History Vintage "Cageless" Midget Picture Thread

Picture Jim tried to post 5 posts above.
aXe

 

Jim have you seen the#1 entry on page 1 of cageless midget thread
Gordon KKx125

 

I haven't had a chance to talk to either Ken Brenn or the Petraitis family yet, re the Honker II midget they had .. but I just did a quick Google search and turned up yet ANOTHER Honker II from the same era.

While this one IS a race car, it is NOT a midget.
It was driven by Mario Andretti .. a Holman & Moody owned Ford powered 1967 Can Am car that was sponsored by Paul Newman.

Sounds like it was considered a pig / a lead sled.

 

aXe33 Have you seen entry #1 on page 1 cageless midget thread
all the best Gordon KKx125

 

Quote HUTCHO

Quote:
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How about telling us about the Speedcar in your Avtar, oh and you might have to explain the some of these guys what a Speedcar is. Did you happen to go to any races in the 70's at the Sidney Showgrounds or Parramatta? Rutherford and Vogler drove my dad's cars in Australia for a few years
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I think your name racer 5c is Robin(I hope) I would be delighted to tell the storey of the USA #78 midget or commonly called speedcars here in OZ.

Larry Rice(R.I.P.) in the early 70's met up with 3 US pilots(I have their names) who formed Aviator Racing & Larry drove various cars for them.Larry bought into the #78 deal which opened the door to take this midget on tour to New Zealand where he had great success winning the 30 lap "World Derby" in a blanket finish at Western Springs Stadium 1977". Larry started last car & lead from lap 6. Larry narrowly missed winning the 50 lapper,he lead for 49 laps then passed by Sleepy Tripp.

The #78 midget is a LTC with a 2300cc Scat.This car has been owned & raced by 5 NZers & has been totally restored to its glory days as raced by Larry.

I intend to show the car once I have all the necessary info Im chasing including Larrys racesuit & helmet(Robbie has the helmet & Im waiting for some pics).Larry was a very likeable guy here & in NZ with many friends.I intend to dedicate this part of midget racing to the memory of Larry.The car was know as the 'Gatorade Special" with Perfection Meats (NZ) main sponsor.

I'll try to get someome to post some pics for me,or can you please email me. [email protected]

Yes I attended many nights at the Sydney showground,raced a go kart there once.
I raced TQ's & midgets at Liverpool & the newer Parramatta.As a young boy attended the old Parramatta Track called Cumberland Speedway when Sir Jack Brabham run a midget.Dont remember seeing Rich Vogler but witnessed the visits of Rutherford,Foyt,
Tattersall,Rice,Kenyon,Tripp all great drivers,great memories....thanks Ron

BTW we have rice a ricco (reeco) downunder.
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Is that car the Agapiou Bro's solid axel Cam Am car??? John S.

 

Quote: HUTCHO

Thank you LittleFauss for the info the # on my car is a satin chome type leaf not a paint.it was done by a guy in NZ.

Im trying to identify the red & white decal on the side panel under the Gatorade Racing1.It looks the tail of a plane,maybe aviator racing decal?
Can someone else help me?
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Quote: HUTCHO

Roy I believe the guy on the left was one of the pilots & part owner Bill O'Connor who flew DC3's out of Philadelephia lived in Chicargo.Then (L to R) Phil Richards,person unknown,Willie Kay NZ crew chief 1977 /78
Aviator racing also consisted of Joe....? flew 767's.Barney....? check pilot/senior instructor.Maybe Greg Seashore?...I think Aviator racing is still operating with 1 shareholder...Ron
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"The car is quite a treasure & rare find.


Where did it turn up after all these years .. also any idea of it's (AAA) history?"


THANKS!!!

Hello Ken,

Sorry to say i have no details on the History of that KK Midget.
Hopefully others who see this thread can fill us in.

 

Hi John ..

No I don't think so.

This was a Holman & Moody car, paid for by Ford. I believe it was built on modified GT40 Mk. IV chassis. The GT40 was the car campaigned at LeMans.

It was called Honker II in honor of John Holman who's nick name was Honker from his early days as a truck driver for Ford raciing.

Mario Andretti it was reported to say that it was the worst car he has ever driven.

The name of team manager Paul Newman appeared prominently on the front of the car after the first race. Referring to this, Andretti reportedly once said: .... 'Why don't you put my name on the car and let Paul Newman drive?

 

KKx125, yes I had, but this had Tat in it.

 

You folks probably already know about this
Sprint Car & Midget Magazine
http://www.sprintcarandmidget.com/

 

Here's the answer in HUTCHO's .. THE HONKER 11-1.doc above.

The Stroud/Brenn/Petraitis (chain of ownership) midget IS the car that HUTCHO's (Ron's) friend Graham now owns in Austrailia.

~~~~~
At the end of the 1969 season the 1967 version of the &#8220;HONKER 11&#8221; was sold to Ken Bren Racing while they in turn on sold it to Pete Petraitis Racing &#8211; New York.

Some famous US drivers of the midget were Bob Tattersall, Carl Williams, Bob Wente, Don Krites, Burt Brooks &#8211; who was fatally injured in it at Hershey Stadium & Bing Metz &#8211; who escaped serious injury when he flipped the midget, now running a Chevy 11 engine, into the fourth row of seats at JFK Stadium in 1972.
~~~~~

<OPete Petraitis owned this car when Bing Metz flipped it into the grandstands at the JFK Stadium (over 100,000 seats) in Philadelphia, PA. I THINK it was "three fingered" George Marshman who was the promoter of that race.

Sonny Sanders (Anthony Madonia) later became Pete Petraitis main chauffer in this car.

BTW -- JFK Stadium used to host the annual Army vs Navy football games.</O

 

A & T Special


Not often you get vintage pics AND the story to go with them.... here goes.

'Long about 1952-3, Earl Aldridge and Sparky Johnson saw some sort of small race in a barn lot in Rush Co., Indiana, and got the itch. They went to Rushville and bought a used Crosley.

They both worked at a body shop in Milroy, so that's where the Crosley met it's end and the build started. But in short time Sparky got married and new wife said "no race car".

Enter Howard Terhune, owner of the local hardware store. Howard bought out Sparky's share for the princely sum of..... $50.00.

Howard would procure parts, Earl's fab skills learned in the Navy made the difference. The car morphed into a TQ, and in a year or so, it was ready to go. These pics are around 1958.

The frame rails and front axle were....water pipe from Howard's store!
The tail was crafted from the contours of a '56 Chevy hood found in the body shop scrap pile. The nose,two '46 Plymouth front fenders from, same place.

The grill was aluminum, stick welded together by Earl.

Crosley speed parts came from Speedy Smith, a boat racer in Cincinnati at the time. The car was campaigned during the birth of the UMRA.

Middle of the road results, Earl admitted it was a better car than he was a driver.

All this passed on from Earl via his son Steve (little boy in seat, 1958).

Last Pic is Earl, Dave Knight, and Dick Northam in a spin at Rushville, about 1958. Cloth on Dave's helmet is his trademark bandanna, tied to his goggle strap, it would wave like a ponytail!

Thanks to Steve for the use of story and pictures.

 

I decided to build one of those midget cars.

 

Great start!! Keep us posted on the progress.

 

Damn! You gotta be a polishing S.O.B. to polish the Engine turning off the dash!!

That's a little much! ha ha!! Man, Beautiful car!! That's the kinda stuff you see at Hershey though..

 

Yesterday I went 1/4 scale speedway racing(see post,sprintcar site) & a friend of mine that visited Gordon Mc Isaacs Speedway Museum in New Zealand handed me a couple of pics.These are of the Larry Rice car that I have,Keith Watson bought the car from Larry & yep you quessed it,1st race,1st lap,1st corner Ouch.Yes & I know what was going thru his mind.
Gordon took these from his display to give them to me,an unbelieveable nice gesture fom a person I havent met but would certainly like to.

 

Currently on eBay .. 60 Crosley 3/4 midget race car

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/60-C...ce_Cars_Not_Street_Legal_?hash=item45eed7fd0f

 

Seeing if the seat fits

 

Is that a cageless midget in the background above? Odd.

 

Some info/photos of Gordon Reelie's Weldco Offy built in the late 1960s.

 

"Vintage drifting". Sherman Cleveland and Bryan Cunneen side by side in Australia circa 1966.

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One more: Bob Tattersall in Australia.

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<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Sn5ZF7PwvaA&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></object>

 

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EwrpX9sN3WE&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="425" height="344">You have got see the end of this clip. Classic 3/4 midgets<object width="425" height="344">


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gorgeous!!!

 

Fantastic footage Digney,you can have 20 competitors in a race but it only takes 2 racers to make a race.
Is that Tatts in the Cascio offy? Fully restored & owned by another OLD mate Bob "Streak" Blacklaw?

 

I was looking through a CD that the late Ron Heddendorf had made and the Kurtis midget looks a lot like a picture with Paul Russo driving. No paint, #2 but didn't have the front KK nerf bar or the chrome carb covers. No specific date

 

Thanks for that bit of history. Some of my favorite memories are from the early 60s, when I got my first dirt racing experience as a flagman working with UMRA. I'll never forget those days with Bob Chapman, Ray Gross, Bob Ayers, Bobby Lowe, etc.