Features VINTAGE SPRINT CAR PIC THREAD, 1965 and older only please.

Joshua, Here is a 1935 photo of Babe Stapp, HG

 

<P>"Went to dads today, and grabbed a couple books to scan some pics. The first is a GREAT feature on Babe Stapps sprinter in "VINTAGE MOTORSPORTS" Magazine. Okay Magazine.. Lot of "Whine and Cheese" race cars but every couple issues they blow you away with something like this."</P>
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<P>Not trying to be mean but that is Steve "the Bopper" Stapp's car.&nbsp; Babe was his Dad.&nbsp; Steve is currently trying to put together a two seat Sprint car with all profits going to diabetes.</P>
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<P>&nbsp;</P>
<P>Bob Shutt</P>

 

Great thread!!!
Only bitch i have is with the restorations on the Fike Plumbing Sprinter, and the Sumar Champ Car. They are not close.
Still really enjoy all of it!!

 

If you are referring to the "replica" of the Fike Plumbing car that Mac Miller built. Doc wanted the car to be driven at the vintage meets, hence the V6 engine with the self starter. He puts a lot of laps on that car every year and has a ton of fun with it. This car is not the original car, it was built from the ground up, thats why it is a replica.

The Sumar car is a tribute car and was like wise built as a replica. I know both of these guy involved and at no time have they ever tried to pass these cars off as original. Just thought I would share the facts. Doc Dicks and Steve perkins are two of the nicest guys I know and support all the vintage shows in the Midwest.
HG

 

The name Zufall doesn't ring any bells for me. It appears that hood had a airbox on it at one time for valve cover clearance and the hole has been glassed over. Obviously a crossflow head, but really not typical of a 1960s setup, just guessing, but maybe it's a later model Chevy 4 cyl. (?) Kinda looks like a USAC sticker on the side, for what thats worth. You might try posting some pics over here and see if it's recognized:
http://www.midgetmadness.com/forums/index.php?showforum=5

 

Unbelieveable photos, Josh. And to you, Gene, thanks for setting the record straight on those two replicas.

 

Hi Spike! How about posting some pix of the cars, you've built, so I can see how its suppose to be done.

The cars I design and build are done to the specs and requirements of the customer. If the customer wants an exact "recreation" of any car, including the real Fike Plumbing Spl, I assure you, that I can build it. The two most important things about this car is that it has exceeded all design expectations and the customer likes it, Parnelli Jones likes it and I like it.

Oh! By the way, Spike, I would be very interested in your critique of my new Parnelli/Agajanian #98 "calhoun" roadster................??
...........and, while I'm sure you don't approve of my new #15 "Boyle Valve Spl." Miller "replica", it is also a very nice little car................ in my opinion, of course.

 

A little O/T, but it appears PJs old Balboa super is alive and well.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=315273

 

Did that guy live?

 

If you go to p.46 of this thread, I posted the full sequence of the Musselman crash from OW mag. Yes, I believe he did live.

 

Did he live?

Why yes, Charlie Musselman took that flight at Langhorne in 1957. He only sustained a broken arm. Charlie retired during the 1959 season, turning his attention to a bar/resturant he owned in Trappe, Pa.

Charlie almost won the eastern sprint title in 1955 or 1956.

This fphoto and the rest of the series of photos were run in Life Magazine. Walt Chernakol was the photog.

 

Great Pics!! I feel bad because my first thought about this pic was I hope those back wheels are OK.





Joshua Shaw[/quote]

 

Musselman reminds me of the story I heard about the curtis midget with the ejector seat. This is what happens when the car owner bolts the lap belts to the aluminum seat instead of the frame...lol

 

Question for everyone...

Does anyone still make steel torsion arms with the eye in them? I need a set of rear arms.

 

For what kind of car? does it have stacked bars or flat bars? I am sure you can get some made but you need to know what the length of them and what the offset is. I sold my broaches to Johnny Beaber in Ohio I am sure he can make whatever you need.

 

Flat Bars, I have the lengths. Its for a late 60's trevis car.

 

A alternative, that I've used, might be these if you're using 1x48 spline bars. Might take a little fabricating to install monoballs (?)
http://www.stockcarproducts.com/susp22.htm

 

if the lenght of the ones rootie posted work for you all you need is someone with a mill to finish them for you

 

Im really sorry mac, i kinda spoke without knowing just what you are doing. You do nice work, i just meant that the cars were not right thinking they were restorations.
I have never restored any cars, but two that i drove have been restored. One is the "Peters Offy" built in 1935 by Ted Horn. Horn drove it, as did Joie Chitwood and Tommy Hinnerschitz.
The other was a Hillegas chassis car once called the Dutch Culp Offy. it had been driven by Culp, Hinnerschitz, Buster Warke, Bill Holland, and others. It was restored by Paxton and Warke, i believe.
Again, im sorry for putting my foot in my mouth.

 

Yes! You are correct! I have so much shit going on in my head right now, it's a wonder I remember to breath. I have two cars done, finishing up Bumpers and roll bars today.. One gets crated up and shipped to Cali. One goes to Detroit. Then I have a car that I am getting parts together for that is going to be a Bonnieville car, and I'm trying to read and memorize the Rule book for that. Then I have a new dog that I "Inherited" that I'm I'm turning into a shop dog.. That won't quit eating the sparks from my welder. Dad has me doing some art work for him. I have gathered 60+!! cars for the car show here in Cincy and I spent all last night laying that floor plan out and getting each guy informed on where and how to do everything. I'm remodeling a stair case in my house, and Wade and I are doing FOUR flame jobs last week and this week that have to go out Friday!!
..and I love it! (It keeps me outta trouble)

But! By all means! I LOVE how everyone keeps everyone else in line and informed!!

Thanks!


JD

 

Don't worry, I'm a pro at it! You'll be fine.

JD

 

Oh yeah?! Well I'm pretty good competition.Been putting my foot in my mouth for 41 years now.

 

Here's a couple cool pics from the Shop today.

Two "Outfitted frames" almost ready to be shipped.













Both these cars got hand brakes only. The drivers legs clear these with no problem and the seat Interior covers it all.






One of the cars gets a Willwood hydralic clutch set up..





In the past I have been making my own Brake and clutch pedals.. But I found these for $28 bucks! Chrome!!




You can get them, and many other GREAT parts for fabricating race cars at:

UB Machine
1-260-493-3381
www.ubmachine.com


Joshua Shaw

 

Damn! Got me beat by 9 years.

 

Not a problem, Spike.... Actually, the controversy and debate rages on among the "restoration/real" car guys and the "recreation/replica" builders and I am, kind of, at "ground zero" because, in addition to building replicas, I am involved with the restoration of real cars and I supply a lot of parts to guys who are restoring real cars, including A.J. Watson and Joe Fiore.
What many of these big money guys don't understand is that some of their "real" cars, especially Indy roadsters that ended up as supermodifieds, require almost entirely new frames during restoration. They also get new bodywork, which I make a lot of. Many of the "real" cars are more "recreation" than "real" when they get done with them.
There is no one that appreciates the time and money these rich guys spend, saving these old roadsters, Millers, etc, more than I do.

The big difference is that my cars are always on the race track, somewhere, in motion, making noise while many of the "real" cars are sitting, on display, quietly and motionless, in museums and private collections...... how sad.

Two rules that I stick to in my shop are that I never misrepresent my cars as the "real" car and I never use any real vintage parts when I build a new
car. I believe that all real vintage parts should be reserved for the restoration of "real" cars.

By the way, the real Fike car is in Australia and it is being restored to the configuration that it ran down there with Gary Rush driving. Too bad it never came home to be restored as the Fike Plumbing Spl.

Spike, you raced sprints and midgets in the mid/late 60s, so you were one of the last real sprint car racers before they put the cages on and turned them all into supermodifieds.

mac miller in INDY

 

Mac, I think I may have seen some of your cars at those reunions we had before I left IRP. Did you do the Travelon Trailer Spl?

 

Actually, 'john, that car was built by a guy named gary babineau, although I may have built the bodywork. I built 4 or 5 Watson roadster bodies for babineau, one of which is probably on that car. That car is currently owned by Gerry Forsythe and it is sitting in the Forsythe race shop in INDY.

 

Wow! It's taken me a couple of weeks to go through this post since I stumbled upon it. If this thread were printed, and put into book form, it would make a wonderful history of American auto racing, hell it could be a college course. I've been a student of Sprint car, midget, champ car, racing history my entire life, but I've learned as much on this thread in a few days, than you can learn in years of reading books and magazines. I was lucky enough to have seen some fantastic midget racing in the pre roll cage days (1960 until cages were mandatory in 1971 with the Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Assoc.) and I value those memories, and this thread brought a lot of those memories back to life. Here's a great photo, my mom got this back in the 1940's when she was going to midget races at Lakeside Speedway, Denver, CO. The 5 car is Lloyd Axel, in the third Kurtis off the assembly line after the war. This is early 1947 (taken at Lakeside Speedway) and Lloyd added another Kurtis Offy to his team, Bert McNeese is in the #55 car. The #55 car was sold to the west coast and became Hal Robb's "Jewell", and was lost over time. The #5 car "Ol Betsy" won the first race it ran in 1946, lived a long well documented life, and won the last race it was in, September of 1974! It is restored and in good hands with LeRoy Byers, in Denver. Notice how Kurtis raised the cowel loop by 1 inch on the 1947 car, made a big differance.

 

Thanks for the answer, Mac. As far as I'm concerned, you're responsible because the bodywork makes the car. I wanted to have some of those cars out there every time we raced, but the powers-that-be didn't like the idea. If I wasn't stuck in this wheelchair I'd be at every reunion where you take your cars. If you're ever towing one of them up or down I-75 in the Corbin area on a Saturday, bring it on over to the speedway. I'd like to show some of these younger guys what a REAL race car looked like.

 

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