History Vintage "Cageless" Midget Picture Thread

VW engine on display at EMMR.

 

My dad, Art Naprstek at 14 years old along with his brother and friend in 1928 with a model T that they raced around the fields in River Edge, NJ and ten years later in 1938 with a midget on the boards at Nutley Velodrome, Nutley, NJ.
My apologies for the poor quality second generation photos.
Joel

 

Excellent!

 

Moving on to Sprint Cars at EMMR Museum.

 

I enjoy seeing the pictures of the museum, but not in both threads. Can we try to keep just "cageless midgets" in the "cageless midget" thread?

 

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This is a heads up for potential participants and spectators for the two large upcoming Vintage race Car Meets in Iowa the next two weekends.

September 9th and 10th at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds in Webster City Iowa. Rain date Sunday the 11th.

Friday evening, multiple hot laps sessions by class. Saturday evening, heats and features for all classes.

September 16th - 18th Southern Iowa Fairgrounds Speedway, Oskaloosa, Iowa

Friday afternoon, Test and Tune, one car on track at a time, 5 laps, multiple turns available. Saturday evening, heats and features, all classes. Sunday afternoon, heats and features, all classes.

These are both well attended events that wrap up the season in this neck of the woods. Swapping is encouraged at both events. PM me for more info.

 

From The Brian Darby Collection - down under
http://aussieroadracing.homestead.com/Page2.html

"With my road racing background I thought I'd be restoring and racing my favorite Formula Junior, then I bought this midget in a box trailer of junk and restored it. There's nothing like being sideways in the dirt at 60mph" It was unique with a Falcon 6 engine." "After 14 years of heavy speedway vintage action I sold it back to a Queensland enthusiast." Brian Darby


Club Day at the big 1/2 mile track at Bankstown City Raceway

 

It drives me nuts to see 60 yr old cars being raced. I understand it's your money and your car and you can do what you want with it. However, the cars(and engines) are rare and it's just plain unsafe. How many drivers were lost in accidents not involving another car? If you old guys want to "do it in the dirt" can't you have a replica built? With a cage for that matter?

 

Machinery deteriorates sitting in museums and regular exercise, IMHO, enhances our appreciation of it. I attended the Miller Meet this past June and thought all the cars -real and replicas-were treated respectfully.
If there are no opportunities to run the cars interest in them fades and their financial value declines. They become large dust collectors.
As far as damage is concerned, if a man made it a man can fix it. Rumor has it PJ blew up the Marmon Wasp at Indy this year. They are fixing it and will learn plenty about its history in the process.
I like replicas and recreations IF they are clearly disclosed as such and are well done. Some of the compromises I have seen were, again in my opinion, unnecessary and greatly reduce the visual effect of the end product. I don't mind self starters, transmissions or even modern engines but can't we at least make them look "right" with appropriate number of exhaust pipes and suspension designs.
As far as people getting hurt vintage racing, every activity has risk. Guys break legs on golf courses every day. Several people have died during charity foot races. The vintage events I have attended were well run and the drivers behave responsibly.

 

You can't be serious. It drives me nuts to to see them not being "excercised".

At the rate things are going, you'll get your wish. Very few pre-war cars being run anymore and many fewer early post-war.

Us old guys that give a care are few and far between and the younger generation could care less.

As I've said before, it's the Aussie's and the Kiwi's that embrace our racing (midget) history.

 

"Bunch of old curmudgeons! But I still appreciate ya! ;-) " CTtoPA recently commented.
lol

Seriously, you are correct about safety concerns and I won't get on the track with someone who wants to 'race' - spirited exhibition is the order of the day for vintage oval racing.
Gearguy's post sums it up. I was at Milw also:

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I'm not against taking them out on pavement tracks and giving them a little gas. I'm talking about hauling them in a corner on a dirt track and kicking them sideways. I love watching the cars in motion, but I don't care to see someone get on their head. Btw-I'll be 28 Friday and I absolutely love the vintage open wheel cars.

 

I agree with gearguy.

A day at Latimore with those sprint cars and drivers was something I will always remember.
Might look in the photos that they were racing,but they weren`t. They know the risks,and were driving briskly but not anywhere near 10/10ths.

If the owner and driver want to run them,more power to them to do so. If they just want to display them,that is fine,too. I sure enjoy looking and shooting photos on display,although in action is my favorite!

They really DO race multi-million dollar vintage Ferrraris Astons Ford GTs etc at Goodwood,and yeah,sometimes they bend one up.

 

Your cool by me CT!

When I was your age I was an azzhole

Hey, in 40 years you'll be able to qulaify to drive one of those old spindly racecars with 4inch tires.

 

Didn't one of the Scarabs get dumped at Laguna Seca last year? Check that out on the dollar meter.

 

Exactly.

I was one of those guys at Latimore only in a midget, going as fast as I was comfortable.

Pavement??? We all know what that's for.

 

Have decent tires on the cars, have the spindles and steering parts magnafluxed, zyglo the centers of the wheels, run a bladder. Go out on dirt or asphalt and have as much fun as your brave meter says you can. That is why these cars are restored.

Give, say, Tony Stewart the opportunity to hop in the Shloeder cycle car and go fast on dirt. He would be in it in a moment. Give me that chance and my fast will not be as fast as Stewie.

Doc

 

In 21 years of running Vintage meets mostly in the Midwest I have seen two fatalities. One was caused by heart attack and one by someone obviously driving faster than he was comfortable.

The majority of "incidences" have been wheels coming off for which there is no excuse. People trying to tighten center lock wing nuts on offset wheels with a hammer (often an improper hammer as well) need to smarten up and build/buy a wheel knocker.

V8-60's especially, and all other cars, need to have proper radiator hose fittings with a raised rib to prevent hoses blowing off and scalding the driver, usually associated with an inadequate firewall or engine plate.

I also recall a broken weld on a steering shaft, an absolute no-no in my book, resulting in a slow collision with an infield implement tire with resulting easy roll over and dislocated shoulder.

Two easy rollovers up onto the berm at Knoxville from getting too low between 3 and 4 and into some loose stuff with resultant shoulder and back injury.

I do recall several on track incidents from over agressive driving resulting in losing it into the fence from getting too high and several other contacts between cars.

Lately, due to low car counts of certain classes, there has been consolidation of classes to make up a heat resulting in a wide speed disparency between cars. Extreme caution and patience is called for in these cases

Using caution and knowing your limits, plus proper car building procedures and maintenance, grossly lessens chance of incidents.

And let's not forget that the flagman is in charge of the event. He needs to be given the power, and have the judgement (balls) to control all on track activity. And importantly, if a club is putting on the event, the flagman should already be disliked by everyone in the club, or must not be a member.

 

Buildy,I have to agree with you,The smiles on Josh,Roy and Van's face said alot about being able to run faster than they have in the midwest,And they can't wait to come back. Van made a remark about having the most fun he's had in along time behind the wheel and to watch him reach for a rollcage to help him get out with no cage was pretty funny. I've been to a couple of the hot rod shows there and those guys were running faster with their rods on a wet and muddy track.I found a couple of shots of a few of the vintage road race guys that got a little excited and carried away.Be careful,Be safe,have a good time and put on a good show for the fans that love these old and historical cars....Rich

 

Wholley nelly!! That is some $$$ bent up there in the first pic

Possibly caused by the 71 car which is facing the wrong way

send him the repair bill

 

I have wondered for a long time about where three important midgets might be.

First is the Alexander Offy. This car was carried all over the Midwest in the early 70s by Doug Caruthers and his boys as a backup for them. This was a tube frame car, possibly a Kurtis which had cross springs front and rear. I was stooging for Jimmy when something broke in his Sesco and he ran this car. As I recall, he was competitive to the newer stuff.

Second is Tommy Sellberg's Offy. This was a sister to the Jimmy Davies "Little Car". It was painted barn red, looked like a piece of crap and ran up front most of the time. I often stooged for Tommy and knew how well this car ran.

Third is the Drake that Bill Vukovich made his name driving on the West Coast short tracks. I think it was owned by Eli Vukovich, but I am not sure. I never saw it run, only saw Bill once, but I always have dreamed of this car.

Doc

 

DocF,

I believe the Vuky Drake still exists. It was featured in Circle track Magazine in the 80s,and I think the car recently was up for sale. I don`t know who owns it now.