldn't hold together, we used to fish plate big truck chassis all the time that were comming apart and all that held the fish plates in were bolts.

Sometimes we over engineer our rides, makes them too heavy and a bugger to build. Simple is good.

 

I guess it depends if you're talkin' front or rear. Z'd rear's have been around forever, but Z'd front clips are much more recent.

 

The photo shows two of the Model As that the French Ford importers entered at Le Mans in the late '20s/early '30s. Visible is a rather crude right-angle Z just behind the steering drag link. Montier offered the Tudor on that chassis surbaissé for road use, though I've been forever trying to find out if they ever built any, or if any are known to survive.

So there's an example of an A with a Z'd frame done when the A was new. Lowered chassis were not all that unusual at that time. The most famous was probably the Invicta 4½-litre 'S', whose aspect differed dramatically from the standard model, though it was a low-production stock variant rather than a modified frame.

Thomson and Taylor of Brooklands were known, however, for modifying frames to create lowered versions. Their work went into a small number of Daimler Double-Six roadsters, as Daimlers themselves weren't really builders of sports cars. I believe that one of these, bodied by Corsica, was the inspiration for "Mrs. Merdle", Lord Peter Wimsey's Daimler in Dorothy L. Sayers' detective novels.

 

very interesting .

 

Both of these cars had the rear frame sections raised to lower the car... both in the early 50's.

 

This was taking off a thread i started.............


This is a picture of my roadster in 56 at Parks. The cover was a new requirement and was made quickly to comply. Note the square topped roll bar. I had just graduated from High school on left. The car was Olds 330 cu in with La Salle box. Then a member of the Strokers car club. The pink Chev roadster top right had a new Corvette eng and cleaned me. The black primered 48 Ford was a fellow Stroker with Olds power.
See chassis pictures.
Pictures by stlbob HAMBer.
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Bob McGee Z'd the rear frame of his '32 roadster and that was '47/'48.

 

I've got an early '50s HRM with an article about lowering, and it shows a frame that's been Zd in both the front and rear.

 

I offer the following quote from the chapter on Barney Navarro from Merchants of Speed by Paul D. Smith:

"Barney's first recollection of gow jobs went back to the 20's, when he saw stripped-down, fenderless Model Ts. 'Those early rods had Z'd frames, most used Franklin front axles, and some were so low they couldn't pass over the traffic buttons that separated the road lanes; they really impressed me with their cornering and acceleration abilities.' "

So I'm guessing the late 20's.

 

This is getting more and more interesting! So Z'ing a frame is there since hot rodding exist! Very cool pictures, thanks for sharing and keep posting!

 

Very cool question!

 

Here's Chevrolet's 1920 Monroe Special...

 

Sorry- can't get the pic sized right, but trust me, the frame IS Z'd!!!

 

jack calori had his 32 frame z'ed on his 29 roadster in 45-46 or so by his two friends that were indy car mechanics.

 

Not the best picture, but this T was built in 1945-1946 with a frame that was Z'd front and rear.

 

did you ever check out "fast" Fred Flintstone? he had a "bad" Z on his ride!!

 

Traditionnal sedan?

 

Ever since guys started peeling fenders off to build speedsters, flivvers & gow jobs. Have seen picks from early 20s. Common on board track cars?

 

here is one. Probably early 20's.

 

It goes way back to the teens or even earlier ever seen pictures of the infamous Fronty Ford race car or the book Model T Ford in Speed and Sport. Also check out the T era race car thread on here

 

Let's see if I can get this story right. I seem to remember reading in one of the mags a few years ago, that a young Gene Winfield (I think it was him) had a roadster, that he pulled up in front of the Hot Rod magazine offices for the first time. The writer of the article expressed how he looked out the window and saw Gene's roadster, and couldn't believe how low it was, even though it wasn't channeled...it was Z'd.

Judging by you guy's posts though, it's obviously been going on since way before that.

 

After everyone was done wondering "Y" their frames weren't getting it. Thus, Z frames were Z answer. Gary

 

The frame on my car was kicked up in 1959, it was stacked and welded, the frame is a cut down, narrowed, shortened 35 Ford frame, not boxed. But those frames are double wall, so its strong.

 

My grand father was ross castle and he was z'ing cars in the late 20's for racing and had taught my dad who taught me on a 29 tudor

 

boh these cars are older than that. the model T is Alrich mulit T built around 1932, the second car I think is Phil Remington's.

 

the fred flintstone bit was funny..

 

Does it really make a damn???? who was first? for me ,I could care less....