Can you post a pic of that? Mine has the TCR Nurnberg Fenders and Ducktail too, now... Only a pushrod Engine with a regular 5 Port Head, though.
Here are some pics/vids from road racing at Elkhart Lake/Road America this past September. If you like road racing, you should read BS Levy's novels about road racing in the early 50s. The Last Open Road is the first one and it's really good. Allard <embed width="448" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i30.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/Hellfish122/MVI_5116.flv"> Cheetah <embed width="448" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i30.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid30.photobucket.com/albums/c345/Hellfish122/MVI_5113.flv">
View attachment 425811 This ones for Scooter and just a little reassurance that we are not totally OT.
Scooter, As everyone is suggesting, the best thing to do is check all the various sanctioning bodies and clubs to see their eligibility rules and regulations. Some clubs encourage bastardizing the car in the name of competition, other clubs only allow you to make tweaks in the name of safety. That said, most groups are really open to pre-war cars...they are excited to have them since a lot of people tend more towards later, faster cars. I don't know if this has been posted yet but it's a link to all the US clubs: http://www.vintagemotorsport.com/race_clubs_links.asp#Clubs This is me at the Hunnewell Hillclimb (VSCCA) in a 220 HAL-powered Hillegass sprinter. Good luck man, "big fun soon come." Cris
Ah for the good ol' days. I raced in the SCCA in the 50's with a flathead powered 32 roadster. Even back then they had thousands of rules to favor the teabaggers. I ran C class against 300SL's, C Jags and others. I won so many times, by mutual agreement, they quit giving me the trophies. The favorite statement among the teabaggers was "I don't see how an 800 dollar car can beat an 8000 dollar car". Like others have said, in todays venues it is extremely costly to compete and it is extremely hard on parts. Here's a pic of the car in 1955,
The car had a 315 ci flathead engine. 4 48's, H&C mag, Potvin Eliminator cam. 36 Ford rear end with Halibrand QC. 25 tooth zephyr gears. Halibrand knock off hubs,Halibrand mag wheels, Halibrand Indy quick fill gas cap, Halibrand steering. Monroe Indy car shocks. Velvet Touch sintered bronze brake lining. I never lost a transmission and I used 1st gear in the tight corners. Ran the car at Bonneville in 1956 and won the street roadster class at 163.93.
Renault 4cv in the background of Pete 1's pic Here is a pic of my Abarth painting. Below is a pic from a 1970 Bultaco Calendar showing the race winner from the 1969 Montjuich Park 24 hr race.
One thing that most folks didn't talk about are the 'performance driving' schools, track days, etc..... I've been running my WAY OT cars at Watkins Glen for 20 years. (old Mustangs, SVT Focus, SVT Contour) I instruct for two different driving schools at the Glen and have been doing it for the past six years and may be adding SVTOA and a local Porsche club to the list this year. I love every minute of it....and my favorites are folks that have never been on a track before. With track rental prices and insurance costs going through the roof - not to mention fuel prices - I don't think you would have much problem testing the waters in a properly prepared early car at a high performance driving school.....the Porsche and Ferrari club guys may take exception, however. Find a track close by and look on the web site or call to see which clubs and/or driving schools are coming to the track. Contact those organizations and see if they'd be willing to let you run the car. If they do, its very likely you'd be placed in the novice group with an instructor in the car with you. MG and other English car clubs have cars that may run similar speeds/capabilities as a well prepared Model A may run so those clubs may be more receptive if your early car is more 'traditional' in its handling. Since early Fords are designed to pivot at the center it will take quite a bit of re-engineering to get an early car to corner well on pavement at speed. As mentioned before you'll be concentrating on handling and, most importantly, braking upgrades to the car. I'd love to take a track-T out on Watkins Glen to see what it would be like. Typical driving schools run about 250-400 dollars per day. They all should include in-car instruction....if they don't, do use the school. Most schools also include in-class instruction. Most schools allow you to run any car you bring so long as it passes tech. You got to be reasonable though.....a '77 T-bird or a stock '34 Ford would be poor choices, obviously. The car needs to have belts for driver and passenger, it will need to pass tech and it should be able to more or less keep up with a fair percentage of the pack for the 'run group' you will be in. In other words, you should be able to comfortably run well over typical highway speeds.....no stock Model A's need apply. Brakes, brakes, brakes, brakes, brakes, brakes.....you can never have enough brakes on a road course. Another thing to consider is that many tracks and clubs have restrictions that sometimes will not allow open wheel cars to run with closed wheel cars. Something to ponder when your doing a build-up. -Bigchief.
Very Cool... I have a feeling I might know that Car. The two rows of Checkers on the front of the Roof ( White on a Red Car ) is pretty distinctive. And here is a Cartoon like Painting my Sister in Law ( at the time ) did for me...
This is the coolest thing I've seen in at least the last 48 hours. Pete, where did you run SCCA with the car? Any more photos? Cris
It probably doesn't have a lime green radiator shroud now. That was something that only had significance to the owner at that time. The car had all the correct TCR bits but running an A112 motor. 5 sp with ZF diff, the fiberglass housing for the oil system bits where the back seat used to be, tranny access panel at the back of the tunnel, 4 joint semi trailing arm rear suspension. It was pretty fast and handled great.
Sounds and looks exactly ( minus the Lime Green Shroud ) like the Car my Buddy R V in Holland used to own, about 20 or so years ago...
I ran all over the northwest. The car was dismantled and sold piecemeal in 1957..A few of the small parts are on my circle track roadster I run now. Speaking of 4CV's, my Bonneville partner in 1956 had a 4CV later on that he ran at El Mirage and got going a little over 90 mph. (late 50's or early 60's) If anyone recognizes this incident I would like to talk by email.
Check this link out http://forums.autosport.com/showthread.php?threadid=53841 Juan Manuel Fangio's 1939 Chevrolet road racing coupe, campaigned by the "maestro" in Argentina beforwe he hit the big time!
Scooter, since you're in SoCal I will make some area-specific comments. The zenith of West Coast vintage racing is the Monterey Historic, held in August at Laguna Seca. It's become way too popular (read crowded) and expensive, but it typically has a great entry and is a spectacularly fun weekend even for a spectator. Go! Accommodations are near impossible in Monterey or nearby Carmel; Salinas is where you can probably find a room now. I can't recommend strongly enough that you check this out, to see what really good vintage road racing looks like. VARA is a Southern California group. It is much less rigorous than Steve Earle's (General Racing) Monterey thing, and attracts a much less interesting bunch of cars, but it can be a lot of fun. Get their calendar and go to any nearby event; Willow Springs is a good spectator course although cold and windy. I used to run a Lotus Super 7 in VARA, and was an officer for a while in the early '70s. I ran at Willow, Riverside, Ontario, and OCIR; sadly, only Willow survives. Either of these groups is mainly interested in racing fairly authentic historic cars. Duffy Livingston's old Eliminator (the car in TRuss' avatar), although it was much dissed in its day, was a genuinely competitive road racing hot rod and went like stink. It would be welcomed by most vintage racing groups today. Max Balchowsky, before he built the Old Yallers, raced a deuce roadster -- originally with a flathead Cadillac, and later a nailhead Buick. I don't think he ever won anything with it, but he learned stuff that later served him well with the Yallers. If it could be found and authenticated, I think it would be eligible in most places. BUT if you brought out your Chrysler powered Murray, built last week, I doubt you would be eligible in these groups. On the subjects of autocross and track days, I am ignorant. There would probably be a place to run in these groups, but I dunno. Goodguys is doing a little autocross thing at certain events -- including last weekend at Costa Mesa. This is nothing like a real road course, and nothing like real road racing, but it would give you an opportunity to fling your hot rod around at low speeds and discover things about steering, tires, seats and belts that you probably don't yet know. It is HUGE fun. I hope you can find a combination of car and racing group to find out for yourself.
I was all over Google trying to find as much info and as many photos of Balchowsky's Bu-Ford Special as possible. But I've basicly turned up nothing. Do you know of any good sites 50?
My understanding with autocross is that you can run whatever you want. My Dad and I were talking to one of the guys who volunteers at the Turner Field events. We asked about my car, then my sister's four door Bel Air then my dad's '68 Ford pick up. He said that it didn't matter. You could run whatever you wanted. I don't know if they would have an official class for a 68 Ford pick up, but it sounds like they would let you have at the cones anyway.
It's funny. I wasted a good bit of spare time trying to find photos of that car over the weekend. I never thought to come to the HAMB for help though. I really am shocked to not only see so much interest but people who have actually competed in road races on here. I know that I shouldn't be though.
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