Roadrace cars... vintage, nostalgia, historic

This count?


Had to watch this twice.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UD48OX1wu14

 

I love this thread! Gary

 

Gene Stanton, Stanton Special only front engine car to race in the Can-Am series, ran Bridgehampton '66.

 

Costin bodied 4.5 Maser

 

Too bad about the LS3 motor. I was at a track day with him at NJMP when he still had the big block Pontiac motor in it.

 

My Cheetah is currently in a friend's shop being prepared for the Texas Big Bend Open Road Race in April - the entry has been submitted, so fingers crossed it's accepted...



Regards

Jon'.

 

Hi; Why did the early Bugatti's have so much camber on the front axle ? THANKS Chris

 

There seems to be a variety of reasons.
Due to the large amounts of positive castor and King Pin Inclination that they ran to keep the car stable at speed, the steering tended to be very heavy, so the belief was the getting the center of the tire contact patch underneath the center of the king pin made the steering easier. This was the era before "balloon" tires, so the contact patch was very narrow and it did not affect handling very much.

Also the roads of the day were very high crowned and the positive camber helped keep the case going straight on thievish surfaces.

There is also some belief that this lessened the strain on the outer (smaller) wheel bearings by loading the inner more. Bearing metallurgy was not that great at the time and bearing failed more regularly.

 

It always looked to me that the camber should be the other way? Chris

 

This is one of mine at Sears Point 1976
My Dad Passed away now me driver Steve Jones and his Brother in Law

 

From 2007

 

In the 2007 photo, is that one of the Cannon Spls in the background?

 

Does anyone know if the John Fitch, Ford V8/60 -powered racer, called
"The Fitch Bitch" from 1950, is still in existence?

 

Hotroddon is 100% correct about the Bugatti steering.
Bugatti had what is called "true centre point steering"
That is a line through the king pin towards the ground, the caster line and the line through the diameter of the tyre at the centre of the tread were all supposed to pass through the centre of the tyre contact patch at road level.
There was therefore meant to be no scuff radius and consequent chassis jacking.
From experience ,a Grand Prix Bugatti is extremely stable at speed , even to 120 mph and can be steered in a straight line at any speed with very little driver input ,even down to two fingers!!
They do ,however ,react very badly to excess caster and become extremely heavy, 5 degrees being about ideal.
I have never experienced a bearing failure using M.Bugattis design and have had several cars come in still with original 1920s bearings still in perfect condition.
However I have heard of bearing failures using his system when people have fitted wide wheels, introduced scuff radius ,or bent or bastardised the axle to put in neutral or negative camber.
Hope this helps
Cheers Greg

 

This is a 1936 Buick Speedster. Custom built

 

BTT for this fantastic thread...is anyone headed to Road America for the Hawk Challenge (now the WeatherTech Challenge) on July 15, 16 and 17th? If you don't already know about it, this is THE vintage event in the Midwest and this year's is the flagship vintage event for the 50th anniversary of the Can Am series. There are more than forty vintage and re-created Can Am cars that will be on the grid, including the newly-recreated Boss 494-powered Alan Mann Racing/Holman Moody Open Sports Special!

 

I can't imagine that no one posted this but this was my favorite road race type of car when I was a kid.

 

Some shots from the last couple of SVRA Brickyard events as well as a the 2014 Brian Redman event

 

As a 50/50 hot rod/sports car guy. I have to love this thread.
Here are a couple that represent both worlds.

 

This car was next to my 38 Chevy Coupe at a car show on June 19th in Issaquah WA. It's a 1958 Porsche 550A Spyder. The owner Steve was a great guy who let kids sit in the car for pictures. He has it insured with Grundy or Hagerdy (cant remember which) for 5.1 million dollars. And he drove it to the car show. All aluminum body.

 

Here's a fun ride along. Not like the high pitched shriek of the stuff today.

 

Old Skool:

 

Like most years, I'll be at the Redman. I remember seeing the #66 Chaparral being towed through Milwaukee on an open single axle trailer, also went to the race at RA. Then again I remember A.J. Foyt's 500 winning roadster being towed into State Fair Park on an open single axle trailer behind a Country Squire wagon, the week after he won the 500. Now showroom stock Miatas are transported in 18 wheelers.