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

28dreyer
Thanks for the report and for saying hello to Don.
Glad you enjoyed yourself.

 

Hey carl s: go here for 95 great pictures of the 2013 Miller Meet....Joe

http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/2013/07/14/millers-at-milwaukee-2013/

http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/2013/07/17/more-from-millers-at-milwaukee-2013/

 

Brian26, Check Your Antique Supermodified Thread. I Am Newbie, So Bear With Me

 

I have just recently purchase a Vintage Sprint Car, it was listed as a 1937 but I believe it is more in the late 40's or 50's due to it having a roll cage. A gentleman in southern Arizona started the restoration and past away before finishing. Any help identifying a closer year range will be helpfull. I am posting a picture of what it looked like when he started and kind of where it is at today.

Thanks

 

Our west Coast Vintage Racers Southwest Chapter is at Prescott Speedway right now.
If you can, please stop by and say hello to our President Billy Shuman- members would be happy to help you.

 

Colby Scroggins 62 CRA championship car. Its in my barn

 

Rest in Peace Kramer Williamson

 

That is sad news Al. May he rest in peace.

 

Sorry to hear. What happened? He wasn't that old. Denny Z

 

He crashed on Saturday at Lincoln.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/sto...h-lincoln-speedway-pennsylvania-080513#!hiWbr

 

Thanks Al. Wow, a sad day. My thoughts and prayers are with his family. RIP Kramer. Denny Z.

 

Sad news!

 

Yes, it was sad day. I remember Kramer winning the 1976 All Star Circuit of Champions race when I was promoting Lawrenceburg Speedway. Flew in with his car owner Al Hamilton - sent my sister in law to pick him up. "Flying in" to Lawrenceburg was a big deal in '76. Pennsylvania drivers, cars with "big" wings, it was quite a show on the 1/4 mile bull ring. At that time Kramer was 26 and had that "movie star look".

RIP

Carroll Hamilton
DBA Blackie Suede

 

R. I. P. Kramer.. John

 

When I got this Ken Worth 62 CRA championship car it had this damaged chassis. My friend Kramer Williamson straitend it up.
Great driver,great mechanic, Super Great Man!!!

 

Stan, your correct he was a great man , great mechanic and great fabricator, he will be missed

 

I'm stepping into this thread at a sad period and extend my condolences to Kramer's family and friends.

 

I would appreciate any comments from you sprint car experts about my question. At this time I'm just "window shopping" and getting a feel for the lay of the sprint car land, so to speak, but my intention is to end up with a car to run in vintage and antique road racing events. But I don't want to end up with too big of a maintenance headache.

Is a car along the lines of something like this Hal Sprint Car, see below, practical for such purposes? I read a comment that they rebuilt these motors with new cranks after every race and that would not be realistic for me to do.

 

NickJT, I feel your concern over having to use up vintage powerplants, and the associated costs involved. On my champ car replica I skirted the issue by using late model Ford power, loosely disguised to look like Duesenberg power. Maybe a late model GM Iron Duke or Ford 2.3 HSC engine would suffice, at a fraction of the cost of maintaining an older vintage powertrain.

 

Thank you for your input, Flyer. I'll look into this option further. My concern is that the vintage/historic "authorities" won't let an overly modern powerplant run in those events. I'll study the rules and thanks for your comments.

 

I've asked the sellers of this car, specifically about, whether the engine is a HAL head on a Ford block, as was stated in a prior auction; or, is it a full HAL engine, replete with 5 main bearings. They confirmed that it is a full HAL engine. The HAL engine is widely owned by vintage enthusiasts. Some claim that, in the day, the HAL's performed better on the short tracks the Millers or Offys.

As for "maintenance headaches". Any serious racer will tell you that running high performance machinery will always present challenges (read "headaches"). I've been racing cars, off and on, since I was sixteen (I'm now seventy-four). I've found that there is one heck of lot of time and money to be spent to put a reliable and safe car, every time I put a car on the track. As I speak, I just this night finished going completely through my car, in preparation for the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion. There's no sense running a race car at any speed, not knowing what you have in your hands.



Generally, the promoters of vintage events are not absolute "sticklers" on everything being "period" correct. But, as a rule, they really emphasize safety. And safety not only pertains to you; but to your fellow competitors who are on the track with you. This means that you are physically fit and are trained to be there. Personally, I tend to shy away from those organizers who don't hold fast to those latter mentioned safety concerns.

I do hear (on read) some remarks like: "Oh well! I want to just get out on the track, and motor around". I give these folks a wide berth. Serious old race cars were seriously dangerous, in their day. And over the years, they haven't got "safer".

 

Some photos from the Vintage Portion of the 7/27 Rich Vogler Classic held at Lucas Oil Raceway (IRP)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/91981316@N06/sets/72157634832316412/

http://www.trackforum.com/forums/sh...nd-Midgets-at-Lucas-Oil-Raceway-Sat-July-27th

http://www.trackforum.com/forums/sh...ion-of-the-Rich-Vogler-Classic-at-LOR-7-27-13

The motor had barely cooled from the Miller Club at Milwaukee Mile Meet before Mac Miller and Randall had the car lined up to run with The Midwest Old Timers at The Rich Vogler Classic.
Thursday Mac, Randall and The Doc will be towing it to Rockingham to run on the oval with Historic Champ/Indycar Group.

Photo by Randall Cook

 

Thanks for your feedback, Old Dawg. Obviously you have plenty of experience with this and I'm grateful for your input. And your car is beautiful, too.

I very much agree with everything you said. The kind of regular and vigilant maintenance you mention is not what I meant by "maintenance headaches". I just don't want to end up with a car that is prone to excessive problems. So I will continue to study my options and learn more about specific cars that interest me. As I'm looking to get into historic/vintage races I'm retiring another car I've driven in plenty of track events over the last 15 years and it's been quite reliable but now I would prefer something older, vintage, historic. Since this one weighs 3400lbs and has 700hp I'm used to the cost and time and effort it takes to keep a car running safely. Any car that I track will be continually scrutinized and maintained.

Again, thank you very much for your input and advice.

 

I am looking for info following cars and drivers:

-William Walthall's Ansted Special from the early 1930's it is a I.M.C.A. car,I would like some informations this car.
-Anybody has got info about Warren Caullett who ran early 30s year at NY area?
-I have been searching for any information about Bruce Porter. He was a builder of AAA Midgets and Sprints. I think he may have drove in the early days.
Bruce was from Salem Indiana. One of the drivers that drove for him after AAA in USAC was Jim Gettlefinger from the same area of Indiana.
-Anybody has got information about Ed Lowther's AAA sprint car?

Thanks all infos!!!

 

If you are centered on this genre of car and road racing venues I have a friend in your geographical area that runs two of them with VSCCA, SVRA - most recently at Pittsburg GP.
I'm certain he would be happy to fill you in on the NE scene.
http://s1011.photobucket.com/user/c...rt=6&o=10&_suid=13758837586870712179297905545

If you want, send me an email PM and I'll forward his email add to you.
Carl Schulz
Indio, CA
Hope you're enjoying your B-ville roadster.
And you definitely have the right idea about keeping any future vintage race car simple and to your tastes and not to be intimidated into following others expectations. It's a lot simpler for me since I run ovals and not RCs.

 

Sramoa, Hopefully Stan Lobitz will chime in with certain facts on the Ed Lowther sprinter.

I believe it was one of Sam Traylor's cars, a Trevis chassis. He sold it to Dave Lundy from the Pittsburg area, replaced the offy with a short stack chevy. I never saw it again after that. (1961ish).

http://www.thevintageracer.com/reading/reading_fairgrounds2.htm

 

Ed Lowther had at least two different Sprint Cars, the Lowther Builders #62 and the Lowther Offy #2. I have never seen a good enough picture of #62 to identify it, but the #2 was the ex-Tony Caccia/Sam Traylor car, built in 1951 from a Kurtis-Kraft Midget by "stretching" it. Driven by George Fonder, Ottis Stine and Len Duncan for Caccia, then Wally Campbell, Johnny Thomson, Charlie Musselman, Mike Magill, Al Keller, Eddie Sachs and probably a few others for Traylor. Van Johnson, Jud Larson, Cotton Farmer, Tony Bettenhausen, Don Dahle and Bob Cleberg drove it for Lowther. And yes, I believe Dave Lundy had it afterwards. #62 was driven by Al Herman, Dick Linder and Jim Packard.

 

Warren Caullett was from New Jersey, born around 1912, began racing ca. 1932 at New Market, Alcyon and Troy Hills Speedways in Jersey, probably Garden State RA sanction, tried his hand at AAA in early '33 (Reading, Trenton, Woodbridge, Altamont), then returned to GSRA and ARA later that year, won ARA race at Hohokus on October 8 and had several more top 5 finishes, was apparently 21st in points, raced at Tampa/FL for IMCA in January '34, then again ARA later that year (Cherry Park in CT), then nothing until an entry at Reading for the 1937 AAA season opener, did not appear.

 

Here is a photo from AAA Dirt car Researcher project FB page #54 Lowther car.Driven by Dick Linder.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/AAA-Dirt-car-Researcher-Project/401001786661804

Thanks Michael,your infos!!!

 

Now I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination,but I decided to use a 2.0 Ford/Mazda Duratec motor in my project.Now there are no surplus vintage powerplants here in the UK,so my choice was made out of necessity and cost.The motor is close to stock,but pulls a reliable 200hp.....result.All the best for your project