Model T Speedster-pics whose got 'em

The yellow #4 car with the Rajo was driven all the way from California. Very nice car. And they fit the car, long dusters and leather caps with goggles. Our local newspaper did a story on them.

 

This old T had the newest in Theft Devices..."The Club". And his sign on the radiator is too Kewl!

 

The same T...was Fricken an aftermarket company? hehehe. The seat was a board that sat on top of the front of the wooden box. Crusty, but it had no trouble turnin the tires!

 

Is that the "Hemi" T overhead that was posted a while back?

 

To answer your question yes, you have the right approach of thinking....

To my knowledge, the name "speedster" was simply used less and less, and yes in a way you could say that the old speedsters then were also known as sprint cars and or midgets, then as the sport grew and the designs of the cars changed, the word 'speedster' wasn't used as much.

As time progressed, the advnet of the stock car world came about, which saw intrest shift a little it from the circle track racing to something new,...teh stock car. Of course circle track racing otehr than stock cars was still very popular and the designs of the racers were much the same and hadn't changed, other than their change in appearance from what we see here as "speedsters".

The first purpose-built banger I'm sure was in the mid teens for racing as the Rajo company was a favorite among racers as were other high speed heads in the 20s. Here's some eye candy for you on purpose built engines!

http://winfield.50megs.com/Engines/Engines.htm

Also, see this for some more info, more than I can share here!

http://winfield.50megs.com/CarthageRaces.htm

http://winfield.50megs.com/Meridian.htm

http://winfield.50megs.com/WestSideRace.htm

Just keep clicking on his 'webring" and you'll see a plethora of info!!

There are others on here that know much more than I regarding the really early days of racing in the 20s!

 

Not a dumb question Gary, thanks for asking it. In my opinion the "Speedster Era" died in 1928, Henry killed it with the Model A Ford. Sure there are Model A speedsters guys build today but I've never seen an original photo of one built in the day, nobody made aftermarket speedster bodied for A chassis. Bolt an overhead valve head on an a Roadster and you're ready to race. A "Speedster" was a two passenger car designed for road use, sure some did see use on the dirt tracks in the 1920's but one man race car bodied were the norm. For some reason "Bob Tails' were popular in some aeras of the country, no tail section, just a seat and in many cases the gas tank sat along side the driver. Midgets as we know then started in LA in 1933, but there were cycle powered small cars as far back as 1915 called Junior Racers. Dirt cars or "Big Cars" weren't called "Sprint Cars" until the late 1930's I believe.

 

The links are wonderful. Thanx for posting them. Dammed stock car racers ruined everything! Gary

 

Interesting. One last question.. I had always heard that "big cars" were more like Indy roadsters, the very biggest and most powerful. In my pea brain, my oval open wheel history has categories start with 1/4 midgets, then go to midgets, then to sprints, then to Silver Crown and then Gold Crown / Indy cars. And that the Gold Crown cars were the "big" cars. Or do I have too many modern categories thrown in my hierachy? Gary

 

A friends speedster on the ice. 1914 I believe.

 

Kinda catchy, "Speedsters on Ice" - like a Disney show with a NFL-sized mascot figure of Henry Ford skating around his crerations to music! Gary

 

You left out "Champ Cars" that were a bit larger than "Big Cars" and some did double duty as "Indy Cars" in the 1950's. We all have our favorites, I sort of draw the line at roll bar vs. full cage cars.

 

Speedster Ice Racing

 

Uncle. I give. I've always thought a "Big Car" and a "Champ Car" were the same thing - and that they raced in the Gold Crown series. IE, a tad bigger than a Silver Crown car of today and suitable for racing at Indy and other large dirt or paved tracks thru the early 60's - when speed, the roadsters and then eventually rear engined cars made them obsolete. That's also why I've always thought a Champ Car of old was a called a "Big Car," and that the Champ car of today are the ones with the motors in backwards.

Someone still needs to set me straight, please. Later, Gary

 

Actually it was a Fly-In. The cars came to join in the fun!

 

now thats just plain FUN!!

 

I found an interesting web site, it's full of great pix of speedsters, try WWW.NWVS.ORG . northwest vintage speedsters.org is a great resource.

Jack

 

Jack, great link thanx. LOVED the paint job on this car! I'm going to start a scallop thread!! Gary

 

I see this cowl ( firewall back body ) here and there. Was this body produced ? or just a style that was often copied?

 

Hey, does anybody have old issues of 1001 Custom & Rod Ideas from the 1970's? Mine are all in storage, they occaisionally had articles on old T based race cars and a couple articles on building a boattail racer body on a T frame.
My favorite T roadster of all time was bright red '23 that was on the cover. Everything was red and chrome, it had an overhead conversion on the T block, roadster body with turtledeck, no hood or fenders, Buffalo wires and a chrome header that went all the way down the side.
Does anybody remember this one and have a pictures of it?

 

Sounds like the car that had a devil thumbing his nose radiator cap, can't rember the owners name. His Dad had a twin cam Crager race car under restoration and rebuilt pipe organs. Saw my first walnut tree in his back yard in the mid 1970's.Wish I could remember names. The turtle deck on the red roadster was found on the curb on metal trash day.....Stan Wisbard! Don't have CRS after all.

 

Hey, I've got a question...

Is "Secrets of Speed" worth the $45+ a year?

Thanks, Bill

 

Those are some really cool speedster pics. They all look like loads of fun. I really like the "Black Betty" of Speedsterinc's.

Cooter

 

If you can't find or fab a real one, try this link... Gary

http://www.poli-form.com/Catalog/body/19speed.html

 

Thanks,,I'm going with strictly metal body. Was just curious as to if someone actually produced them or if it was just a style many copied

Also anyone have any pictures of teh inside of that car ? Steering box ,pedals etc ??

 

I've been toying with the idea of seeing how many would be interested in being involved in a period correct Model T speedster racing / living history group, which would be an offshoot of the club we revived, The Hot Irons?

The basis of the idea would be a group of people interested and involved with historically period correct Model T speedsters, going to shows, dirt track venues, (possibly Latimore), and other timeline type of living history events. Getting really into it,..period clothing (1920s -late 30s), etc.
Both learning and sharing knowledge and history and getting the public involved and raising awareness of fellow motorists with similar intrests.

Put on mock races on tracks and so on.

I love to learn and gain knowledge of the past,..what better way than to do it with like minded people.

Just an idea in the pipeline for now really,....

 

Nice idea Coal Town, but in reallity most speedster guys I've run across, myself included, just collect the bits to build one. Over the years we upgrade the pile of parts, add a wheel or a hub to the wire wheel set we are collecting, but RARELY finish a car. I started my first T based race car in about 1965, and have gone throught a pile of Overhead conversions and stacks of wire wheels, never got to drive a T speedster. Have a right front Buffalo hub & cap looking for four wheels and the other 3 hubs.

 

There are several Speedtser clubs out there that do this very thing. NWVS is one of them.

 

Oh that's a shame to read! Sounds like you've had some really interesting stuff and to not finish any of it,...aw that's really to bad!!

 

Familiar with NWVS,....very cool stuff.