History Vintage "Cageless" Midget Picture Thread

Hi,

I am the current owner of this Walt Reiff car - it is residing in Australia and should be finished its restoration early next year.

 

I originally posted this on a new HAMB thread but was asked by several guys to re-post it here!

Since I often see threads on here regarding vintage race cars, I thought I would share some pictures and info about a vintage midget race car that was sold two weeks ago in South Bend, Indiana.
The car and a bunch of parts and lots of memorabilia and tools all belonged to a man named Tom Romanowski. He was one of 14 gentlemen who founded the local race track here called South Bend Motor Speedway. (Interesting sidenote, the Speedway is being sold today at 6:00 PM at a real estate auction). Tom was a machinist and race car enthusiast. He died 4 years ago at the age of 91. He had a garage on the west side of SB since 1950 and all the contents of the garage were untouched until the auction.
The car in the pictures had been built by Mr Romanowski and was also in the back corner of the garage. I was told by others at the auction that it had never been entirely completed and had never seen even one lap in its lifetime. It had a Ferguson 4 cylinder engine with a special head. I think it had a two-carb intake. The car sold for $8800 to an elderly gentleman from Illinois (I think) who seemed to know what he was buying and also seemed happy to get it.
Hope there are some who will enjoy these pictures!
<!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->

 

The restoration of the Frank Kater(ski) Hillegas-Buick continues at Marty Davis' shop in Racine Wisconsin. A HAMB member recently sent this photo of the car to me via PM but he didn't know when or where it was taken. I suspect it was shortly after the Jigger Sirois driven #77 won the 100 mile midget race held in 1968 at the Milwaukee Mile.

The car raced hard for another 12 years after its big victory and like many old war horses was beat on, cut up, and modified along the way. The plan is to put it back into the 1968 trim. Any help on identifying the location and date of this photo or in the form of other photos/stories would be appreciated.

Chuck Schultz
Winfield, Illinois
PR guy for #50 Ernie Fredrickson roadster restoration project

 

All hail the power of the HAMB!
I got a phone call from a former Kater stooge taking me to task [good naturedly] for spreading misinformation about the Kater Buick. I promised to promptly correct my huge error!

The 100 mile race was in 1965 not 1968! The photo was taken after the race in the south end of the Milwaukee Mile pits. That is the old Miller beer pavilon in the background.

Among the interesting details he schooled me on:
1. The race was during the second week of the State Fair on the Saturday before the famous Indy car show where AJ Foyt put his dirt car on the pole.
2. The Kater car was seriously wrecked at Sun Prairie the week before with Mel Cornett driving.
3. Frank spent much of the week chasing parts for the Hillegas chassis down in Indiana while the guys in the photo fixed the damage.
4. The finned oil cooler in the photo was specially built by Frank's neighbor Bob Howard just for the 100 mile race.

Thanks Jim!

Chuck Schultz
Winfield Illinois
PR guy for #50 Fredrickson roadster restoration team

 

Chuck, I'm working on finding Jigger for you unless you have already talked to him. Denny Z

 

That would be great Denny. Restoring these "significant" local cars is giving us an opportunity to preserve some of our history and to recall some truly great guys. Today's caller and I chatted about our friend Frank Kater, my old Hamburger-Chevy II [and its builder Otto Hamburger], Ron Pfile, Jack Safro, Fred Tomsche, and some other local heroes. Too many have very little written record. They were racers, not PR guys.

Are you driving an Ellis-Quad 4 at Whip City? It may be a former championship winning car from the Illini Racing Series sportsman club. As our dearly missed PR guy Tom Arthur used to remind us "We make history every time we fire them up."

Chuck Schultz
Winfield, Illinois

 

THANKS Stan.

 

Jigger Lives in Williamsburg Va now.

 

Off topic .. Not Cageless .. But INTERESTING​

On eBay

KEN BRENN'S REAR ENGINE ARDC MIDGET OFFY RACE CAR

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/REAR-ENGINE-ARDC-MIDGET-OFFY-OFFENHAUSER-RACE-CAR-/260678472494?pt=Race_Cars_Not_Street_Legal_&hash=item3cb1a5d32e

Item number: 260678472494

There are 24 pictures of this car on eBay.
I've attached only a couple here.

Their's a very interesting background on this car posted there too.

 

==================\

With Denny Zimmerman's permission
~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken, That rear engine car jogged my memory.....Here's a little history...... I was at Old Bridge NJ one day midweek maybe in 1962 or 1963?? We were there testing tires (street tires in street cars) rented from Avis, I believe it was me Flemke, Charland and Red Foote (the "Bandits") there may have been one of the Jersey guys too like Gil Hearn or Elton Hildreth, can't remember. Bob Saul had put together this test for either Firestone or Goodyear (again I can't remember which tire company) and hired us to drive the cars. Here's the strange part, all of the testing was done going around the race track in the wrong direction, all right turns I never knew why we just did what they wanted. At that point I had a lot of laps around Old Bridge so I knew the track like the back of my hand but guess what going the wrong way it was a completly different track.

Anyway that same day Roger Penske was there with Mark Donohue they were testing a rear engine midget. I'm wondering if it was the same car, there was no wing on it but race cars didn't have wings back then.

By the way even though I think each of us had a spin out or two along the way we didn't put any dents in the cars.. amazing Denny Z.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm going to GUESS here and say that probably wasn't the car, but rather it was the first rear engine car that Brenn had .. a Cooper cut down to midget specs (Offy powered) that was known as "The Pusher"?

If memory serves me right, it was also before Donahue had an alliance with Penske and that he MIGHT have been with Brenn?(both GUESSES on my part)

I also THINK that this was when Donahue was still driving as an amature (couldn't accept pay) with the SCCA?

I had always SUPPOSED that Donahue just jumped into this car .. sight unseen .. at the Lime Rock (CT) road course and did a superb job .... BUT knowing how clever Brenn was & is it would fit that he had Donahue practice (some what secretly) in the car before.

Some time back Rootie Kazoootie posted a picture of "the Pusher" with a young Mark Donahue behind the wheel, here on the HAMB. Here it is again.

NOTE ..
I still wonder what ever became of the chassis & body of "The Pusher"?
I know where it's engine went & is.

 

You know that picture does look like the car I remember, maybe it was Brenn's. If I see Ken Brenn Nov 7th I will ask him. Denny Z

 

HELP PLEASE

I recently received a message from Marie (Carpenter) Quinn asking for info about and pictures from her Dad's career. Her Dad was the late KING CARPENTER who raced both with the ARDC and the NEMA midget organizations here in the east.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Anything & everything that is either posted here or that I receive in a PM (Private Message) or by eMail .. ken_schou@verizon.net .. I'll forward to her.

THANKS IN ADVANCE.

 

1947 Kurtis Kraft Midget
PICTURES & INFO WANTED

My car was run until 1992 by Curt Dinsmore in the Dayton, OH area.

I am restoring it to the Seamans sponsorship era of the late 60's.

 

A article on the Pusher from OW mag. 5/93:

 

Couple of shots from 63.

 

Great article Rootie, Thanks, Denny Z

 

WOW!!! THANKS Rootie.

 

THANKS AGAIN Rootie.
I'm sure his daughter will appreciate these.

 

Where is his daughter living? I often wonder about the whereabouts of all our favorite drivers' offspring.

 

Hi Rootie,
I am currently restoring the #34 Smith Offy in your photo and previously did the Ohara checkerboard twin fire Ford that he successfully drove. I think it is important that family members know about the cars that were a big part of their lives. I will help any way I can.
Joe

 

Chuck, I asked Skip and he said the Quad4 chassis was built by Cook. Denny Z

 

Here's another one...

 

When the Johnny Thomson MacLeod car was painted white, what was the second color? Red? Maroon? Anybody have a color picture? Thanks.

 

She's living in Westfield, Mass.

 

THANKS Joe. I'll let her know.

 

this thread is too quiet! How about Bill Randall in the Bennett Kurtis-Offy? I'm going back Micro-Sprint racing next year and I keep thinking it would be so cool to have my car look like the old Kurtis Kraft cars. Some of the modern bodies are downright fugly!

 

I AGREE .... "Some of the modern bodies are downright fugly!"

I think some of the best looking open cockpit race cars were the post WWII Kurtis Krafts, some of those made by Hilligas, the Auto Research cars of Don Edmunds.

 

Can anyone here help with or add to a list of cars campaigned by KING CARPENTER?

I have in my mind ....

The (Fred) O'Hara Checkerboard Cross Fire V8-60

The Vitucci (Bros.) Offy

The (Milt) Smith Offy

The (Mike) Sheehan Offy
​

 

Al Rymshas chekerboard #25 which I own. That is the car that I spread Crocky Wrights ashes with.

 

I will put my two cents in here. I'm not a fan of wings on midgets or sprint cars. I am a fan of roll cages of course, having lost a few friends before cages were around. The open cockpit cars of today don't have the sleek streamlined look of the old cars. Cars of today look like someone put wheels on the box the old cars came in. There is no way today's cars can be called "Open Cockpit". The fans should be able to see the driver working in the cockpit. With the webbing around the helmet and the sideboards around the arms the driver is hidden in the cockpit. I know your gonna say those things make it safer but no matter what you build into the car it will never be 100% safe, if your worried about that maybe you shouldn't get in the car in the first place. I'm in favor of keeping the roll cage but get rid of the other stuff so the fans in the grandstand can see the driver working the wheel. I know I know but that's just my 2 cents. Denny Z