History Auto racing 1894-1942

Ehdubya, Schillo is one of those drivers that gets you scratching your head. I believe he was a Chicago Mercer dealer and if my memory serves me he drove in a dealer's race or two( preliminary races for amateurs to warm up the crowd with local talent). Then all of a sudden he found himself with some decent equipment with a chance to run the big boys(albeit for only a very limited schedule). The picture you attached may be one of his 2nd tier racers he used in the preliminary races at Elgin ( a guess). I believe I have another picture of him in a more standard (non OHC) car at Elgin. From what I can gather he ran a Mercer in the War Derby that was a sister to Thomas' car (at least from the stats) although I cannot swear to that as I do not have a picture at hand. Somewhere I have a picture of Haines' car he ran which also looked to be one of the Factory OHC cars so Mercer may have let the local talent give the OHC cars a try. He actually did not do too bad finishing in 12th just behind DePalma (Thomas the team driver finished 22nd and Haines ran 5th-pretty good).

As to Pullen's 1914 car that did not make the field is the car below. It was a left drive 298 Delling design that was close to the new 1915 stock car-not very sophisticated and it failed to show any real speed. After Mercer failed with their new OHC designs in 1915 they pulled out this same #22 car for Indy and it once again could not get up to speed. Sad day for the Mercer factory at Indy as it was their last day-four cars and not one to ever make the show again.

As to Milton's car that is a left drive car with a 450 Wisconsin motor not a Mercer motor. I know nothing of the car and I have not spent really any time tracking down these state fair type racers. They are probably really interesting but good luck in trying to figure out their DNA. I have enough trouble with the big boys to go toiling in the 2nd tier ranks.-Jim

 

Willy, Do you have a copy of the Readville history book? I got a copy about 5-6 years ago when I was trying to trace the history of a Henderson 4 powered car from the Boston area.

 

Not yet!, Ive read quite a few excerpts off the web, but I will be getting a copy soon (maybe for christmas!)

 

Thanks for thinking of me and I would love to come across any information on the Packards racing in South America. The 1916 (1915) Packard that I helped document that raced in South America was a Twin Six (V12) that allegedly was delivered to South America in 1920. A scholar from Uruguay (a Museum there) by the name of Alvaro Casal Tatlock ( a very nice guy and seemed to be very knowledgeable) has researched Packard racers in South America and has come up with some interesting information. I seem to remember the car you speak about but I know little of the car. I have one or two pictures in the local press be it Argentina or Paraguay of Packards but none that ring any bells. I am still looking for a picture that matches the car below. The picture below is yours truly sitting in the car just after it was redeposited back on American soil. It has since been fully restored and has been a whole bunch of fun to show and run around the roads.

Let me know if you ever run across any more stuff on Packard 12s in South America. Thanks for your posts. Great stuff thanks- Jim

 

one of the best threads ever

 

Absolutely beautiful automobile.

Vintageride

 

1905 Circuit Des Ardennes ...... Hubert Le Blon, Panhard.....

 

1906 Blackpool Trials..... Guinness in the V-8 Darracq....

 

Rene De Knyff:

 

See page 33 of this thread. 1900 Panhard.

 

There a several youtube videos of this car after its reconstruction - including its appearance at Shelsey Walsh this year.

 

"The Hamamatsu branch of Art Shokai around 1935. The car on the left is “The Hamamatsu” and standing beside it with sunglasses is Mr. Honda. Fifteenth from the left is his younger brother, Benjiro Honda. Visible on the far right is a lifting-type automobile repair stand, which was rare then. This was another of Hondas inventions."



http://rider-and-road.com/Makers/honda_motor_company_ltd.htm

"A photograph dating from about 1935 shows the Hamamatsu works and Art Shokai Hamamatsu Branch Fire Engine, fitted with a heavy-duty water pump. The company also made dump trucks, and converted buses so that they could carry larger numbers of passengers. At the right of the photograph (shown on the previous page) there is a lift-type automobile repair stand, another of Honda’s inventions. Mr. Honda had said that “A human being should not have to do his work crawling around underneath a car” and made the stand himself. The low vehicle at the left of the photo is the “Hamamatsu” racing car and the figure to its right, wearing sun glasses and with a small mustache, is Mr. Honda.

By this time the staff of the Hamamatsu Branch, only one person when it was founded, had grown to more than thirty. Honda’s wife Sachi, whom he had just married in October of that year, joined in running the business, making meals for the live-in staff as well as helping with the accounts.

<!-- MSComment="autothumbnail" xthumbnail-orig-image="file:///C:/Websites/cmc/Images/honda_3.png" -->On June 7, 1936, Soichiro Honda had an accident at the wheel of the &#8220;Hamamatsu&#8221; in the opening race at the Tamagawa Speedway, Japan&#8217;s first racetrack, when he could not avoid hitting another car that was making its way back onto the track after a pit stop. Mr. Honda&#8217;s car did a roll and he was thrown clear he was not seriously hurt but his younger brother and mechanic Benjiro was badly injured, fracturing his spine. Undaunted, Mr. Honda took part in just one more race in October of the same year.

According to Mr. Honda, &#8220;When my wife cried and begged me to stop I had to give it up&#8221;, but she said that the true story was slightly different &#8220;Did he stop because of something I said? I think it was a lecture from his father that made up his mind!&#8221;

Times were changing as Japan entered the dark, militaristic chapter of its history. War with China broke out in 1937. During the so-called &#8220;national emergency&#8221;, pastimes like racing were out of the question, and motorsports died out in Japan for a time."

 

Car was a static display at Shelsley in 2005


.

.

 

Louis Coatalin --





Humber -- London to Coventry -- 29 April 1905,

Before:



After:



Interesting: http://img.prewarcar.com/prewar/cars/Humber_1905_coatalen_500RB.jpg

http://www.prewarcar.com/magazine/u...stery-update-ii-who-was-mr-perrot-003318.html


Sunbeam "Nautilus" -


Louis Coatalen at Brooklands - 1910

http://classicukcars.com/a-z/sunbeam/




Coatalen and Toodles2

http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/Museum/Transport/Cars/Sunbeam/Coatalen.htm

 

A rather grainy postcard but still a good one David.

The earlier Arrol-Johnston cars had 2 cylinder, 4 piston engines similar to the Gobron Brille. The company would revert to a conventional layout engine of 4 cylinders in 1904 or '05 i think.

 

"Kenelm Lee Guinness in action during the 1914 Isle of Man T.T."

Your choice, a pint of Guinness or some KLG spark plugs? K L Guinness..

http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/Museum/Transport/Cars/Sunbeam/Coatalen.htm

 

yup...he is also saying hello to a freind on the side of the road.

 

http://www.vscc.co.uk/vsccweb/default.jsp
Wish we had a group like this in the States
the closest I've seen is the Miller Meet @ Milw

 

http://www.vscca.org/



.
.

 

It would be wonderful to be a member of both clubs but the VSCC of UK looks like alot more fun and according to it's history, it was formed by a group of young men as a "club for the not so rich". I don't know what these gentlemen define as rich but slinging a priceless Bugatti around like this makes me think otherwise. I guess things have changed since 1934.

 

Trials of this type are also run in the South Island of New Zealand. There are three events held each year; near Christchurch, near Nelson and near Blenheim. Generally an Austin 7-based vehicle has been the thing to have but locally there is a Ford 10-based special built to look like a Dellow from the 1950s which has proven to be a winner.

 

best thread on here, it's taken me a week to go through the first 100 pages. I keep stopping to do research on some of the cars. the old auto unions are my absolute favorites, thanks to everyone for sharing.

 

See above.

 

If you can't afford to break it...........Don't race it.....


Im glad they can otherwise we wouldn't get the chance to see such fine cars.......

Roll on the summer .........

.
.

 

Yes, absolutely.