Thanks Lee, at some point in time I would like to see if I could get a better copy of that article. I have a zerox copy of the engine in that article and maybe a bad zerox of the car but I would like a copy of the car even if it is on two pages. I don't care about copying the photo myself but it may help me in finding the car in other pics I have if I can see characteristics of it. Thanks good stuff. My collection of Motor West is really thin as the Detroit Library does not have a good collection of that magazine during this era and neither did the San Diego main branch when I was there in the 80s.-Thanks Jim
Jim, Where can i find information on the Linthwaite-Hussey Motor Company? I've searched the net but came up short. ...also...I've read a story or two about Teddy Tetzlaff and in one particular article it mentions he was kidnapped before a race at Tacoma. Is this true or is it part of a script in one of the movies he was involved in?
Kurtis let me see what I can find on Linthwaite-Hussey and get back to you on that. Now that you mention something on Tetzlaff I remember reading that somewhere but never followed up on-figured it may have been hype.-JIm
Mabel Normand...great write up on a amazing woman, with great tastes in cars! (but then i am biased on some of here choice mounts). Lots of socal racing from the teens and twenties in there too. (lots of good technical mistakes too) http://www.freewebs.com/looking-for-mabel/cars.htm her filmography: www.goldensilents.com/comedy/mabelnormand.html
Jim, I was amazed I could find anything on Milac. My copy of that article is almost unreadable. I used the computer to darken and sharpen and unfortunately that's about as good as it gets. I can print and mail a copy if you wish. I'll scan the photo tonight. It's a good looking car, more smooth curves than some from that era. I don't suppose any of the cars remain ? Have you tracked down any of the family members ?
Thanks for the link FB. Although that Fiat in the book sure does look to be a Sunbeam. Oldfield's mouth would be perfectly contoured to fit his cigar when he didn't have one in there.
Kurtis, in looking through my stuff I have not come up with too much on the company. I have two poor copies of articles one being the LA Evening Herald 2/5/16 where there is a pic of O.C.Linthwaite (engineer of the Linthwaite-Hussey Motor Co., 52nd and Santa Fe Avenue, Los Angeles, standing over the 199 ci Milac engine and in LA Evening Herald 2/28/16 there is a pic of the Milac with Terrible Teddy behind the wheel. In that article they discuss that this was only Linthwaite"s third engine. He had experimented earlier in some smaller engines and steam engines. He spent 8 months on the 199 ci Milac and it is his crowning achievement. If I had access to the paper I would try and get a better copy, but there are a few miles between myself and that reality. As to Terrible Teddy, I have read a couple of accounts and I may have a comical note on that I did find that in 1915 just before a race in Tacoma he was kidnapped by gamblers and held for ransom in a brothel. When the police arrived he told them he didn't want to leave. As you may know though he did star in some of the early moving pictures dealing with fast cars including the all time classic made in 1919 called the Roaring Road. If my memory serves me Waldo Stein also played a role in that flick. Sometime I have to find a copy of that classic. Knowing actors, a hoax could not be totally out of the realm of possibilities. Lee, thanks-would like to see the scan if at all possible.
Thanks Jim and Lee. The MILAC sure is mysterious. The only mention i have found is the results from the 1916 Pikes Peak Hillclimb where a MILAC Spl. was entered by Neil Whalen in the under 230cid class.
Found this photo of the Wisconsin Spl on e-bay this AM. This is the text along with the photo. On March 1st, 1924 Haugdahl added another record to his list when he annexed the special five eights of a mile race at the Ascot Dirt Track in the record time of 30 and 3/5 second. This is just two fifths of a second faster than the former record made by Ralph de Palma.
slightly OT, but figured you guys might appreciate: http://www.worldwaronecolorphotos.com/ some recently uncovered color pics of WW1.
Hear Hear. The documentary about the photographer was just screened here. Great to watch. Even his home movies were color.
1900 There would not be many changes this year. The ACF was still the only club or sanctioning body organizing races of any significance. Although the British, German, American and the Italian's did have it's fair share of hobbyists and inventors, these nations were still lagging behind the French and it's emerging industry. One particular change that did come about was the adoption by these nations of national racing colors in order to best represent themselves in international competition. France would now display the color blue, Germany white, GB green, the U.S. red and Belgium chose yellow. Since it's inception the automobile was largely accepted by the general public as a toy of the wealthy but as the years passed their would be some animosity toward this minority, particularly when a race was staged. In France there would be one incident before the middle of the year that could have changed the future of the industry. During the 'Paris to Roubaix' race a group of spectators were struck by two cars, injuring many, among them a wife of a high ranking government official. Some time later a local Prefect had banned racing and later the Secretary of the Department would summon other prefects throughout the country to submit any request to hold races to himself. For the first time motor racing was banned but this decision would soon be overturned thanks to the rich manufacturer's and the political clout of high ranking officials within the ACF. To cut a long story short, French pride would be at stake. On the track the year started and finished just as it did the previous one. Panhard was still the car to beat but as i stated earlier, Mors was slowly gaining ground while Renault emerged as a favorite among the light car brigade and Rene DeKnyff was challenging Fernand Charron as the best driver by winning the first two races. Rene De Knyff aboard his Panhard, winner of the first race at Pau and also the 'Nice to Marseilles' race but his luck would run out for the remainder of the year. GORDON BENNETT CUP There would be a new race this year quite different from any others. Gordon Bennett, the wealthy newspaper mogul financed an international event in the hope it would improve the automobile through racing. The rules dictated that each country could field three cars but it soon became obvious that only the French could meet these expectations. Another rule was that each car had to be built entirely in the country it represented and that meant the whole car, tires, wheels, engines, etc. The winner would hold the right to stage the race in their country the following year. Five cars entered the race to be run from Paris to Lyons. Three Panhards represented France, driven by De Knyff, Charron and Girardot and an unofficial Mors driven by Levegh. It was this entry which caused some controversy as the Mors, becoming more competitive felt short changed by the ACF, who chose who should race for France. Germany entered Eugen Benz on a Benz who withdrew with tire problems, Camille Jenatzy drove a Snoek-Bolide for Belgium and America entered two Wintons for A. Winton and Anthony Riker, the latter also withdrawing. When the race started it was Levegh who took the lead, much to the embarrassment of the organizes, until he was struck with mechanical problems, Winton and De Knyff were forced to quit which left only Charron and Girardot swapping the lead twice ahead of Levegh. Ten miles from the finish Charron ran into a dog which slowed him down but he would go on and finish first ahead of the Mors while Girardot was far behind in third. Gordon Bennett, who wanted to improve the automobile throughout the world, particularly in the United States. The final race in France was the 'Paris-Toulouse-Paris' with the 'Heavy Cars' and 'Voiturettes' represented. Levegh took a famous victory on the Mors ahead of two Panhards while Renault dominated the light cars. Also this year: : the first circuit race was held in France. : A.L.Riker won the first road race on Long Island, a 50 miler. : racing was gaining poularity in Italy : the first ever ladies race was staged in London
I have seen several early cars that had "flowmaster" looking mufflers on them. Anybody know how these early mufflers were made? Is it just an empty chamber? or gasses passing from one perforated tube to the other? ...or something more clever? Do they actually cut noise levels all that much?
those "flowmaster looking mufflers" are better know as brooklands can mufflers. it is both the muffler and the pinched/flatten exhaust tip.
I still maintain that J.G.Parry Thomas was never given his full due as a car constructor and Driver....just look at how beautiful those three cars are....
The rear axle in BABS was from the Blitzen Benz that was parted out. The radiator from the Benz was used on a dirt track car in Pennsylvania in the early 1920's. Wonder were the other bits were used.
Parry Thomas didn't have the money or connection's that Seagrave did but he did extremely well with what he had. As a car builder he was certainly capable but he forgot one critical component when he built Babs and that was a chain gaurd.
JG Parry-Thomas "Flat Iron" Special. In this photograph it was running a straight 8 engine and I believe was intended to be a gran prix car; it ran a variety of power plants over its life. Cris
Thank you, a little searching shows two were built and entered in the first British GP in 1926, but weren't ready in time. They originally had 1.5 litre twin-supercharged diesels, laid over on theirs sides, I suppose. Here's Parry-Thomas in action later that year: http://www.austinharris.co.uk/photo/1926-jcc-200-mile-race/2474
John Godfrey Parry Thomas - BABS The car was originally built in 1923 by Count Louis Zborowski as the fourth of his Aero engined Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang cars. Being the last and the largest he named it the Higham Special. The car was named 'Babs' and after carrying out a considerable amount of work he took it to Pendine for a crack at the landspeed record. This was in October 1925 but the weather precluded any chance of a record breaking run. To cap it all Henry Segrave posted a speed of 152.33 mph. In April 1926 Babs was transported back to Pendine at Shell-Mex's expense for another attempt. After a couple of warm-up runs Parry-Thomas achieved a speed of 169.30. A day later he pushed the record over the 170 mph mark. <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com</st1:City><ST1Campbel</ST1l was among those who sportingly congratulated Parry-Thomas and, in the nature of the challenge, he prepared his own car for another attempt on the record. In January 1927 he achieved a top speed of 174.883 mph. As the competition for the record increased Parry-Thomas wanted another crack at it; he knew Henry Segrave was to attempt a run for 200 mph, in <st1:State w:st="on">Florida</st1:State>. He arrived back in Pendine, unwell with 'Flu', in March 1927 and with the assistance of Shell and Dunlop staff began to prepare the car for a run on the beach. After the usual start and warm up procedures had been followed he set off up the beach on a timed run. The car skidded, turned over and over and then slewed round to face the sea. The scene for those first to arrive was not pretty, Parry-Thomas was still in the car, partially decapitated and burned. the car was on fire and in order to retrieve the body from the blazing wreck two of Parry-Thomas's crew had the unpleasant task of breaking the legs of the corpse before the fire prevented them reaching it. The car was buried in a big hole on the beach and that was thought to be the end of the story. However, in March 1969, 42 years after the car was buried, the car was dug up by Owen Wyn Owen, a <st1laceName w:st="on">Technical</st1laceName> <st1laceType w:st="on">College</st1laceType> lecturer for North Wales. Having restored other cars he thought it would be nice to get some pieces of the car to display in a museum as a tribute to Thomas. The car was, however, more complete than imagined, but was badly damaged as a result of the accident and 42 years of salt water had corroded all the aluminium. The car is now restored and on display at Pendine. . .
The cars were built to the 1926-27 Grand Prix formula of 1.5 litres supercharged and were powered by straight eight engines. Years later in the late 1930s, one of the two chassis built was re-engined with a Perkins diesel to attack compression-ignition speed records. This resulted in a very unsightly hump in the bonnet/hood line. This car still exists although it hasn't been seen out for many years. The owner has acquired the original straight engine and gearbox from the second car which went to Canada and was then broken up. Super little cars
I would love to know more about that engine in the Flatiron, if only to correct the mis-information I posted above. Perkins did not exist until 1932. Perkins worked for Aveling-Porter and when they went under, got the rights to a new motor he had been working on. The existing Aveling product line was called "Wolf". I assume that it was NOT an 8 cylinder. The first real Perkins engine, the 4.99, went commercial in 1937, and I assume that was the one which held the Brooklands diesel record. This was also used in London taxis through about 1967, lol.
According to the Autocar - there were two of the low cars, Thomas Specials. Straight 8 engines, 52 x 88mm bore/stroke. 1.5liter. Water cooled superchargers sucking through the carb. Single overhead cam, two valve, leaf springs on the valves. After Thomas's death, R.J.Munday purchased one of the cars and replaced the engine with a 2.7liter diesel which he took a world speed record at 94.7mph. There is only one good book on Thomas, to the best of my knowledge. Written by Hugh Tours, published 1959.
The Jalopy Journal
