Hot Rods TRACK ROADSTER STYLE BUILDS

Saw Joe a few years back at the “Miller Meet” at the Milwaukee Mile. He was helping Dana Mecum run and drive some of Dana’s Old Indy cars! He is a fantastic fabricator, mechanic, and all around Gearhead. That trackT is on another level!

 

Here is my version of a Track Roadster, the wheels are "OT" so no side shots. The seating material is temporary..I was planning on @StanLow doing my seats

 

Saw this one in LA 2019. JW

 

Well one more picture I saved.

 

Close to looking like a track T…what changes could make it more track T looking?

 

@Frames,
Dennis, your Track Roadster is right on! I have been looking at how to make a roll bar look right on mine, and think that you have nailed it. I couldn't get the look I wanted with the braces running back or with the hoop mounted behind the body.

Thanx!

 

Probably could use a hood, at least the top. Lose the headlights or at least lower them. Get the driver DOWN in the car. Maybe kick the front axle out a few inches. And I'll bet that to would drive more like a Track T if the tie rod was behind the axle.

 

Another great thread revived that I've missed until now. My first "T" roadster was to be somewhat along that track style vein but stopped short, going a little different direction thanks to youth, inexperience and funding.
Mostly funding.
I'll toss this one in here - the Dick Patton-built track "T" from the early 1970's. Snapped this at the '74 Nats in St. Paul. As I recall, it was under new ownership by then.

 

Picked this one up recently as a project for my son and I. Gonna make some changes this winter but having too much fun running it around right now.

 

This is my "Track Roadster Style " build..Been on the road 12 yrs. this November... 2.3 Turbo/T5.. Never fails to make me grin everytime I drive it...

 

This is in my top3 favorite rdstrs..
The V860 with arden heads, that came from some other 3rd world country. So good..

 

Here is a few pics of mine. Yellow when I got it and black now with a red interior.

 

This one is close to my heart !

 

This one was recently for sale on eBay

 

What 4 cylinder engine is used?

 

Glad this re-surfaced ...Great Thread!

 

Pirate,
That stared as a 3.7 mercuiser engine. I added a Boss9 head and Chevy injector. About the only thing left of the 3.7 is the block and crank. It's 242 ci now.

 

That’s interesting! I like some of these small engines in light cars. How much horsepower are you getting?

 

I have seen videos of these making over 500 hp, but I think I am probably closer to 400hp and lots of torque. And this is not small, it is bigger than the 327 I took out!

 

Put a number on it. Call it a track roadster. True Halibrand wheels and a Halibrand 201 quickchange with 28 spline axles. Ford tube front axle.

 

Could be called a track roadster. Paved tracks only. 454 radiator and 2 fans in back for better weight distribution.

 

This one had 29,000 miles last time I saw it. Of the 9 completed (street) Track Roadsters I built, it was extra special to me.

 

You should do that, the steel wheeled version will be a couple thousand cheaper to build !

 

That Duvall is the cats meow!!!

 

The real deal like this, or one of @Marty Strode ’s. He’s got “the look” figured out
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/10-track-roadster-build-marty-strode.1181804/

 

Hellbentrodder, I believe your car came from the Fremont Newark area. I lived in Fremont before I moved to Missouri 21 years ago and I'd see it around. I was never able to get your car and my car together, I was never able to talk to the owner. You haven't said what you want to change, but major changes on a finished car can turn into a lifetime project. That car has been built for a long time, so it must run and drive good. Here's a picture of mine, I've had mine a very long time. Have fun with it.

 

I seem to remember the #53 car was chain drive. @hotrodA, the title of this thread is Track Roadster Style, that can encompass quite a variety of elements. Since Roadster Racing was all finished around here in '55, I never got to see them race, so I started my research with Don Radbruch's book "Roaring Roadsters". The plan was to Vintage Race, along with Sprint Cars and Midgets from the 40's through the 60's, and I wanted my cars to resemble the real ones from that period, simple and spartan. By using early Ford axles, cross leaf springs, quickchanges, and keeping the wheelbase close to 100", I got the look I was after. The icing on the cake, was letting real Roadster Pilots race them, including the author Don Radbruch who raced mine one night. BTW, Jack Greiner, like others in this area removed the fenders from their 32's and raced them until they could build or buy one with a T body.