Features VINTAGE SPRINT CAR PIC THREAD, 1965 and older only please.

I`m anxious to see Winchester photos, too.

I`ve heard reports that a good time was had,but have seen no shots so far from the event.

 

Winchester was a great weekend with lots of track time....
There were several top photographers there taking lots of shots but, unfortunately, for some reason, they have decided not to share their pix with us...... I have found absolutely zero posted anywhere on the 'net.

Great to see Josh, Roy and Co. get those excellent Cincy sprint cars on the track in Pa..
They definitely add a lot of quality to any event.

 

Just heard from Gene Crucean, he'll be supplying us with some photos

and Mac..err there appears to be one shot of you examining the steering wheel entering turn 3 at full tilt...
lol

 

EMMR museum.

 

Is this what they mean by "Elbows Up?"

 

Lee.. of all the cars in the Museum thats the one Roy and I kept going back to as well. GREAT restoration, and a beautiful race car!

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Gene, and all involved with the Winchester Vintage event...

again, SORRY we couldn't make it to your event. We (car owner and I) had promised a slew of people in Penn that we would attend there event over a YEAR in advance. It just happened to fall on the same weekend as Winchester. We HATED to miss one of the OLDEST and well attended vintage meets in the country, AND miss running SO MANY laps around one of the famed "HILLS".

I can tell by the stories I'm getting elsewhere that you guys had a BIG weekend, and all went well!

For now, here is a picture of my Good friend CHAD making laps this past weekend at Winchester!

 

Great job on the gold leaf on the 23 midget!


If those are "stickers" please don't tell me and ruin my day.

 

No,that gold leaf job is the real thing. The car is an absolute beauty!

 

Anyone have more info on Fred Tomsche? We had a number of "Tomsche" parts on our old Hamburger-Chevy II but even in the 1970s there wasn't much trace of him in his home town of Milwaukee Wisconsin.

I'm told he pioneered the use of aluminum front hubs on midgets. The smooth "dust cap" covers on front hubs were his design. We had a Tomsche gear change box in that car; a spur gear inside and internal gear with a box of shims. The non-QC rear axle housing was an aluminum casting with Tomsche cast on it.

 

Hey Josh, we did miss you guys but it looks like you had a blast as well. We did get lots of laps in and was able to let it rip around there with no pace car. I am ready for Eldora now. I will be talking to you soon about the CAE roll cage .

 

Great week for me...... Got to see and talk to 3 guys names Ed Lynch, talk to 2 guys named Norm Benning,and and to see and talk to Gus Linder! All still heroes to me!!!

 

That's what it's ALL ABOUT!

 

Josh,Here's proof..........

 

I presume your post is prompted by the photos of the #1 car at the EMMR. I too am taken by that car and as was posted previously by Josh, it's also my favorite sprinter in the museum. Being a midget guy the, #23 Curly Wetteroth is the absolute pearl.

I arrived at Latimore a day early and had the pleasure of helping out with "chores" on Thursday and the owner of the Tomshe car was helping as well. In conversation with him (this may surprise you and Greg and Lance) he stated the car was built by Harry Turner and Fred Tomshe. It also has Tomshe front drum brakes on it as does the #18 pinkish colored "Offy Killer" on the lower level.

Attached is a picture of the brakes on the #1, the #18 Hillegass/Hal, and a picture of a Tomshe center section that resides at a shop I visited on my way home to Minnesota.

 

I kept getting drawn to the Fray car and also this one........

 

Found my other memory card, here's a couple of more shots.......Rich

 

Gregg remembers Fred visiting Harry's Shop when it was on Westen Avenue in Chicago [1970's] but not much more about him. I'll see what they know about Harry's involvement with the Fray Sprinter. HT seemed to have a good eye for the lines of a car; all of the midgets he built are nicely proportioned.
I keep bugging Gregg to put together some of the Turner history. He offered to do so when Harry was still around and got a very crude brush off. Understandable from a gruff old guy in poor health who thought his results should stand on their own. My new tack is encouraging a history of Harry's cars rather than their builder.
George Benson's book is an excellent example of the right way to write a racing memoir, IMHO.

 

Latimore goodies! enjoy!

 

Latimore goodies!

 

More Latimore goodies!

 

Sundays track time at Latimore. enjoy!

 

Here's some shots from Latimore,some of the little things ........Rich

 

From Gregg Kishline with regard to Fred Tomsche:

I got a kick out of Fred, a short Italian bachelor craftsman - very creative. When he wanted to steal dimensions at the racetrack, he told me, he'd walk up to a car and put a chalk mark on his pants, then walk away and measure the height off his trousers. He had a an accurate sketch by the end of race day. About his then-new Social Security benefits being smaller than he'd expected, he said to Harry, "We screwed the government all those years, and now they're screwing US." Like Harry, he was a unique character.

Take nothing away from Fred Tomshe. Fred was capable, all on his own - built his own Speedway car and I think he made the show. But in a crunch Fred would use Harry and vice versa. Harry adopted Fred's unconventional aluminum front hubs (and covers) very early on (I have several unmachined castings in the garage and a set on the roadster tub).

Lance saw your email and visited the HAMB link. His conclusion is the same as mine. The car was likely built at Turner's in Kenosha, as it incorporates Turner's sparing body style thruout, on a conventional frame. The Tomshe car sports a Kurtis-style rear bumper. Eventually, Harry settled on a simpler design that attached more easily.

The #99 champ car with which Tony Bettenhausen won the '51 championship had quite an effect on Harry - narrow, light, smooth flowing lines, almost a French curve in profile .

Remember, in '51 or '52 Harry built a new sprinter and took it to Williams Grove PA in a rush - no paint. LT has a photo of the car there in bare aluminum and "99 jr." lettered on the tail in what looks like electrical tape. Elkins bought the 99 jr. car that day, as it cleaned house. Car is a ringer for the restored Tomshe sprinter.

And for the '53 500, Harry built an upright car for Lee Elkins with Nazaruk driving. It's a lean, upright champ car. These horses all came from the same stable.

Who copied who? Doesn't make much difference - these guys worked together when it was to their mutual benefit, and knowing Harry, I'd expect him to prevail in decision-making, after the driveline had been decided. We can't prove anything - too much time has past.
But the circumstantial evidence favors Harry's involvement.

I'll find that photo of 99 jr at Williams Grove - you'll see what I mean.

gk

 

Wow Rich this car is awesome. Nice Pic.Glad you had a good time. Some day I will get to that event.

 

More EMMR Museum pictues