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

Not sure if Smoke kept the induction system the same,but my Uncle Jerry drove the car at Indy in both 1973 and 1975.

 

Smokey claimed he made 1000 h.p. out of 209 c.i. with that setup.

 

At least 1000 in 1973 trim with unlimited boost.

 

Here's a great shot of Don thomas in 1967, at el centro, in a '63 hank henry.

in about 2002 i re-did or restored a bunch of aluminum panels, hood, chassis fixes and misc. stuff for Billy Wilkerson and Buzz

 

Any vintage cars at the Hoosier Hundred last night?

 

Again, This car was built by Don Thomas in 1963 64 from parts off my car . It was rebodied after the 66 CRA championship season by Don and Hank Henry. Don is back at Indy this week end.

 

Oh, Don said he was going to the Little 500 tonight, say hi. I am running the roadster at Tulare Sun nite with the modifieds at the SCRA show.

 

yep! I got to run one

 

sorry i haven't gone thru all 11,000 posts' (yet!) and there was probably allready talk of this car.
i'll try not sleep during class next time. thanks for the info. Frank

 

GARY LEE the announcer holds the single lap record for a WHEEL HOSE tractor.

It's a good, looooong story. If you ever see him, ask him about it.

 

Denny Zimmerman -I guess You Did see this!

http://www.ydr.com/ci_15189743

 

Great story, Thanks Al !

 

This is what the Thomas sprinter looked like in the late 90's before Wilkerson and Buzz restored it for Dick Woodland. Dick had a Hank Henry car that was distroyed alone the way, so Dick had it painted how he had his sprinter(second photo)

 

Probably from being involved in the promotion end of this business, I look for things that many others don't.

Watching today's Indy 500 on TV today, I couldn't help notice that no matter where I looked .. I could easily spot empty seats in the stands.

Could it be a sign of the times and the economy?
Partially no doubt.

But could it also be a result of the majority of the talented drivers having built ther skills on the soil of countries far away, having no history on the short tracks of the USA and therefore absolutely no fan base when the come into our open cockpit major league?
Me thinks so.
I also think that by the time that most of them do develop an adequate fan following, they are over the hill and on a downhill slide &/or about to rertire.

Could an additional factor also be that the car owners and drivers have had too much (self serving) input into the design of today's not so competitive cars?
Seems so to me.

The IRL had the formula .. or if you wish set of car rules .. that might have over come most all of this bach when Eddie Cheever was still driving (this old feeble mind can't time frame the actual year) and there were wheel to wheel, almost photo finish, tiny fraction of a second finishes and they were putting on REAL SHOWS .. but they let that all get away from them.
CART was still ?running? at that time.

There's a reason why Tony George is no longer involved in the management of this series, he so successfully guided. I think him not being involved was and is a loss.
There's a reason why Joie Chitwood, Jr. said after he left his senior management post with the series (??out of frustration??) ..I'll loosely quote from memory .. 'Being helplessly strapped to the hood of a speeding car and crashing head first through a flaming wall (in his family's Thrill Show) gave me (him) the best possible training to deal with the IRL people.'

I read where the car owners are in unanimously in favor of the UGLY proposed "Batmobile" race car, but that the fans are totally opposed to it. .. I guess WE'LL SEE!!!???
They say it will save them money (I've heard tat before), but let's say maybe so. I'm sure there are others ways than a BUTT UGLY race car.

CART went out of business, because it was controlled by the self serving car owners, etc. who only thought about themselves and winning at any cost .. and not about the fans &/or the "show" & it's entertainment value.
MORE on that at another time.

Also keep in mind that they broke away from USAC and founded CART .."because the cost of racing was too high" .. yet almost from day one the cost of CART racing .. that was governed by the self serving .. was in a constant almost uncontrolled upward spiiral.

 

will add some more pictures from carb day when I can but I want to share what just may be the most beautiful roadster I have ever seen!! This is second hand but I was told this is the only COMPLETE car, including the chassis that Sonny Meyer ever built.

 

That is a real work of art. Just the oil tank hold down strap is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship!

 

Isn't that the Kuzma car the Troy Ruttman Sr. drove at Indy in 1962 and the car that Troy Ruttman Jr., was killed in at Pocono.

 

Looks like it.

 

I had the pleasure of doing the lettering on this car for the late Billy Wilkerson when he restored it.

 

I was told by John Fugate a former employee of the IMS museum that Sonny Meye built the complete car and that Kuzma skinned it sorry I was in a hurry when posting the pictures shoud have been more specific

 

You should know by now that you better have all your ducks in a row before posting in this thread! JK.

On a side note-I received a 1963 program from DuQuoin that someone had written Roger and Evelyn McCluskey's Tuscon,AZ address in the back. I know Roger passed away in '93. Was Jean his second wife?

 

Evelyn was his previous wife and is Roger jr's mom she lives in Clermont IN.

 

Reply to Kens comments. The same people who controlled CART for so many years now control the IRL so why would anyone expect a different result. At least they are honest in there ads they show someone walking down the isle of an empty grandstand. If not for the tradition of the Indy 500 there would have been a lot more empty seats.

 

The ground level view on the TV didn't do it justice. I saw a internet feed, yesterday, from a helicopter and the bare spots in the grandstands were very apparent. In fact the tower terrace looked almost desolate. I suppose the economy has something to do with it, but after 30 years of the inmates running the asylum (while Bill France giggled all the way to the bank) sure hasn't helped. Don't know if it's fixable.

 

Nascar had a bunch of empty seats also.

 

True, but they also had Newman, Kahne, Stewart, Gordon, Yeley and Blaney.

 

Originally Posted by wynns #1
Does anyone know where Larry Pfitz can get a wheel [Novi] like the one on the LF in Al's photo at #11033?

Hey Bob, it was good to see you at NHMS. But next time get one of your beautiful cars on the trailer and join the fun! It's tempting to return the Lesovsky/Hunt #99 Champ Car to its original 1958 Hopkins/Amick #3 configuration -- it would sure look nice sitting next to my 1959 Hopkins Simoniz #16. HOWEVER, the Hunt car is original, ex Joe Hunt, down to the Dzus fasteners and I'm not going to "throw away" that late 1960s originality (including changes Hunt made to the car -- suspension mods, prototype Airheart brakes, etc.) and replace it with eBay parts to take it back to 1958. The car has an interesting history as #99, and leaving it configured as #99 does not detract one twit from its earlier history as #3. Having said that, is there any way I can have another shot at those wheels?!

 

Gotta be a sister car to Greg Smiths new aquisition??

 

I think the crappy economy has a huge effect on the empty seats. The blue collar race fans are unemployed. BTW, there is no more IRL.

 

Miller from Carb Day