A recent Hemmings post... I got to see this Aero MG at the Revs museum recently. Gary https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2018/...-racer-to-appear-at-amelia-island/?refer=news
We WILL again this year be headed to Monterey for the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (RMMR). On the way we'll race at VARA's "British Extravaganza" at Buttonwillow Raceway and SVRA's Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival at Sears Point (now called "Sonoma") Raceway. We'd like to run in more events; but, alas, many promoters feel that "PreWar" race cars are NOT an attraction for spectators.
Filmed during the Chelsea Walsh Hill Climb in Auckland, New Zealand run by my local club. Not to be confused with the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb. Some interesting specials in the Waitemata Branch compete each year at Chelsea among other events.
Gary, I towed back to Indy for the first event in 2014. They threw us in with a bunch of "Spam Cans" driven like Manhattan Taxi's. I watched as two guys in Porsche's banged door handles ON THE ORIENTATION LAPS! On YouTube there's a video showing a Porsche bouncing off the wall and vaulting over a Formula Ford, missing the Ford driver's head by inches. I drive hard and fast; but I don't think foolish! I don't suffer undisciplined amateurs well. So...never again. JK
Yes, Serious racing is not just about going fast there is the plan to live to race another day. You can't allow someone with no such plan to spoil yours.
– from a recent thread: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/very-ugly-but-kind-of-cool.1100048/
I just read through all 20 pages of this -- great fun! I love the central idea of a "special". Starting with an existing chassis and building a lightweight body. Clearly, there are no hard and fast rules. Some of these have heavily modified chassis, some have scratch-built chassis. It would be pedantic to try to force them into specific buckets. The coolest thing to me is the "simplicity", or maybe "approachability" of the idea. Starting with a (at the time) commodity or reasonably available chassis and turning it into something special like the Baldwin special. Pretty car, built with stuff that at the time was probably fairly common and uninteresting. Flash forward to 2018 - could people do this today? In California where I live there is an unfortunate emissions inflection point. Starting with something newer than 1975 equals heavy-handed smog restrictions. Not to mention a rapid acceleration into mostly unitized body/chassis construction. So, starting from 1975 and working backwards, what are everyone's thoughts on suitable donor cars? Ideally you would want something that had a full frame and clear title. Narrowing and/or shortening the frame might be OK but it would be ideal to avoid building everything from scratch in order to keep the focus on simplicity and low cost.
gnichols What would it be like to have a perfect run? be geared perfectly for your course. that guy must really know that road and his 1931 car. Classic, Man and machine.
Brilliant piece of period newsreel footage there -thanks for posting. Conjuring a 1930's Austin Seven saloon (Sedan) or upright Ford Popular or Anglia into a lightweight sports car was what was going on in countless lock up garages here in the 1950's when hardly anyone in the UK had enough money to buy a -then modern- Triumph TR, MG "A" or Austin Healey. Construction of my avatar special was started in the late 50's but it took my two elder brothers rather longer to complete it than that film clip suggested But this car does bring a smile to my face every time I drive it...
Flyer, That's the most complete picture I've seen of it. That's a big car and looking good. What powers the tow vehicle, another 300?
Joe, I think you'll (if you don't already know) that California allows a number of "Special Constructor Cars" each year. In my case, I have a T-Bucket with a 1962 SBC 283. For smog checks all it needs is a "Closed Crankcase". I also have a '32 Ford 5-window, with a 360 SB GMC, topped with a V6-71 Detroit Supercharger. The chassis and body have a '32 VIN. The engine is a 1970. It needs NO smog check. You have a DMV referee in your area. Find out who and where he is; and check with him for specifics if you have a project in mind. He's not at you local DMV office. In our area, for example, the referee is an automotive instructor at the local Junior College. He was a great help on my projects.
That's an interesting site. It resists hotlinking, though, so with apologies to its owner I'll have to get creative – later. Also a few good examples of "fats and skinnies", including on a very interesting V8-60-powered special.
Here are a few Riley specials, gleaned from the above German website by brazen chicanery – though with all due apologies. Historical examples:
That interesting Riley-V8-60 special: also with "fats and skinnies". This one is powered by a rare Autovia V8:
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