Hey guys and gals! Over the weekend at the Long Beach Motorama we found out that our front engine Te-440 dragster was the Scrima Adams and Smith car that they had from 1958-1959. Before this weekend all we knew for sure was that Mickey Brown (the first guy to top 150mph on gas) got killed in the car on Sept. 12 1959. But low and behold someone this weekend saw the car and knew Mort Smith, the driver from 58'-59'. He came down and confirmed that yes this is the Scrima Adams and Smith car. WOW the stories he told us!!! We will be meeting him again soon to get more details of the car. One of the stories he told us about the car was how it had a 371 Oldsmobile with a 471 blower running gas. They were running against Tommy Ivo and were beating him until one night Ivo beat them. Gene Adams decided to put a 454 and an 871 blower on the car but Mort was having a difficult time getting the car down the track at Lions, it kept wanting to go to the right. Around the third time the car went completely sideways. They asked Mickey Brown who was there with his wife and kid to take the rail down the track. The car went down the track and went down the ditch and flipped on its side killing Mickey. If any of you have any more history, stories, pictures of the Scrima Adams and Smith car PLEASE share!! Here is a pic from the Motorama:
Here is a pic of the car from 1959, from a drag news article. It has the original front end (before the Mickey Brown crash) and you can see how the original roll cage is very unsafe. They also kept the upper bar piece on the chassis that was removed some time in the 60's. (Updated Pic, the original pic was not the original car. But this one for sure is the Scrima Adams and Smith confirmed by Mort Smith- driver 58'-59')
yeah, the older picture is a Te-440. What gives it away is the loop behind behind the driver. Chassis Research also had the second bar above the chassis that most people removed. And it has the biscuit front end.
Update: We were able to meet Mort Smith (driver for Scrima-Adams 58'-59') again at the World Finals at Pomona last month. We did a quick interview and we now have a bio that I would like to share with all of you! The “Antique Doll” is a 1958 TE440 Chassis research chassis built by Scotty Fenn. The TE440, 440 yds quarter mile, is the first professionally designed chassis ever built. It currently has a 296cu.in. 49’ Merc flathead with an early Hilborn Injection and a Harmon and Collins Magneto. We race it on Alcohol and it runs 12 sec in the 1/4 mile. We were invited to the Long Beach Motorama in September . One of the people there recognized it as the 1958 SCRIMA-ADAMS-SMITH Top Eliminator dragster and called Mort Smith, the driver of the car at that time. Mort came out and recognized it as the S-A-M car and we talked about it for an hour. Ronnie Scrima owned the chassis, Gene Adams owned the engine and Mort Smith drove. The car was a consistent Top Eliminator in 1958-59. It ran an Olds 371 with a 471 blower and a 2 port injection that Stuart Hilborn had built and tuned for the car. The Doll was the only car that Hilborn personally tuned. Involved with the car was Jack Engle of Engle cams who ground the cam for it. There was a rivalry with the car and Tommy “TV” Ivo. After the final round one night, Ivo beat the car and Gene Adams was furious. He told Scrima and Smith that he was going to put a 454 with an 871 Blower that he had and really show them. The next week they went to Lions with the 454 engine installed. Mort said the car would pull violently to the right and tried to control the car twice down the track. On the third try it right off the line it did an immediate turned to the right. Mort shut it off and decided not to try again. He told Scrima and Adams that there was something seriously wrong. Adams wasn’t convinced and he asked Mickey Brown, who was at the track that night with his wife and 2 y.o. daughter, to drive the car. Mort tried to talk him out of it but Mickey wanted to give it a shot. Mickey was 22 at the time and fearless, being the record holder as the first driver to top 150mph on gas. He came off the line and the car began to drift to the right but before her could get his foot out of it the car drifted off the track into a ravine on the side of the track, no barriers then, and the car rolled on its side. Mickey Thompson was the first person to get to the car and found Brown unconscious. Brown died on the way to the hospital. The Gene Adams engine went into a new K88 chassis that became the Albertson Olds. The Doll was originally Maroon in color with a black chassis. Wayne Tally, who was an NHRA tech at Lions the night Brown was killed, bought the “Doll” chassis, had a new front end built for it and installed a flathead. Wayne sold the car to Larry Lee who raced it with his partner Bill Mann. They set the track record with the car for a D Gas Dragster at Phoenix Raceway with a 12sec flat run. Larry named the car “The Antique Doll” and had the car painted blue metal flake with a rag doll on it. Larry sold the car to Sherm Cole, who ran it with the UFRA, but bought it back from Sherm after about 2 years. He and Dick Thompson ran the Doll with the UFRA before selling it to my dad in 1971. He bought the chassis and rear end for $200.00. My dad and mom bought a flathead engine, rebuilt it and raced it with the United Flathead Racers Association for over 20 years. We are going to restore the car to the Scrima-Adams-Smith look with a 371 Blown Olds, but we will also be able to run the Flathead for Nostalgia meets. We are very excited about this, and if ANYONE has any info or pics of the car that would be fantastic!!! I am going to start putting pics of the car from the last 50 years for your enjoyment!
Add for Hot Rod Magazine 1959 for Engle Cams The Doll at the 69? Winternationals: If you look closely the puff of smoke is a spark plug shooting out!!!
Larry Lee and the Antique Doll Both Photos from "On the Drag Strip" Book: Larry Lee with the car UFRA Drag News
When my dad (Bill Lazaris) bought the Doll My dad getting the Doll race ready Pictures of my dad racing the car. The last pic is great, He is racing another Te-440
Notice that No. 33, Ed Houghtan's has been denoted as an E/D. In 70, or 71, the NHRA seperated the flat heads from the inliners. The modern day OHV 6 banger was superior and able to breach deep into the low nines, not so witn a flattie. Aware of the popularity of the UFRA, the NHRA thought maybe interest in building flat heads rail would spread elesewhere if the cars were given a more equal class and not have to compete against a single or twin engined 6 banger in D/D. After one year the dropped they idea.
The Jalopy Journal
