Trying to come up with older, probably fifty's drag racing designation for my ride. It's not a racecar, but I'd like to pretend it is. 1932 Austin Bantam roadster. Named Rudester. Weight, less than 1900 lbs. Cubic inches 336.6. Wheelbase 110 inches. Automatic transmission. Carburators. Gas. Any help, info greatly appreciated. If I can figure out how to post a picture I will. Thank you. Narrowed Jaguar with 29x18.50x15 rear tires.
Assuming you're talking about the Bantam in your Avatar, Then yes, it could be described an Altered or a Roadster. In the late 50's the Roadsters had their own class, to designate their differences from other classes at that time, such as Dragster, Coupe/Sedan, or Stock. Altered came along to provide a class that had significant structural deviations from a typical roadster, e.g. altered wheelbase, engine set back 25%, allowance for center steering. Your car doesn't really fit the 50's drag idea of an Altered, but by the late 60's, since the roadster class had faded, many cars like yours got put into Altered classes, as did many other cars that didn't really look like a typical altered.
Hello, Since your Bantam Roadster has a rear stock body and fender, all it needed at the time in the late 50s was a front fender of sorts. Individual front fenders were acceptable, as long as the motor was not moved back beyond 10% set back from normal. Normal being what they imagine where the stock motor was located. Anything beyond 10% was automatically classified as an Altered Roadster. If any portion of your “front fendered” roadster was not fully street legal, license plate, working headlights and brake lights, bumpers, etc. then again, it would be classified as an Altered Roadster. This “street roadster” From the Jr. Thompson camp was the champion of its class many times over as it had all of the necessary items to be street legal. But, the description was pushed to the limits as to what was known as a street driven legal roadster. This one was set up as a pure race car, built around the rules, but still acceptable as a Street Roadster. As one can see the difference in adjusting to the rules of a “street roadster.” One was used as a daily driver and was a fast street roadster pickup that held the record for the class. But, the other competitors had their own version within the rules back then. Fully within the guidelines, but, certainly not DMV approved street roadster upon inspection, if there was such an inspection upon registration. Jnaki As far as street roadster class or any street legal class back then, like the Gas Coupe and Sedan classes, tech inspections weekly had to be done prior to racing. So, if one item of “street legal” was not on the car, such as a front bumper, it was classified as an Altered Class Coupe or Roadster. We had a street legal 40 Willys Coupe and got classified as an Altered due to not having a front bumper. Usually, when we towed it with our 1958 Impala, we took off the Willys Coupe front bumper and used the mounts for the tow bar. I forgot to load the bumper in the car to mount it back on prior to the inspection. So, rules for the street roadster class was strict, but at times questionable if they ever were driven daily on the street. If no modifications to the motor location beyond 10% allowable street designation, then one needs a fender and other things to make it legal for daily driving on the street. Bumper, lights, etc. YRMV Yes, I drove home to get the front bumper to put it back on for tech inspection and ran in the B/Gas class coupe designation.
Would like to see more of your Bantam! Surprised it has a Jag rear end, was it built in the 70's? If the wheels are Drag Stars, they would be off topic/era here, but some careful photog work might net something that we can see.
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