Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post: The Novi Mobile Special at Bonneville Continue reading the Original Blog Post
Man that kidney belt he's wearing says it all. That car had to have been one hell of a powerful and bone jarring ride!
Marv Jenkins was a unsung part of the Ab Jenkins racing history. He was the relief driver for his father and had made many a laps in the Meteor. Watch "The Boys of Bonneville" for an excellent history of Ab and Marv.
Just because a TJJ Blog / H.A.M.B. thread can never have enough pics ... Speed King Ab Jenkins looks over the Novi equipped "Mobil Special" before going to Bonneville for speed-records attempts. Frank Kurtis added the stabilizing fin & wheel discs and built the streamlined ****pit housing/enclosure. Jenkins, then 66, decided he was not comfortable with the car, and his son Marvin drove it for its record attempts. image from the Marvin Jenkins Collection
The Kurtis-Kraft team certainly never failed to deliver stunning automotive genius that looked real good doing everything a Racer/Custom/Hotrod could be expected to do. Thanks @Jive-Bomber for sharing and to the others who added more to paint the picture.
One year at Speed week the they played "The Boys of Bonneville" in a casino's theater. Great movie paying homage to Marvin and Ab Jenkins. I especially loved the part about Ab setting multiple speed records in a 57 Pontiac.
Novi's my hometown, so I've always been a fan of the cars for obvious reasons. I've never seen one of them with the canopy though—way cool!
And they had the Meteor sitting outside after the movie, I was 'this close' to being able to sit inside, but the rain coming would not have been good for all the magnesium parts they just restored and they pushed it back into the trailer. A side note, The Land Speed Hall of Fame honored Ab a few years back, and his Grandson Ab III was there to receive and I was able to have a nice conversation with him about his family.
Great article and photos here of Bud Winfield, little brother of the more famous Ed, and the father of the Novi motor!
Thanks Bomber, always loved the mystique of the Novi. The Men that drove them were definitely fearless!
Is this the engine with supercharger at rear? 'Initially the Novi produced 450 HP from 167 cubic inches. By the middle '60s, when the engine powered Andy Granatelli's STP-Novi racers, power output had risen to a claimed 837 HP.'
Horsepower was the Novi's curse. The poor tires of the day shredding from straightaway wheel spin was it's undoing. A driver who couldn't learn to manage the power was doomed to wear out the tires too fast and spin the car on the bald tires.
It needed a governor...hence the saying getting rubber in a four gears and that's not a good thing...
The NOVI is a legend to me. A VERY powerful engine, doomed by one thing or another, never really came into it's own. It was an AWESOME ( in the true sense of the word ) creation, and is a never ending source of fascination ! MORE info and pictures please!
We listened to the Indy race every year on the radio when I was a kid. There was nothing like the sound of a Novi going down the straight. Didn't take us long to recognize that engine. Sure wish I could have heard it on the lakes.....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novi_engine https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/secrets-of-the-novi-v8/ http://www.worldofspeed.org/archive-blog-1/2018/1/12/developing-the-granatelli-race-cars
Gary Babineau in northern Indiana built that car for Brock Yates ( R I P ). Gary has also built a number of tribute Watson Indy roadsters.
Love the pic of the Novi beside the Railton/Mobile liner. I always ***umed it was HUGE.... It's nowhere near the size I imagined.
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