Do any New Englanders or former SMVTI / Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute (South Portland, ME) students remember this homebuilt sports car or it's builder Jim Johnson?...Jim started to build the car in the 40's and it was stored away by the 80's. Early Ford flathead, homebuilt two carb intake (he cut two intakes and joined them), hydraulic brakes, Ford 3 speed top shift, columbia 2 speed rear axle, parallel leafs front and transverse rear. I know it has a face that only it's mother could love, so please just stick to history and facts... Yesterday, before trailering it to my home... Back in the day with Jim...
i've seen a picture,I was in his fuel class 1973,he also had a hover-craft he used to 'sweep' the shop w/ once in awhile.a quote from him, ''a carter AFB is the next best thing to fuel injection''.....hahaha..i liked autolites.his wheel balancer was a 'pain in the ass'!
Steve sent this to me... I went to SMVTI from 70/72.Bobby Thompson came from Port Clyde(next door to my grandfather,Ford Davis). My cousins Curt Young and Dougie Andersontook machine tool and AT there. Mr. Johnson would drive that little white roadster in,from time to time and we'd pull some minor service on it right around sticker time. Something I've always wanted to try and find was Mr. Johnson's formulas for his static wheel balancer. A racing Porsche from Marong's was having trouble getting a good tire balance above 125 mph. They brought the set of wheels and tires to school and Mr. Johnson balanced them perfectly and never spun them. I have very fond memories of those days...the times doing "homework" at Federico's and DePaulo's pizza store. Thank you so much for contacting me,sir.
I also at SMVTI in 72/73 and Mr. Johnson brought both this car and the hovercraft into the shop many times. The hovercraft stayed there a lot as I remember. Mr. Johnson was a very smart and clever guy, but perhaps not a fit and finish guy. I remember he manufactured - and made us buy - an alternator diode tester. It was simple, affordable, durable, and worked. He wrote several automotive text books. I remember him as a quick mind and caring instructor.
A link to some more photos... http://s849.photobucket.com/albums/ab55/hotrodarchaeologist/Johnson%20Special/
Was at SMVTI in 73 & 74 for the Automotive Program. Did the summer program while working part time @ Pape Chevrolet in So. Portland. Jim was a great guy & good instructor.He'd often come in & park this car in the top floor of the shop. The difference I saw with his class was you were there to learn( it wasn't high school)..& expected to act accordingly..do your work load. He'd spend as much time with you as needed if there was an issue..along with Doug Gray & Jim Heal it was a great program....
I have it in storage for the winter. This summer my father and I managed to carefully get the engine unstuck, and we removed the frozen rear brakes. The front brakes by themselves work well enough for moving around the yard for now. We hope to have it running in the spring...
I still have one of Jims diode testers. We also used his electrical text book in our shop class at Lake Region High School in the late 70's. Our shop teacher Oliver Irish was a former student and good friend of Jim. In the spring of 79 our teacher had jury duty so Jim substitutted for him for a few weeks. Really clever guy and enjoyed his classes. Jim autographed my text book for me. Still have it also.
Neat little roadster. Shame someone butchered it with those side pipes. Looking forward to seeing it all gussied up.
James Johnson is and was my uncle Jimmy, I rode in jj special many times, what a great man and a true genius, first electrical tester patent that wouldn't set off a flash bulb, a patent on a gyroscopic golf putter, although it could not be used in tournaments, his friends that used it improved their putting scores by 35%. He had the best hand shake, he would shake my hand and say "no dead fish", loved my uncle, so nice to see his pics and the special. I have seen him sweep the floor with his hover craft, and have ridden in it. He made his own wine and could play the piano like a virtuoso. Wow miss you Uncle Jimmy.
this car had a gas pedal that went all the way across the floor, he said you could hold it down while in a hard corner, what a head turner and so much fun to ride in.
So proud to see all these posts that I just found by accident. Jim Johnson is my grandfather. Went for rides in the "J" mobile as a child and remember it like it was yesterday. My uncle Ray had the car in storage for close to thirty years. Very fond memories of my grandfather and certainly someone I will forever strive to live up to as I have never known anyone as genuine, modest and caring as he was. My grandmother is still with us thankfully. She is 87 and to this day thinks if Jimmy every day of her life. Thank you to all if you for the memories you wrote on this post, it means so much to hear people still remember him all these years later. Love to see that car on the road once more and if possible would love a ride in it. This would be very surreal as it means so much to my family. Thank you.
I was in Jim's auto electronics classes in 77-78, had a great time learning from him. We got on the subject of electronic ignition, so I volunteered my Mom's 76' Duster. The car had the then very new Electronic Ignition Control Unit. I blew up the original one while running the test on it, so I got a new one later that day. Next day, Jim got involved with the testing of the second one; we blew up that one as well. I do recall that Jim paid for another new one. We installed it and closed the hood, end of testing.
I went to SMVTI from 1971-1972 and Mr. Johnson was a favorite of mine. He was very smart,and offered a soft yet stern guiding hand,I will always remember him drinking milk out of a baby food jar and his constant BSACACAT--which stood for Be Sure All Connections Are Clean And Tight--I worked on the torque tube type drive shaft on that car back then,and also witnessed the hoover craft too--he was one in a million.
I'll jump on this recently resurrected thread... My dad went to SMVTI, I think back when it was just MVTI back in the late 50s, early 60s, I forget the exact time frame. He told me many stories about Jim Johnson and the JJ Special. He had a lot of respect for that man. BSACACAT is still something I dole out on a almost a weekly basis... It has useful application well beyond the electrical world. Lost dad in February to bone cancer.... The stories were getting into a tighter rotation, but I still doubt I'd heard them all yet. Paul Boutilier, if he had any classmates here.
The Jalopy Journal
