dumb question maybe. what defines/differentiates modifieds, roadsters, t buckets, or just plain homebuilts? seems like there is a lot of crossover in appearance and build. wheelbase? styling? period specific build? stance? thoughts? examples?
Modified usually refers to a "lakes modified" a style of car common on the california lakes pre-war. Often a narrowed T body, or an obsolete sprint / Indy race car for those with money. http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2007/02/10/a-real-modified-the-campbell-sakai/
thanks for your reply. along with the era and lakes specific tuning, it seems to come down to narrowing of the body for increased aerodynamics. ...but i have seen many refer to standard-width cars as "modifieds" as well. more input?
The modified class for racing in the early 40's had specific requirements for body size & etc, of which I don't have handy, but someone out there most likely has them at their finger tips?
As A rough guide then,how much were bodies narrowed? ,to the width of a T chassis or the width of a drivers ass? . Were the axles shortened? I know most chassis back in the day consisted of rails from anything including fords,essex,Whippet , or what ever was handy so heres a challenge for the artistic,how about someone putting up a rough outline as to width ,length height of the average modifieds. I wait with loaded hacksaw....
Not really so simple when you see a T bucket,a T roadster etc etc along side a modified and you see all are different in execution which is why i 'm curious about these modifieds. In Fact i first saw one in a Mickey Rooney movie( can't remember which one though) and the way that thing was flung around was amazing.
The Roadster in the Micky Rooney movie "The Big Wheel" was a Track Roadster, a full size Model T Ford body. Most Lakes Modifieds used 26-27 T touring car front sections. The 1947 SCTA rules I have mention four classes of Roadsters and 4 classes of Streamliners. The roadster classes were stock bodies, streamliners used modified stock bodies or specal constructed bodies.
SCTA rules for 1939 defined a modified as follows: "Modified Class: Cars competing in the Modified Class must be equipped with a body, either modified stock body or a body of similar construction consisting of firewall, cowl, side and back. There shall be no streamlining back of the drivers seat and there must be a minmum flat area of 400 square inches at the rear in an approximate vertical plane. Engines must be of American automotive production manufacture, non-supercharged, and must have been under 260 cubic inches original stock displacement. Belly pans, closed in front, may be included as part of the rear flat area." There were two main types, those with narrowed bodies for racing, and the full width ones which were primarily street cars. The class was eliminated from racing by the SCTA in 1947. Modifieds were the true budget hot rods of the day as they were generally built from parts from junkyards rather than starting with a complete car and hopping that up. Some great examples on this thread: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=149631&highlight=modifieds
I don't think it was the Big Wheel( I watched it a couple of months ago) but Mickey made a lot of car movies..LOL! The movie I remember was mainly about the car and there were some great shotsdof it from above doing 180's and 360's. I thought the Big Wheel was bit corny especially when he came second in the Indy 500 whilst on Fire and the Winner gave him the trophy..
Thanks for that,in fact i think that is still in the rule book now.I've misplaced my copy so i can't check. The Engine size is intriguing but i'd have to convince the scrutineers my mercedes engine was American .... i wacked a foot from the rear of the body and about 7" from the cowl so it's just wide enough for me and a skinny passenger.It's a 26 Chev so it was wider than a Ford anyway.
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