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

Wow Micahael you really know your racing. I was sure it was Tony B and thought it was Winchester. I did know that Tony W drove the Riverside Spl at Williams Grove in 1941 but was not sure he drove it at Winchester. Thank you for confirming my thoughts.

 

Beautiful painting. That's the era I'm trying to capture:

 

Is that a Ralph Steele painting?

 

While Mel K's and Herks Champ car wrecks, resulting inuries and comebacks are well documented and often discussed, not so much for ol Cliff Griffith. While qualifying for the 53 Indy he tagged the wall and splits the tank of the Bardahl Kurtis suffering near fatal injuries and burns. After 6 months in the crash house he comes back to the racing game and continues for many more years.

 

Very GOOD! And now back to the mechanical rabbits...
Love those old roadsters, especially the Watsons

 

looking for info about Howard Stanley & the gas station Stan Pat Service located at 1620 Oak bay ave in Victoria B.C

 

Rootie,
burns curtailed/affected several careers in the era. Lee Wallard, Bert Brooks, Al Herman, Bill Randall to name a few.

 

...

 

Oh yeah, I know, I just happened to come across some pics of Griffiths wreck.

 

Yes it is signed R Steele. I was told he was a friend of Art Bagnall who I received the painting from.

 

Cy Fairchild wheeling A.J. Watsons full sized ex-Indy roadster.

 

I could be wrong, but isn't this Johncock's rookie car, the Weinberger Homes car, which ,i think, may have also won the Little '500 ?


Rick

 

No, you're correct. Lloyd Ruby also drove it to 3rd in 64 for Bill Forbes the original owner.

 

Brian 26, Great photos. Do yo know who was driving for the Marshalls?
I know that at some time Sidney Clark drove the car but not the time frame.
It should be some time after Feb. of 1970 but before Sept 1974 when Johnson
got the car.

Thanks, JSPRCN

 

Rootie, Cliff might not have got burned so bad ifhehad stayed in the car. When the firemen got to the car and put the fire out Cliff was down in the grass rolling trying to put the fire on him out. He finished 10th in 56 and last made the 500 in 61 I think.

 

I know this is not the place to try and sell items but I thought some of you would be interested in this item for your collection. I feel I am doing this for you guys and you may appreaciate something like this. Sorry if you do not agree and if so please send me a PM and I will not do this.
I am working with Arlen Kurtis and have listed an origional Kurtis Kraft Midget racing Hat that is signed by Arlen on ebay. I am thinking one of you would like to add this to your collection. There are only a few of these left. Good Luck and I hope you enjoy this item.
Item # 281041513103
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My son is on his way from Denver driving his new Ford Raptor! We have a lot of things planned: a day in New Orleans, boat tour of Pascagoula River Basin, minor league hockey in Biloxi, etc. Beer and good chow will also keep us occupied. However, when my son is so far away during the rest of the year, this thread keeps me occupied. When I get home from work and first thing in the morning - check my e-mails and get to this thread. I found this site accidentally right after my dad passed. Now I'm thinking maybe he had something to do with it. Everyone here has contributed to my memories - either with photos or stories about my dad, or just about racing of that period. I was beginning to think maybe all of that time period was just a kid's dream, but you guys let me know it was real and it stays real by this thread continuing. So, in case I get drunk and don't say it before Tuesday, Merry Christmas everyone and thank you for sharing your time, knowledge, and thoughts. I'll tip one to you all at Pat O'Briens in The Big Easy.

 

Jimmy Daywalt, Lloyd Ruby, Mario Andretti, Ted Tappet (Phil Walters)

 

Jimmy Bryan raced a Maserati at Willow Springs Ca.

Troy Ruttman drove a Ferrari at Sebring and also raced a Grand Prix Maserati.

Bob Sweikert drove at Sebring in '56, in a Maserati.

Ray Crawford drove at Sebring in a Corvette

Of course, Parnelli and Foyt both drove and won many sports car races.


mac miller in INDY

 

Al Keller (last furrin car to win in nascar for a loooong time) Bobby and Al U. in Arcerio Bros. cars, most notably the Lotus 19.

 

If you want to include the Carrera Panamerica, the list gets much longer incuding Vuky, Tony B., D. Carter, Jerry U. and more.

 

Sam Hanks drove a Merc at Paramount Ranch. And, among other drives and road courses, Rodger Ward, won a Formula Libre Race with a Midget at Limerock, Conn.. And, finally, the list would be too long, if you began to list the "Oval Drivers" that ran on road courses prior to World War II, going all the way back to just after the turn to the 19th to the 20th Century.

 

..well the end of the world never happened so I decided to get the exhaust finished....I am glad that it is done.....thats it for this year....(wonder if we'll get to 1000 by year end ?)...have a great holiday...keep safe...see you next year....

 

I believe Faulkner and Chuck Stevenson also drove the Carrera.

 

Len Sutton as well.

 

Among others, both J.P. and Bill Cheesbourg competed in the 1958 (not F1) U.S. Grand Prix. at Riverside.

 

FWIW- I came across a little more info on the 1965 M/T, fe Indy car we kicked around recently.

 

Ted Tappett never ran USAC. He retired at LeMans in 1955 when LeVegh had that horrible crash.
And a little tid-bit on Mario Andretti and Mark Donohue: Mario's first road race win was with a Midget, and it was also the first professional race for Mark.



Marios first road race win

The Lime Rock Formula Libre (&#8216;run what you brung&#8217 Race was a landmark event. There is an account & photos of the event at coldplugs.com (Don't believe that can be accessed, now)


BTW: A zillion races at Lime Rock & just a few involving Midgets.

But in addition to Rodger Ward&#8217;s historic win, Mario Andretti&#8217;s 1st ever road race win came in a midget @ Lime Rock.

And, in that same event, Mark Donohue was driving his first professional race.

Donohue drove a Cooper/Offy midget owned by&#8230;Ken Brenn. Donohue wrote of Ken Brenn & the first money ($600) he made racing, on pages 22-26 in his book, &#8216;The Unfair Advantage.

There were a couple of heats & Donohue wrote they were repairing the Cooper-Offy & were going to miss the start, but Dutch Schaeffer put his car on the grid & disappeared.

They were hunting & paging Dutch like crazy, but he didn&#8217;t get back from the &#8216;men&#8217;s room&#8217; until the repairs on Brenn&#8217;s Cooper/Offy were completed.

So, the great Dutch Schaeffer made it possible for Mark Donohue to win his first pro money.
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Recently one of you was asking about hand brake/foot brake linkage. Attached is an image of what is in my Edmunds Midget. PM me and I will supply addition images if you need them. The bell crank is attached to the tube that would have had the hand brake lever attached to it. There are two pivots in the assembly. The hand brake has been removed and the car now has a foot brake only. I considered a handbrake in the restoration, but the dry sump tank is where the hand brake lever would be.