Vintage shots from days gone by!

Great story there.

 

^^^^
Holy Moly

 

Believe it or not but that was a setup for a movie photographer to get some unique shots for a promotional film by Firestone. Wilbur Shaw was the driver in the film but that might not be him in this shot as the driver looks a little tall in the cockpit. There were also some static mounts for cameras to show the tires flexing in the turns. I think that's one of the mounts down low in front of the right rear tire. And the car seems to have small diameter passenger car street tires on it so that it is sitting lower and the rider can film over the top.

I believe this photo was taken at Indianapolis in 1946; probably even before the track opened on May 1st. The usually painted pit wall appears to have been scraped and is waiting for a new coat. Wilbur Shaw had done a synthetic rubber tire test in this same car for Firestone in December of 1944. It was then that he realized that the Speedway was in disrepair and decided that he would try to save the place for racing which he ultimately did when he got Tony Hulman to purchase the track.

Firestone tried to recreate Shaw's 1944 run for their 1946 film called (I believe) "The Crucible of Speed". They pulled out all of the stops even rigging up the tractor seat setup in the photo. I've never known just who rode back there but I suspect it was another race driver or former riding mechanic.

BTW, even though riding mechanics were no longer required in the 500 after 1937 AAA/Firestone continued to use this older two man car for their tire tests. The riding mechanic could look out and watch for tire wear and he also carried a wooden paddle that he could hold against the right rear and feel for tread separations or vibrations. They used the two man car until the late 1940s.

 

Road side picnic tables....I remember eating many a lunch at those tables when traveling with my parents as a kid.

 

"I"ll bet you mind is faster than yours....."

 

Me too! Dad was always in a hurry to get back on the road, Mom took forever to get stuff cleaned up and ready to go!

 

Beer !



.

 

I would love to build that in 1/25 scale if the wire wheels were made.

 

I had a 65 ElCamino with a canopy just like that one, never seen another til now.