I don't know if this has been discussed before, but if it has please let me know. Recently I was pondering the history of the bellytank and its role in the development of streamlined racing. The thought occurred to me that hypothetically, if World War II had not taken place, providing hot rodders a plentiful and cheap supply of military surplus, what other directions may have been taken? The 1950's saw the emergence of a number of Bonneville cars echoing the earlier land speed record breakers. The expense of these to the average hot rodder would have been prohibitive as they were usually hand beaten aluminium. What might have been used as an alternative readily available source of streamlined design. Any thoughts?
Before the war roadster bodies were narrowed to make them into single seaters and run as lakesters. I would guess that if you look at dragsters of the early fiftys thats what lakesters of the early fiftys looked like except for the tanks.
And I doubt that nearly as many folks (post war) would have had the often military acquired skills to even bolt a 50 HP spoiler on to it!
as a somewhat joke we've been thinking about making a canoe car out of a couple old aluminum grummans, aerodynamics/flow came much earlier in boats than it did cars
What a question. Bill Burke new at the time that the most aerodynamic shape was a teardrop and it was his foresight that helped establish many records for many drivers and still do today. It's hard to compare the lakester class to anything else in the world because it's really an American idea. If it wasn't for Mr. Burke the chopped down modifieds would have probably had longer lives racing,probably with streamlined bodies like the Ralph Schenk car.
Things would have progressed a lot slower for sure. Not only surplus pieces like the tanks but skills developed in the service and a great thirst speed.
Bob Rufi built his tank in 39,, I think with the help of Ralph Schenck. I know that Ralph put the B crank into the Chevvy 4 that Rufi had for power. Those old timers were really craftsmen and thinkers.
Yes the Lakes were going great guns before the war. Much larger turn out than today. Mostly roadsters as today there are plenty of Camaros. Most of the really fast lakesters on the lake now look like todays Top Fuel cars. Form follows function
I have always thought that the wartime aircraft industry played a major role in the development of the hot rod in the post war years. Many young men were trained in various aspects of metal fabrication, mechanics, hydraulics etc that they may not have been exposed to without America's participation in the war. Prewar streamlining followed a very different form than that inspired by aircraft design. It was a holdover from the art deco era and didn't really change until after the war. Ralph Schenk's car lookes very dated in comparison to Bill Burke's tank even though, comparatively speaking, their construction dates were not very far apart. Aircraft design is probably responsible for a lot more design cues than would first be imagined. What was imagined to be a futuristic concept to a pre war audience would have looked completely outdated post war. Anyway I probably think too much. Thanks to everyone for the discussion so far.
The massive amounts of aircraft grade ALUMINUM sheet and spars and other structural and trim forms caused a revolution in other vehicle businesses as well. The Spartan Aircraft Company got into the business of travel trailers and live-in trailers after the Big Two and survived through the early 60s. Hundreds of smaller companies like Kit Trailer Mfg in Long Beach CA, took advantage of the newly available low buck lightweight material and built thousands of teardrop and other shaped little camper trailers across the nation. When the supply diminished and prices went up many went belly-up. But then there was Korea, and then Viet Nam... and so it goes.
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