As discussed in the Harper Dry Lake 1941 thread I have pictures of my dad's '27 T roadster being built in 1948. History - HARPER DRY LAKE 1941 | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com) It took me some time to do the dust removal to the images that were printed in a less than clean darkroom in 1948 and then get the pics re-sized down so they are pos-table here. These are progress pics. When the car was initially being built it appears to have had a different engine in it than the one that was in it when it was wrecked. The construction pics also show it with a beam front axle. In the pics after the wreck, it appears to have had a tubular axle installed. This car had a relatively short life of 1-year or less. Most hot rods are a work in progress, evolving quickly and never truly finished, so that may explain some of the differences in the later photos. There are some docs attached that give a longer explanation of who built the car and where it was built. The post-crash photos will post as soon as I get 'em cleaned up and reduced. Enjoy
Additional pics. The Fisher-Jackson Engineering shop was a beehive of activity in 1948. They were even constructing a class E Hydroplane.
Man that's Class...The Gold of The Dry Lakes, Thanks 408...Thank your Dad......Thank him for his Service...Those were incredibly awesome...Photographer had a great handle on capturing the flavour...I call these Thread Hamb Gold paging.... @anthony myrick @Jimmy B, @studebaker Joe, @sixball @Sancho will like this...Anthony will drive it...why not eh...Belly panned...120mph is a helluva way to see the dry lakes in an Auburn Nosed Lakes Roadster...Driven in driven out...Sealed beams and bias plys...25 cent gas
You are welcome & thankyou. The Paratrooper is Bob Jackson,'44 or '45, one of the co-founders of Fisher-Jackson Engineering where the car was built in San Diego. My dad Was in the infantry, Pacific theater, New Guinea, Flamethrower Mechanic. I'll get the other pics up as soon as I can finish cleaning up the trash on those images. It takes hours.
Paging @Moriarity could you help resize these they are worthy of that for seeing the way it was in 40 to 46/7...thanks from all of us...
It is...Little Prestige for the old A Bone...and a rolled Belly Pan Love the grounds dotted with other Hotrod Tin...
A lot of cool going on. The frame with radiused corners. The fabricated steering arm. The rear frame kick up steering link set up Shackle angles look good lots to soak in
...The Harley Chariot...Those Tires up front...I wonder how they performed over the implement tires...good drag tire how about these over Firestone Champion Zig Zags...on the paved corners? Love the background...Looks like a a crest on the door I wonder what that was Highway patrol?
Great pictures, it's really rare to have so many in-progress pictures of a build like this from this era. Photography was still fairly expensive compared to today's unlimited digital pictures, or even the Polaroid/one hour photo era of 30-40 years ago. Makes sets of photos like this really special.
120mph...Fab-work and styling are a nod to greatness it was shop built I suspect to Ed's vision with collaboration...well profiled Hotrod...a true one off...many were... ...This is out and about...Liven the Dream...How many miles to the Dry lakes @PMD406 did your dad drive? Credit to Photographer, Owner
Stogy, It was probably close to a 200mile drive to get there. They drove up there in the summer heat. No A/C or other creature comforts. The sound of the engine, tires on the road, the rattles and the wind. Mechanical bliss. Google Earth I've made the drive a few times to El Mirage and Harper is further North than that, closer to Edwards Airforce Base / Muroc area of the desert. As for the faded logo on the door of the car it might be the Union Pacific Railroad shield. In San Diego at that time the only two rail lines were Santa Fe and San Diego Arizona Eastern. I don't know where the car was sourced from. But someone could've bought the car at a surplus sales auction and sold it in San Diego. Hard to tell and that shield shape was popular with a lot of businesses and agencies in that era. And yes it's an Auburn grille. Nice that you guys blew the pics up but all the thumbnail info that describes what's in each pic went away. That info gives names to the faces and saves asking. Is that information still accessible? I noticed if you right click the image and select "save as" all the file info appears. Cool I also have some pics from Balboa Stadium Midget Races & Carrel Speedway that I'm working on getting uploaded.
Great photos of a very cleverly engineered car Your pops must have had a lot of fun with it Thanks for sharing
Funny I was thinking Union Pacific too...Can we call you Ed? The longest trip I did one way in my Hotod was 230 some odd miles...I loved it but not particularly comfortable, but Hotrods aren't built for that generally...lots of breaks...would I do it again...absolutely...I really like it's lines...I'm hoping Dad had other Hotrods along the way or took pics of his buddies rides...I'm not alone in truly enjoying your sharing of this priceless history...
If you drive your racer to the track, you hear every little noise it makes on the way home. "What was that? No seriously! What the **** was that? LOL "I'm hoping Dad had other Hotrods along the way" No that was pretty much it for the traditional hot rod types.. We did have a 1950 V-8 Olds 4 door up until 1966 that he really liked. The folks sold it to some guy for $120 after they bought a 1963 Pontiac Bonneville (nice car) that I eventually ended up with in my late teens. The family also had a 59 Chevy BelAir 6cyl coupe that got used a lot. It was a pack mule. His last car was a 2005 Crown Vic sedan they bought new with all the options. Basically, a luxury version of a police interceptor. That was a very nice car. We sold it last year when he elected to quit driving. Car only had 42K on the clock. I have a few more pics in the archive to go through. If there are any of interest I'll post them
Thanks Ed, yes your father and his friend were extremely fortunate that day...We are so very grateful for your sharing these two Lakes Roadsters of your father's and Jim's including the stories behind his moments around them...and look forward to further related material should you find any...you have done a fantastic job painting that picture here for us...truly priceless and again thank your father for his part in all of this...
Stogy, While we were theorizing about the faded shield symbol on the driver's side door possibly belonging to the U.P. Railroad. I remembered there was/still is an ice company here in San Diego called "Union Ice" they used the same shield symbol for many years. and still have locations all over the state. Could be that one. Not out of the realm anyways. too.
"what was the basic frame?" Steel? LOL No seriously, as was told to me by my dad, they used Chevrolet frame rails for part of it. Not sure of the year of the frame rails they selected (1933 Chevy?). The PDF document in the first Photo post gives more details about the build. The car was built, wrecked and gone 4 years before I was born and I am by no means an expert on the car and how its parts were sourced back then.
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