Features VINTAGE SPRINT CAR PIC THREAD, 1965 and older only please.

.....'URC Sprints at Allentown (PA) 1963. And the caption read: Bill Brown (28) Don Gillette (51) and Mario Andretti (14)--- Well, at least this one doesn't have wire wheels, like the Caddy powered sprinter that Mario drove!

 

Chuck Yost, having a little harder time in the Wergland car.

 

From Rhinebeck, NY May 1, 2010. Enjoy. Slim

 

Rootie, Yost's crash is Flemmington, Earl Haliquist got upsidedown that day as well.

 

Here's Halaquist giving the Nesler car its roll bar test.

 

I remember that day it was coming out of turn two at flemington all Earl ended up with was a cut ear.

 

Hi BillyC,
I think Earls wreck was during a meaningless match race. Story was that Earl looked back to wait for the others and caught the wall.
It may be an optical, but it looks like Gillette was running reverse stagger.

 

Hi Old Bill,
We spoke to Lynn Paxton last week at the Grove and verified that the Nyquist/ Pfrommer car has been found and documented. He showed Sprinter2 and myself all the material that the current owner painfully collected over the last year or two and proved that the car continued its life as a sprint car for years after it was wrecked in NY. We were impressed with the material he gathered Lynn is convinced as well. The restoration will begin soon.

 

Hi Wynns #1

Good news! I was able to supply some of that confirmation info-it convinced me. The other (Wally Campbell) Nyquist car also survived at least into the 1960's; I believe an owner named Ted (?) Storz (?) campaigned that one with URC. It was pretty well beaten up. Saw it run on Long Island once, around 1964-1965. Do you know anything about that one?

 

Old Bill,
I remember the Storz car, blue or black? double digit number I think. I will check my material. Congrats on your efforts to help i.d. the pfrommer car.

 

Here are a couple of the Storz ex-Nyquist (Wally Campbell) URC car, first in 1961 with Sonny Sanders, second in 1964 with Wimpy Ervin. In 1964 it was blue with silver trim, cream numbers. Looks like it might have been black earlier.

 

Old Bill,

The Nyquist/Cambell car was sitting on the scrap pile behind Hiram's shop rusting. Bill Wentz Sr. and Willie Rice bought the hulk from Hiram as "scrap metal". They halled it down to Scats and told him " Hiram said this can't be fixed!". It was still running 10 years later. There is a good picture of Wentz in the car in the Buzz Rose book "Tow Money".

 

Hi guys,
Have bought the Benny Rapp 1965 CAE sprinter and looking to research it's history. Have spoken to Benny and his son early this year (Benny just out of hospital at the time but ok).
#14 was built from a CAE kit with 327 Chevy,CAE in/out and quickchange, and Halibrand brakes and wheels.
This car was on pole for the '65 Little 500 on it's first race meeting.
Benny was rookie of the year that race.
Have a few pics from the internet and some from IMCA yearbooks.
The black and white pic is Allentown 8/5/67.
Pic on trailer is Sandusky.
The period color pic is Tampa Florida.
Other pics are of the car in storage taken in Januay this year.
Any further pics or info would be appreciated.
The car is in storage with a friend of Greg Smith's en route to San Francisco.
Thanks,
Jim Grant
Credit Bob Mays book "Big Car Thunder" for the Tampa and Sandusky pics.

 

Ask wentz what car that was. Rice Rothenburg and Wentz`s car was a railframeI`ll add to the story when I remember whos car it was.
Stan................

 

I thought Benny was still driving it ! ..... But seriously.... How long did he run that car ? I may have a pic or 2 somewhere.

 

Almost!

Quote from Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame website where he was inducted in 1991.
Benny Rapp’s racing career has spanned six decades, started in 1946. He progressed from the jalopies to the modifieds and then onto the sprint cars. He has since won feature events at over 70 different tracks.
Rapp joined the IMCA circuit in mid 60's and finished in the top 10 in final points in 1967, 1968, 1970, and 1971.
His most memorable win in a IMCA sprint car was at the old Plant Field in Tampa.
Benny moved to Temperance, Michigan and switched to midgets in 1976 and successfully campaigned them for 10 years, winning the AMRA championship in 1982.
He sold his midget in 1985 and went back to sprint cars racing running primarily with the Sprints On Dirt (SOD) organization.
Rapp, at the age of 62, showed the youngsters a thing or two as he claimed the 1990 SOD title along with two feature wins.
He won features in six decades, as he took two wins in South Africa in 2000.
Benny retired from driving in 2002 after flipping his winged car 6 times at 140mph due to a deflating tire. Age....73. Repaired the car and ran it once more to prove his staying power.

 

.....'KK500, Thanks for your contributions. While reading your post #10832, you posted a pic from the Tampa Winternationals. Anytime I come across pics from the old Tampa, I always seem to go back to YouTube to watch some of the old, great videos from that long-gone era. And the 1975 race that Rick Ferkel won, the headline mentions, Plant Field? (I never heard it referred to as such) 'Get back on here and you, yourself mention Plant Field talking about Benny Rapp. I've asked on here before what happened to Plant Field and everyone says just torn down/re-development. I've even gone there with GoogleEarth and not even a trace of a race track shows up. Botom line: What a great old race track and any pics from the old Tampa Winternationals are very welcome!

 

Have you been here? :
http://www.floridastockcars.com/gallery3/v/Plant+Field/?g2_page=1

 

Wally Dallenbach

 

Nice!

 

The old dirt track at the Tampa fairgrounds is the current site of University of Tampa's soccer field and running track. Several of the old fair buildings are still there on the south end of the track. I was just there a few weeks ago.

It was called Plant Field because it was orginally on the grounds of the Tampa Bay Hotel which Henry Plant built. Plant brought the railroad to Tampa and built a huge hotel. I graduated from Plant High School.

As a kid my brother, dad and I would walk from our house to the fair to go to the sprint races. I know the area pretty well.

Paul

 

What was the origin of the Hillegas sprinter that Mac Clingan raced at Greater Pittsburgh Speedway in the early 1960's? It's paint was just like the Pfrommer/Nyquist car. It carried the number 18! John S.

 

DANG! Did Al Consoli EVER take a bad photo??????????

 

Al is like Jimi Hendrix or Willie nelson, even his messups are perfection to the rest of us.

 

Looking forr an old sprint car nose. Want to build a "Sprint Street Car".

 

If a glass repro will do then try Speedway Motors. Josh could probably make a metal one for you.

 

I tend to agree with the Mac Miller Garage guy: Old parts should be reserved for restorers. Replicas should use newly created parts wherever possible. Metal noses, tails, & hoods are very difficult to find as it is.

 

post 10832 . Correct picture ?

 

Didn't see the original post but that's the right car and the context of the question fits.
THANK YOU.
There was a post by BSinSC #10550 (identifying cars in post#10554) that also mentions Benny Rapp. BS is researching I think. I do not understand how a post 10550 could i.d. cars on a LATER posted date???Typo??
Jim