You gotta see this.....

1915 Van Blerk Speedster...(yes ebay)...#370012048063...

only one made...$385,000....1000 c.i. l6 boat motor!

 

Very cool. How many plugs/cyl on that thing?

 

It looks like a cut down fire truck. We have a 1926 Lafrance with that same motor and the same wheels! Cool all the same ......Wonder what the chief would say?????

 

6 cylinder...2 plugs per...1000 c.i....200 h.p.

 

It looks like two per cylinder.

I love the old time fabrication methods and finish materials. Round head rivets and polished br***.

Wonderful find and THIS is eye candy.

 

that was at Hershey in the car corralle for sale... something about it didn't look quite right... the people I was with couldn't place it, but seemed as though it may have been a modern take on a vintage speedster based on a fire-truck chasis or such.. there were some details that didn't seem to be quite there... like it was a movie car or something... but then again... what do I know... never the less, it was pretty cool for what it is''


for example, lookikng at the picture of the side-controls... seems odd that just these peices would be drilled and lightened when nothing else on the car seems to have accepted the same... also the copper foot pedals.... seems a little out of place from what a speedster would have been... maybe it's just a case of an OVER-restored car.... still nice, just over restored.

 

I saw it at Hershey.Really neat.You should hear it run.....kinda loud....

 

very cool , never seen one before..

 

Neat...........

Did you see this one?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140196821688

 

From the auction description, it seems as though it is a modern creation.... I think the detail that looses it the most for me would be the disk breaks... while definatly a cool car that few would have the skills to create, the over all look makes you feel that that builder was trying too hard to make something new look old... just my two cents. Never the less, if i had the money, it would be in my garage and the disk breaks would be comming off! haha

 

They say it's art,meaning it's some ones fake never was rod,but there tricky wording is a cover,but is there idea of one.
A few too many out of place new things to my likeing,so lots of work there,but no trophy from me. Not my idea of art!

 

yep, saw that too...is that a hambr's car?

 

I saw that in person when I was there a couple months ago. It's freakin beautiful in person. It was not built in 1915 and I believe it was a firetruck originally but the craftsmanship is incredible on it. That place has a ton of really rare and beautiful stuff.

 

Ok different wheels but same engine... Oh and take a look at the front axle

 

Saw it at Hershey as well and got the same kind of vibe. It seemed almost cartoon-like in it's lines and proportions.

I have to admit it did have a very unique sound to it.

 

I dont know ? ...Van blerk Larry! dosent sound right to me.

 

This must be Joe Van Blerck, of Detroit, I think. Back in the day, he manufactured THE marine race motors, in fairly high demand. Interesting story about him and his company in Wooden Boat magazine from last summer I think.

tc

 

I read that same story! Really good read, interesting designer.

 

***ty ***ty bang bang

we gotta start callin you caractacus potts larry?

 

Horrible aesthetic monstrosity of a car.

 

I would love to listen to that mill run.

 

Saw this @ Hershey also, and spent a few hours jawing with a older guy who owns a few Amer-LaFrances, plus there was another, quite raw version 'around the loop' Friday night in grey primer. This is a modern interpretation of an 'old-school' speedster, and according to my informant, without question a conversion from a fire truck, including the T-head I-6.
Regardless of 'authenticity', it was sure something to take in, and from the sheer size of it alone, would be a blast to drive on the public road. Sure, some of the details & styling (grille esp) weren't to my tastes, but nothing else there had the impact of this beast.

 

I was searching "other makes" on ebay a couple of days ago and ran across this. The same seller has all sorts of weird stuff for sale. Searching the other makes turns up all sorts of stuff like this.

FWIW I think it's not original or some record of it would have turned up before now. Has anyone ever read about it before the auction?

 

I see the '40 and the roadster in the auction are in the photo for the September 2008 HAMB Calendar....

Malcolm

 

I have to agree with Retro54, it is a great looking interpretation of an old race car that was most likely built on an old firetruck ch***is.
I'd say that the inspiration for the car came from the 1965 movie "The Great Race".
At any rate someone put in many hours of very nice work on it.
To be worth that kind of money it would have to be authentic and have a do***ented race history. Won this, placed in that, driven by ____ ___ who was worlds champion 3 times in the teens and twenties.

After reading the writeup in the Ebay add lets call it a nice piece of automotive art. Anyhow it will stop pretty well!!

 

Looks cool 'til you see the pic with the people in it and realize that it's as big as a house. Still gets points for creativity, I guess. What's up with the chick in the red top, she makes that car look better .

 

The original firetruck didn't have front brakes and the brakes were mechanical to boot....the discs albeit kinda ugly are probably a great addition. Believe me you gotta plan your stops in a big behemoth like that.

 

i was thinking the same thing.