Northern California is rich in oval track racing history. I have collected a lot of photos from the early days and thought it was time to share some. Thanks to Jack Asvitt and Mike Peters for loaning me photos to scan. As you can tell from the photos , these drivers were truly fearless!!!!!!
The pic above your comment shows a car with a rollbar! ha ha. I agree tough indeed though. Great photos! David
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=431579 I have what many believe is a survivor of the roaring roadster era and I am trying to find its history. The above thread has more info. I purchased the body in Phoenix which may have been purchased at LA Roadster swap meet. It was channeled with a reversed firewall. Body was tubed with doors closed and cowl filled. Any info appreciated. Thanks for starting this thread!
I would recommend "Roaring Roadsters" 1 & 2 by Don Radbrunch fron Tex Smith Hot Rod Library... very informative, the first volume is a result of years of reasearch and photos... the second includes a lot of reader input and additional photos in a State by State overview
Great shots from the fearless era. Wonder any of the cars or drivers survived. Thank you for sharing the photos.
I met this gentleman at a car show and he couldn't leave my car... he talked for hours about the memories it brought back and related one story after another... the next day he came back and said his helmit belonged to this car... I was overwelmed and told him that his name would be painted on the side as the driver in tribute of this moving act... He said the only things missing were the hook & the strap... I asked him to explain... he said "after ya shifted to second ya slipped the hook over the shift lever so the vibration didn't kick it out of gear" and the strap? "Oh, we always had a strap down low on the p***enger side... when ya saw that you were going to roll ya threw your body and grabbed the strap to keep you below the top of the body"... didn't really comment on the roll bar other than it was to high...
super cool thread. that photo of #23 rolling is spooky. exStreamliner, that is a GREAT story. he looks like one tough old buzzard.
gotta get all the stories you can from the old timers, or they will take all the history with them when they go.
Any info on this body would be appreciated... It will be at Detroit Autorama... I set the body on Es*** rails and added the earlier turtle deck... I'm guessing it ran a shortened truck bed (CRA required OEM body) or ran later with just the tank? but, it would have been 6" lower... more info on: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=431579
Author Don Radbruch stated in Roaring Roadsters that "Nobody knows how many track roadsters were built - a good guess would be at least a thousand. Perhaps two dozen exsist today. When the roadsters era was over some cars were stripped of the engines and left to rust away. Hundreds old roadsters were victom of cannibalism - racecars eat each other. Thus was the fate of many roadsters whose usable parts went into sprint cars - the roadster itself sort of disappeared. A sprint car ate my roadster. The engine, gearbox, rear end and a few other parts went into a sprinter. The frame was cut up to make various parts for the sprint car. The body was put out back and forgotten." This doesn't account for the number of cars wrecked or the bodies dicarded because of rule changes in the SCTA or CRA roadster cl***es after WWII. It was common to see early lake cars transition to dirt track and/or drag racing...
Great thread. I remember in the middle '50s driving past Oakland Speedway which was in San Leandro. On Sunday drives with my parents. I was about ten at the time. I could hear the roadsters roaring around the track. My father wasn't a race fan so we never got to go in. I often wondered if the T body that I bought at an estate sale in '79 by the old cemetery on Hesperion Blvd. In San Leandro had ever roared around that track. Thanks again for the pictures. See you at Elios this spring. Maybe I'll bring the roadster down. Gary
Great thread.. If you still want to see Roadsters and old sprints. I would say the Walt James Cl***ic in Calif is a must attend event. Years ago the roasters would race a mixed show with the Big Cars or what is now a Sprint car... As stated the Radbrush books are the best..Thank You.... Bobby....
Both of Don's books are great to read and get a history lesson. Don was a great guy, he raced my roadster one night at a vintage race on dirt about 12 years ago, he was in his 70's then.
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