Attached is a copy of part of the classifieds from "The Age", at present I can't find the exact date but know it is no later than 1950, so someone in OZ was playing with some good gear.
What a pearler! I'm guessing that some of the early speed equipment was used by boat racers too, I don't know when that took off though... Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
There was a bit of flathead speed parts made back in the day, although maybe 50's i'd imagine.. doubt we had 40's stuff here.. But i'm going to be running an Edelbrock Super on my Roadster for that "american" feel.. there is a Speco manifold that looks like a knock off of the Edelbrock Super on Ebay US at the moment but for the price isn't really worth it when an Edelbrock or similar is cheaper and probably performs better.
OK, pictures of the chassis. I have had the car mocked up roughly but now the chassis is fully welded I can build it before stripping again for paint. Next step is mount the front and rear axles. May be a few weeks as Xmas is in the way. I used to own a Thomas dual 97 manifold for a flathead but I'm sure Eddie Thomas made them in the '50's. By then speed equipment was established in Australia. I like that add for the engine but 95 pounds in the 1950's was quite a few weeks wages, so I guess nothing has changed. Speed costs money, how fast can you afford to go? Mike.
this is to do with bangers not av8's but... from this thread: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/179374/250350.html?1322740599 "Hector sold quite a few Fronty heads in Australia. He was based in Sydney. Melbourne had the Rajo agency and Brisbane had the Roof agency." i'd be happy to find any of the above in the wild.
Henry, that thread is gold. There are Model T owners on the Hamb who would love it. I'm sure you could you could post it in it's own thread. It proves Australia had an active modified car culture almost from day one. There is an old question, "When was the first car race?" Answer, "When the second car was built!"
I'm 65, so you can consider me an 'oldie' I guess! The very first rod I saw on Sydney streets was a white T bucket in about 1959 or 60. I wasn't 'into' rods at that stage, but I'm sure I would have noticed any other ones on the street! Australia had a very small population in the 20's and 30's, so a corresponding small number of cars. A lot of our cars came from the UK too, so Fords weren't that common, and because of the low numbers and relatively high cost of any type of new cars, oldies were repaired and kept running for much longer. In 1959, my mum was still driving a 1929 Chev sedan, and my grandfather had only recently 'upgraded' his 1926 Pontiac for a 1936 Ford, which was subsequently T-boned at an intersection and written off. It's replacement was a 1941 Willys sedan, which became my first car in February 1966! When I first started working in 1966, I met a couple of 'oldies' who were into cars. They'd put a sidevalve Caddy V8 in a 1928 Chev sedan sometime during or just after WW2, and swore they'd keep it until somebody beat them at a traffic light drag. The car that finally did that was a 1948 Mercury, so they sold the Chev and bought one! So while we may have had the 'odd' modified car in the 40's, like that Chev, I don't believe they were anything other than very rare. Cheers, Glen.
Glen, I agree totally. I reckon hot up bits were almost non existent by the 1940's. It makes sense to re-engine a car to get it going. I'd love to find that '28 Chev with the Cad engine, that is really out there. Typical Aussie ingenuity. I've got a 1929 Chev tourer that I rodded about 5 years ago. When I pulled it apart I remember thinking how hard it would have been to drive. Mike.
I think you may find almost every town in aussie with population of 1000 or so had a speedway with racing on every Saturday night in the 40s and 50s every petrol head wanted to beat his mates so it was full on My father and uncles raced then and chased hot parts from all over the world as for budget my A owes me 20k in todays money
I see that well used line there with that souped up '38, "owner going overseas" Where the hell would they go in 1950 , Tassie ?
I love your ideas for a 50s style rod can not wait to see this build this may help I Friend of mine built a low cost 50s rod by buying a rusted out single spinner and using all the mechanicals it came up great and very 50s Colin
Colin, I want to go back a little further to the late 1940's. Most importantly, I don't want to copy American built cars. I'm trying to build something that most likely never got done in Australia so it will be pretty basic. The 1950's hotrods were influenced by US magazines, In 1947 you would have had to figure it out yourself. Having said that, seeing as I want to have it on full registration I need to use some parts and ideas that came later but I think I can disguise them enough. I've already got most of the parts from pre WW2, either original or reproduction. Mike.
Thinking about it some more, the hill climb cars would be the closest we got to American style roadsters in Australia in the 30's and 40's I know a guy with a 28 Roadster that has been a hill climb only car since it was almost new. Has had a miller head since the early 40's I have seen pics of other hill climb A roadsters and boat tails that had many of the features we associate with a rod
Mike I like your plan and the fact you have most of the parts helps It is simular what I wanted but did not have the patience (or $)to collect enough early parts so built the car with what I had by the looks of things you will a great job and I will cheer when it on the road hope I can help sometime Mark get back to work on that banger Colin
Mark, you are right. At Speed on Tweed a few years ago there some of those type of cars there. The best was based on a 1934 Ford but was originally built pre war. It was upgraded a lot though to keep it competitive. I do some hillclimbing and know a few of the historic guys (none with Fords) and they often have to use more modern parts to keep the cars going. Mike.
Thanks It a new B Engine still sorting only 300 miles so far so good waiting on good Stromberg 81s for when it is broken in
A couple of early speedway pics for you, there's lots of information out there! http://aussieroadracing.homestead.com/Liebrand1.html First pic, a Hudson Special, trailed by a Jag 120, and Frank Walters sidevalve V8 'so-cal special' in the infield. Frank lived near me in the 1960,s and still had the special, and used to race it in 'vintage' class regularly, but had replaced the engine with a 6 carbed nailhead Buick by that time. He rolled it one day, 2 weeks after installing a newly-compulsory rollbar... 2nd pic is another Ford powered 'special' from the 40's or 50's, and just look at that engine.... I wonder where that gem is today... Cheers, Glen.
Let's hope so eh! Here's one I'd forgotten about, a fully restored mind 1930's Hudson road racer. It's sitting on display in a shed at the Buderim Ginger Factory on the Sunshine Coast. This is the sort of thing go-fast guys with a bit of cash in their pockets liked to do in Australia in the 1940's... Cheers, Glen.
Glen, I see the front axle appears to have the ends filled the same as some California axle droppers did in the 1940's. That might be an indication of what Australians were doing back then. Mike.
If your refering to the blue racer that front axle and wire wheels appears to be standard Hudson Terraplane. Same as in my photo's. Thats a standard axle, not dropped or filled.
What I am looking for is evidence of any AV8's that might have been built before 1950 in Australia. So far we have speedway, circuit racing and hillclimb cars as well as boats. All great info and appreciated but I'd really like to find any genuine Aussie hotrods pre 1950. Pre WW2 would be even better. I'm not trying to re-create a US built car. I believe I can build a car with an Aussie flavour that is still a genuine HAMB friendly hotrod.
"hot rods" as we know them pre and post war grew out of racing on the dry lakes near LA. Way back then people in other parts of the US who did not live in SoCal built cars differently. You'll find the situation was similar in Australia. Early Australian 'hot rods' were very similar to east coast US cars, no doubt for similar reasons. That's not to say no one put a V8 Ford engine in an A model, I'm sure it happened. It's just not necessarily going to look like something on Harper Lake or Muroc.
X38, I think any modified car here would have had some influence from English sports cars. I know they sold in good numbers for years and were certainly used for all types of racing. Things like lights, seats, instruments,12 volt electricals, even tyre sizes for the front. You are right, definitely not like SoCal cars. I can't think of anything mechanical except maybe shock absorbers that would have enhanced an old Ford's performance. Friction shocks had been superseded after WW2 on a lot of cars all over the world. Mike.
The more I look at the details of that car, the more I see. And it makes me say 'wow!' I have never seen it before. I would love to know some date specifics and other details.
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