Thank you on wonderful photos of magnificent automobiles! Maybe not all of them are specials, but they are gorgeous for sure, no mater small or big! My nostalgic-favorite is ABARTH 1000, because a saw a few of them in touring car races in early seventies in Belgrade, old Yugoslavia. Only serious concurrent in 1 liter class was NSU TTS, but couldn't be faster if Abarth finished race... Most of them were second-hand, but one was new and cost the same as 2 BMW 2002 in standard, road-legal variant (if I remember well story told by driver/owner)...There were more Abarth racers in class 850 cc, some originals from Italy, some home-made bastards with parts from Italy installed in domestic Zastava 750 (Fiat 600d produced under licence in Serbia) The second, or the first if I could get one is MG PA/PB “Leonidis” - I like such “torpedo” (barchetta) carosseries on small cars. However, any of shown should be welcomed in my garage – just if I had one. Nice and useful idea to show table with history, specifications and performances in front of photos. Regards, Zoran
Rhys Nolan posted this on Friday in the Shelsley Specials Facebook group: "Not quite a Shelsley special, but an NZ one with aero engine which I drove last year at Leadfoot Festival." Rhys' comment about this thread: "This one is the RA Lycoming, based on Fiat 508C chassis and suspension. Built by Hec Green and friends in the early 1950s. It has a Lycoming, right way up, running on 2 sodding big SUs, then through a step up box into a 3 speed gearbox. Capable with bravery of 140mph+. Not me! There is a lot of misinformation on the Jalopy Journal relating to the Ralph Watson Lycoming. I didn't troll the lot, but "Hefty Lefty" has made some assumptions which are not correct. Both have true aircraft engines, not any other variety, yes both were road used, yes you keep an eye on head temperatures when not moving, no neither of them have any cooling assistance. Ralph's car injection and dry sump were his own engineering, not taken from any other source."
This was posted in the same group some time earlier: Rover specials of whatever type are an odd breed. They are interesting because they are so unlikely, but for some reason Rover 12 and 14 specials often come out quite tidy. Here are a few I've dug up:
You brought me a smile, showing one of Al Cosentino's race cars. Having driven and modified Fiats for decades, I can tell you that there is no greater lover of Fiats and Abarths in this world than Al Cosentino. He has dedicated his life to the things. He's also a prolific writer on the subject of racing Fiats and Abarths. It's interesting to read his work despite his wildly non-traditional writing style. I sold my last Fiat four or five years back, and your post reminded me that I haven't spoken to Al Cosentino for a decade. I need to give him a call and catch up. (I hope he's still alive!)
I have a few lo-res pictures of this car, originally owned and raced by Portuguese racing driver Manuel De Oliveria, beautiful Ford based special, love the modified 35 grille. Looks like this is in Germany, would love to find more photos of it.
Hey small world department! Al sold me a bunch of stuff for my 850 coupe and a 128 sedan when I was in college in the 70s (including Group 2 fenders for the 128). I lost my FAZA bible some time back - what a crazy catalog / book / tome. Is his store still open? I loved his story about how Bob Sharp had his Corsas banned by the SCCA, they just killed all the little BMC cars and it was ruining Sharp's business! If I had another FIAT some day, it would be an early 850 Spyder but I think they have all dissolved by now. Gary 128: http://public.fotki.com/kitbashr/past-rides/fiat2.html
Nice. I never drove a 128, but I rodded the hell out of a 128 engine in an X1/9. If I have another Fiat, it will be a 124 coupe or an 850 coupe. Sadly, those have mostly dissolved by now too.
Jeez, how could I forget these... here is a buck created to help duplicate a body for those famous Scarabs. This whole deal is a modern work of art, too. Sadly, I don't have a wide angle lens short enough to get it all in one shot. Gary
My dad had an 850 coupé when I was about eight, with Minilites and a selection of Abarth bits. My own first car, barring the half-dead Opel Manta which I never got running, was a 128 pickup.
128 pickups were not sold in the States and like Rabbit / Golf pickups, I doubt they would have put a dent in El Camino / Ranchero sales. And now, back to our regularly scheduled thread cars! Gary
AFAIK the 128 pickup I had was unique to South Africa: The pics are from contemporary sales brochures. I understand that Zastava made another 128 pickup in Serbia, but it was developed independently and had many detail differences. But, as you say, back to specials ...
For those in the Southeast or taveling... Hemmings on the Revs museum. Gary https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php...-at-the-revs/comment-page-1/#comment-10251121
John Morton, a several years ago at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion, while driving Miles Collier's Scarab, was unfortunately hit and caused to be somersaulted into the 2nd turn (see it on YouTube). After the Monterey races the car was due to go to Joey Cavaglieri's shop to have it refitted with the original chassis that had be recently discovered. Though the car was scuffed, broken and bent over to look like a Scorpion; Joey said the body panels were an easy repair. He told me that he'd already completely restored the original chassis. I told Morton that he ought to bill Collier for dismantling the project. Nobody in the small group found the humor in my remarks, so I took another sip of whisky and continued to listen to the stories.
Hemmings ditty on an Allard / hot rod. Cool pix. Gary https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/...-a-hot-rods-heart-1950-allard-k12/?refer=news
In fact, Gary, Willis Baldwin made a number of Hot Rods and Specials. One that stands out in my mind is one of his first. It was dubbed "The Beetle". I don't have a photo of "The Beetle"' in my library. I HAVE been shown home movies of an early "Throttlers" picnic (probably from the 40's or early 50's). These characters, the Throttlers Car Club, would go out to one of the many ranches in the then sparsely settled San Fernando Valley (now a sprawling part of Los Angeles County). They would lay out a course on the green grass and dirt roads; and run for times (not "head to head"). The contestants would not only include Willis Baldwin; but the Cannon Brothers (Ted and Jim), Jim Seely (the Cannon's cousin and later their driver of their specials), Manny Ayulo (unfortunately killed at Indy in 1955) and Jack McAfee (later an international race driver). Baldwin seemed to be on the losing end of competition between him and the Cannons. The Cannons, running a '34 Ford Roadster, first used tire chains for traction of the wet grass; then came up with a supercharger on their flathead V/8. One last thing: I can't remember the exact details of Baldwin's acquisition of Philip Payne's Special; other than Payne sold it for his return to England.
I mentioned the Cannon Brothers and Jim Seely. This is a photo of one of their Specials. It was recovered, restored and is currently owned by Rick Cannon (a nephew)
A tad late... but last Saturday I was at Sebring during the SVRA historic / TransAM weekend and found a couple of cool cars in the show arena. The Allard was great, of course, but the Jag based special was certainly an interesting surprise. Plus a few bonus shots at the tail end, just for fun. Gary
Hello Garry,Thank you on nice photos with magnificent specials! My favorite is Jaguar special! Ciao, Zoran
Here's my Austin Seven special, not anywhere near as exotic as some of the great cars in this thread. My car build was started by my two elder brothers in the late 1950's using a 1932 chassis, and was completed (if a special is ever actually complete) by my eldest brother in the early 1960's. It was built to be used in trials as well as his daily driver. Here's a pretty indistinct photo of the car on a trial I bought the car off my brother in 1971 and passed my UK driving test in it (I think I passed because the examiner didn't want to repeat the experience of riding in the car -my driving test was in early January) When I bought the car it had a tuned 1172cc Ford sidevalve (flathead) motor coupled up to a Morris Eight four speed gearbox. My teenage driving style wrecked the clutch and gearbox PDQ; so rather than repeat the break it/mend it cycle, I bought an Austin A35 which was destined for the scrapyard from a mate of a mate for 10 GBP. I rebuilt and did some tuning on the A35 motor. Here's the motor in the car This is me driving the car on a sprint at Lydden race circuit It's great fun to drive, but of course, the Austin seven purists hate this car.
Don't know how I missed the pictures of the Collier Collection before, but I think it's one of the true greats along with the Simeone Museum. I saw a good number of the Cunningham cars race at Lime Rock a number of years ago and the C4RK has to be one of my all time favorites. I know there are a few HAMBers that walk that tightrope between hot rods and sports cars and really enjoy these posts. I did an article for one of the Healey club magazines last year about hot rod Healeys and really enjoyed tracing the history of these cars back to the '50s. Take a look, I hope you enjoy it: http://bighealey.org/NastyBoy/Issue_8_2016.pdf
Here's an interesting article / chassis from the Forgotten Fiberglass site. Gary http://www.forgottenfiberglass.com/...source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed
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