Howdy HAMBers! I recently acquired the car pictured. Known as the Johnny Wright Special, it was built in SoCal somewhere around '54/55. The body started out on a Maserati based sportscar, it was shortened and mated to a VERY nicely built CAE chassis with flathead power. That gaveway to a blown 283 & then later a bored & stroked SBC at 330CI unblown built by Jim Nelson. The car was used for shows, hill climbs, drag racing (117mph in the 1/4 in 1959) and 143 at El Mirage in 1960. There are plenty of trophies & dash plaques from all of these events. It was also claimed to have topped 150 at Bonneville but I have no documentation to support that. It was also featured in Hotrod mag in August 1960. There are also multiple references to it's road racing career, but I have NO proof that it was ever road raced. The intention is to use the car for street & vintage racing. Anybody out there know anything/ have anything to show some road race history? Also, one of the very few parts missing is the Jackson Roto-Faze dual ignition distributor for the SBC. I know they are expensive & rare. I am prepared to pay what they are worth if someone is using one as an anvil or spider condominium. Thanks, Scooter
Welcome to the HAMB! Nice car, hope the bumpers can be removed, were they a street driven add on? If you look through old SCCA newsletters you may find some road race history. I'll dig out my old Hot Rod issues and have a look at its feature. Bob
www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/‎ is a good place to start looking for a photo match. I'll take a look at the old SCCA mags as soon as I get a chance.
Thanks for the help! And no, I didn't pay all of the asking price. But who cares? This is an amazingly unmolested piece of SoCal hotrodding history. This car has continually changed hands because nobody wants to nut up & put any money into it for fear they can't turn a profit. I'm not that kind of guy. The car deserves to be restored & put back on the track. Money is just a tool for getting things done. Making money off these cars is not the objective for me. Preserving them & driving the hell out of them is the goal.
Great response - spoken as a real hot rod guy. It's NOT all about the money and flipping. Enjoy!!! Charlie
Yeah, I'll snap some more pics of the car & get them up. It's a REALLY cool looking shape from all angles. It currently has the 330 inch SBC & a Muncie that it last ran with. I really need to find that Roto-Faze....
That is a really cool car. It sounds like you will give it a good home. And that its in the right hands. It will be great to see it in action on the track...
Could this be it? This pic was posted by LowKat on the "Vintage shots from days gone by!" thread. P/M him if you want to ask where he found it. It looks like the pic was taken at Torrey Pines, so you could go back through the entry lists to find out which year there was a Kurtis with #105. So you could then go down the list looking for this car.
That is a very similar car, but the bumpers & body are different & the wheels have knock offs. Johnny Wright lived in San Diego. He did pretty much everything with this car that he could in 1957- 1960. It seems hard to believe that he would pass up a race at Santa Barbara or Delmar. I need to look up the race results.
Just doing an internet search after reading this. Owner was last seen here in 2016. This snippet is from 2020. https://automotiveamerican.com/2020...e-shelby-cobra-daniel-patrascu-autoevolution/ Others from 4 years ago https://www.conceptcarz.com/z27331/wright-special.aspx https://www.conceptcarz.com/gallery/27331/wright-special.aspx https://www.mecum.com/lots/397453/1953-wright-special-race-car/
As with so many specials. Looks like it went to Mecum in 2020 and didn’t meet reserve. Don’t understand the Maserati bit or how it ties in with the current car, as it sounds like the whole Maserati thing got thrown in the trash when they built the new chassis and reused the body? And at the same time, they toss the hemi in favor of a Lincoln flatmotor? The whole Carol Shelby thing sounds like a total cooked up Old wives tale. Also is it ‘53 or ‘56…such is the life of a race car
If I read this correctly, the Maserati that Mr. Kopecky worked over into his special was a V8-ri from 1935 - 1936. Found a post by a gentleman named Cris who has a friend that once pushed theirs out of a shed to be freshened up. Following that line, when the Wright special was born, much of the Maser bits and the hemi went away in favor of a new tube chassis and flathead lincoln
Coincidentally, the motor and other parts) that's in the Maserati that's linked/not linked to this car (Wright Special) came from my friend as well. That car (chassis 4502) led an incredibly hard life, and its restoration has taken decades—and is still not complete. That project is currently for sale by the Puhn family. I was sent pictures of it from a friend who looked at it earlier this year...as together as it appears, I'd guess it will still take a six-figure check to finish the job. The pic Metalshapes posted in this thread in 2013 is not of the car; I'm not even sure it's of Torrey Pines (it looks way more like the Pebble Beach road course.) Does anyone have scans of the Hot Rod article? Or pictures of all the trophies/time slips that are often mentioned that back this car's claims? To the Boss' comment on "chasing shadows," I agree, this car has zero road racing history, at least that I could find in the go-to sources... I may have a photo of the body on the Maserati chassis somewhere. Cris
I like that car! Research thoroughly! I bought a european alloy bodied DIRT TRACK car out of a storage garage in missouri back in 1990 or so NOONE that i knew, knew what it was This was before interwebular search available of course I got an offer from imperial palace in vegas BEFORE i knew what it was Their buyer in japan put $235k into restoring it, after they paid me Turns out it was a very rare Fiat sport racer, HAND BUILT for some prince or king somewhere Originally it had Osca driveline, brakes etc. When i had it, it had a sbc in it and it was banged up HARD now, i'd say that my lil 'unknown "Fiat Osca" orphan' could be worth high 6 digits? $600 - $?K Oh well, its always been the thrill of the hunt fer me eh
This is Mr. Kopecky’s grandson- who also so happens to be into cars. The Maserati chassis was sourced by my grandpa, Gene, which was a Type R1 formula chassis run in the 1937 Indianapolis 500. The body was done himself with a bit of inspiration. You can read about the “Kopecky Chrysler special” on “undiscovered classics.com.” I guess he sold it to a Johnny Wright in 1954 after giving up on building a car- Mr. Wright then went to work on it with Carroll Shelby as a consultant for his various plans. According to my family Gene and Shelby were also acquaintances but I’m not so convinced the wright special, or what was my grandpas car was the definitive Cobra inspiration of the 60’s. Unfortunately since Gene passed in 2022, I’m sure he knew more about what became of his old race car after selling to Wright but we can’t ask him anymore. I’m curious if anyone knows any more on how the wright special influenced the cobra.. cheers!
@John Kopecky , is this the article you discussed in the prior post? https://www.undiscoveredclassics.co...maserati-that-raced-again-car-craft-may-1954/
Welcome to the HAMB Mr. Kopecky! It is always nice to rear an update on an old racecar's history. Bob
Hello all. Someone notified me that this thread was still alive. @John Kopecky it's VERY nice to hear from you.. It took 4 years of constant work to get this car together. I was able to source 100% of the correct parts for this car. A late 56 cast '57 283 Corvette block, the '56 twin tower heads from a dual quad Corvette, the Offenhauser 6 Stromberg intake and the VERY rare Roto Faze distributor were all assembled to make the correct 330" SBC engine exactly how it appears in the HotRod article. The car was done so well that it won it's class (sportscars 1950-1959) at Amelia island Concours in 2017. That class contains the most significant and valuable cars in attendance. Shortly after that we took it on a 750 mile rally in the NC mountains. It is very fast and well balanced. Last year I was able to source an original set of 16x5 Halibrand wheels (the ones that are pictured were hand made replicas). This April we are doing another rally on the West Coast. My partner in this car had decided to sell it a while back, but fortunately no buyer was found and the car remains with us for now.
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