History Help identify the car in my Grandfather's picture?

My grandpa is in the center of this old image. I remember slightly as a kid him telling me this was an experimental front wheel drive car being developed though I'm not certain. He was a Ford mechanic his entire life. Can anyone help my family identify this car?

 

NICE! That is a front wheel drive Midget, the center section is a Modet T Ford item. There were plans to build these cars in Popular Mechanics magazine, I just sold one a few months ago. Bob

 

Thanks! If I find some more G-pa picks, I'll post them!

 

I'm not familiar with the "Midget" though....

 

4 minutes.

Got to be a record.

 

That looks like some great workmanship in the chassis. 37Kid knows his open wheel racers pretty well.

 

If only you could go back in time and tell him to patent all of his designs.......

 

Where is the engine, is that it lying on the floor in front of the chassis? electric?

 

4 minutes!

That's what I was thinking....

 

It's right there in front of his G-pa, turned around backwards.

 

Nice work 37 Kid.
Neat chassis. Love the knockoff wheels.

 

T-Head may post a photo of a finished car that looks a lot like this one. Someone here on the HAMB has an Avatar with one of these FWD Midgets as well. When I get back from todays Flea Market I'll post more info on these cars. Bob

 

It blended into his apron...

 

I'll take the 1936 Dodge Brothers in the background....

 

Anyone else notice how shiny the ceiling is? Looks like somebody polished it.

 

The shop looks brand new. Not only is the ceiling shiny, there are hardly any grease spots on the floor and no posters or calendars on the wall. This must be what a high end race car shop looked like in 1936.

 

I'll get good scans made tomorrow, but these are best i can do for noe. June 1937 issue of Modern Mechanix had a feature on building the "Arlen Special" a FWD Midget.

 

Interesting photo, interesting car. And I'm thinking your grandfather would have been an interesting fellow to know. Hope you don't mind my tweaking the photo a little bit. I think it brought out some more details in some areas.

 

Complete article here
http://packmag.net/index.php?option...page=inline&catid=5&id=6&limit=1&limitstart=0

 

Thanks Carl! What a nice quality reprint. Bob

 

Thanks so much for everyone's help, my Mom was thrilled!

Thanks for touching that photo up, that was just a cell phone pic of the pic but still looks better than the original! Wish I could have learned more stuff from him, he was also a very talented muzzleloader builder. I'll look for more photos and try to scan them for you all.

 

...................................Sure does look like it.

 

It appears there's a mezzanine or elevated walk & the guns hang above it.

That is a clean shop alright.

 

neat and muzzleloaders were not as easy to build then as they are now you had to be good with wood and metal your grandfather would have been a interesting man to talk too that's for sure

 

Those are some strange looking hubs too... wondering what kind of rim/tire combo went on those.

 

Were was the original photo taken, was the car finished, and did it ever race? The wire wheels are unique one off types i'm sure and would help ID the car in any race track photos that may turn up. GREAT POST! Bob

 

Just spotted that you were from Ft Wayne. Who was your grandfather, or do you know the names of the other men in the picture? I wondered if they might have been locally known racers.

If you can actually scan this picture repost it here. The quality should be even better if scanned.

 

Yeah, very tidy. You can see they were prideful "attention to detail" type race car builders. Look at all the cans on the wall shelf. All neatly lined up with most every label faced out square.
Love the novel and effective "build table"; saw horses with pipe to pick up the rims (just don't let it roll off).
Serious anvil behind the rr wheel...

 

<---now having attack of anvil envy.

 

They are muskets. I'm going to have to ask my uncle about them, but they're likely his. Actually looks like one that I inherited. I'll post a pic of it.

I'm not too sure, though I'll try to find out from my uncles. Like I said I was told about this picture when I was around 10 and unfortunately don't really recall. I'll try to find more photos of it.

I'll scan the photo. His name was Ed Gilbert, from Churubusco, IN. I don't know the other men in the picture, my uncle may though or they may be written on the back of the photo. I didn't expect the amount of questions from this photo so I'll try to dig deeper and get some more information.

He was a ford mechanic all his life and had a passion for stock Model T & A Fords. He didn't hot rod his cars but he attempted to work for a crew of the Indianapolis 500 but I think family obligations came first. Here's a pic of him with one of the many he had.