The FIAT Bat Cars are famous, I'd like to know who built this one, were is it today? Bob CORRECTION: the BAT cars were Alfa Romeos.
Thank you! I should have checked, glad you corrected me. Do they all have the same owner, seam to remember they were all displayed together. Bob
Sorry, I don't know who owns the B.A.T. cars. It seems a natural thing to display them together, though.
Blackhawk Auto Museum in Danville CA. had the BAT cars at one point. I saw them there many of times. https://blackhawkmuseum.org/cars/
The tow car above was known as 'the Beast'. In another case of "All Roads Lead to the HAMB", the only place I could find any information about it was a 2009 webpage that quoted the a post by @50Fraud here on the HAMB: "50Fraud of the H.A.M.B. board (focused on hot rods and customs) discovered two other views of the car in a 1951 Motor Trend article on custom cars. The car was called the "Beast", weighed 2,669 pounds and had a Jeep engine." Unfortunately, the link goes back to the old HAMB bulletin board software and the post is somewhere between page 8693 and page 14562 on the current software. I don't know of a good way to search that far back. 50Fraud, do you have a larger picture of the Motor Trend pic? (The page also included a link to a Yahoo group, but it is defunct) As best as I can gather, the car on the trailer is the Effyh F3 of Robert Grier, who was either heading to, or returning from, the Bridgehampton races of June 9, 1951. It was entered in the Hayground Cup, which was the first U.S. race for the 500cc F3. Unfortunately, Grier spun on the first lap and could not restart.
SR100, I think I've seen that car in an old popular mechanics or possibly popular science one of those type magazines anyway.
SR100, Thank you! Bob Grier, that is a name I've heard, same with Grand Prix Motors. Unique little car that needs its history tracked down, another quest, I need that. Bob
There's a clearer pic of the front of The Beast, here: http://216.243.142.32/blog/article/mystery_friday_foto_50_can_you_identify_these_two_vehicles
Thanks! I found that link too, the Formula 3 car is an Effyh and John Fitch drove it to a Championship. If his name rings a bell here is a link to his automotive biography, he was still racing at Bonneville in his mid 80's. Bob https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/videos/a3672/john-fitch-a-life-well-lived/
Well, the car on the trailer here is John Fitch's, not Grier's. Grier drove no. 17. I suspect it is Fitch's car in the street scene as well.
It's funny, for a site that hasn't been updated in six years, Google doesn't seem to have the site particularly well indexed. Searching with the car's nickname and its builder's name brings up a page that doesn't show up in a image search or with Kotchan's name. The original builder, Russel Case, only shows up on the VanderbiltCupRaces site. There was a bandleader and composer named Russ Case, but I can't find anything to connect him with the car. Here are some pics from that page, edited for clarity:
Art Arfons Number 11 Hello, When we were at Lions Dragstrip, we saw plenty of unusual engines, engine set ups and race cars. But, the topper was an aircraft powered race car built by Art Arfons. We had seen photos of it in the Drag News from the Midwest, but to have it in the pits of Lions was something else. Everything about the race car was super heavy duty and after seeing the actual size of the motor, we could understand why it was that way. Lions Dragstrip 1959 Jnaki Here is the latest Arfons Allison powered "SOUND" from 1959. Arfons sound 1959 But while researching Art Arfons history, I came across this form of unusual “Automotive Weirdness.” The actual, original Green Monster, with an Oldsmobile engine for power. It is a far cry from the Allison engine powered race car that showed up at Lions Dragstrip in 1959. As teenagers, we had never seen such a build, although we had read about some unusual builds from the Midwest area in our weekly Drag News papers.
Oh, if only they could fly . . . But I'll bet they wallowed on the road like Jethro's favorite Arkansas razorback.
My only recent pic, a popcorn wagon reputedly in Singapore. I wonder what the giant corn was made from? EDIT, I just noticed the rear view mirrors look into the windows.
Pontoon or Bathtub, because to be either it must first be inverted.... Did this come before or after Dali's Persistence of Memory? It's like the melting radiator.....
OH NO! I guess this happened on an icy Penn road in 2015. We never saw the news. I wonder if they ever fixed it? It slid in on a slick banked turn and hit a pole.
^^^^That mustard been terrifying? I wonder how long it took for the tow truck to ketchup to him? I don't relish explaining that one to the boss? One thing we can agree on, Nothin worse than havin yer weiner out of commission.
Really? I’ve seen lots of shortened 55-57 Chevies, but never before a shoe box Ford. And almost wish I hadn’t.
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