KQQL some of those guys got on them a bit. Sound like a few opened up their exhaust. Hey the one guy was cheating he didn't have a body. I hope they do it again, sure looked like fun.
No rubbing in this racing Tuesday, September 07, 2010 Courtesy of Angelo Van Bogart Old Cars Weekly Traditionally, cars participating in the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club's annual reunion only get up to about 15 mph during the event parade, but these thoroughbreds were meant to go much faster, and for one of the few times in the event's 55 years, ACD cars were actually encouraged to go more than 55 mph. Honoring the fact that this year's ACD Club Reunion featured Duesenbergs, a special Duesenberg Exhibition of Speed & Stinson Fly In was held Sept. 3 at the Kendallville Municipal Airport in Kendallville, Ind. Students and teachers lined the road to the airport in anticipation of the informal parade of Duesenbergs driving to the airport. Spectator cars and trucks bearing license plates from around the country crept bumper-to-bumper into the airport, their owners then lining a red tape along the tarmac for hours before the first Duesenberg took off. Meanwhile, Duesenberg owners itched for the chance to open up their cars on a closed road course. By my count, around 35 Duesenbergs appeared at the airport, and most of those cars' straight-eights were put through the paces. Initially, cars drove down the runway one at a time at a leisurely pace to warm up the engines, but soon, cars were going down two at a time, one owner nudging the other to go a little faster. Soon, the announcers' descriptions of the cars couldn't keep up with the cars as they flew down the tarmac. Shenanigans began, with Richie Clyne (whose maroon Judkins-coupe bodied Duesenberg appeared at the top of this web page) climaxing the festivities by pouring bleach on the tarmac to help his car's tires spin upon launch. From there, drivers began grudge matches to see which Duesenberg was faster. For the Cl***ic car fan with a love of primitive speed, there probably isn't anything that could beat this year's exhibition of speed. Since next year is likely to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Cord 810, maybe we'll see front-drive Cords at the Kendallville airport. You just never know. Yes, even the ex-Clark Gable Bohman & Schwartz-modified Rollston convertible coupe made a run or two down the track. Owner Sam Mann also brought a Duesenberg-powered racecar, which made a run or two. The car is shown at the airport before the Duesenbergs made their runs. Buck Kamphausen expected to take this Duesenberg around the world in the 2008 races which were canceled, so he had the car fitted with tools, spare parts, sirens and even a winch. None of those parts were necessary during the race, but the car sure stirred a lot of comments. These Duesenbergs are stored in Wisconsin not far from each other, but reunited outside the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum before departing for the Kendallville Municipal Airport. That's Dave Lindsay's Murphy Convertible Sedan (J-131) and Jim Schneck's Brunn Riviera (J-525). Each was recently featured in Old Cars Weekly. I love the opportunity Auburn presents to see a car for the first time, and I have never spotted Bill Pe***'s LeBaron dual-cowl phaeton before. She's a beauty, and not too pretty to run wide open, as Pe*** proved on the airport tarmac after this shot was taken. Richie Clyne of the Imperial Palace Auto Collections and his son drove this Judkins coupe 1200 miles from New Hampshire to attend the event. Once there, the kid came out in Clyne who poured bleach on the tarmac before accelerating down the runway. You don't often get to see a "project" Duesenberg, but there are a few out there, including this Rollston-bodied town car (or "cabriolet" in Duesenberg speak). Richard F*** of Stone Barn restorations owns the car and is currently restoring it. Author Clive Cussler brought his beautiful and original Rollston Landaulet to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club Reunion, where it was shot in Eckart Park before the Parade of Cl***ics through Auburn on Sept. 4.
I would have liked to see them put these cars on a ch***is dyno and see what they are making at the wheels!!
New Video Catch Duesenbergs on the go... go... go! Traditionally, cars participating in the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Club's annual reunion only get up to about 15 mph during the event parade, but these thoroughbreds were meant to go much faster. How fast did they go this fall? Old Cars Weekly Editor Angelo Van Bogart was there to catch it on film! Click here to find out
My friend and I attended the Duesenberg Reunion as a guest of one of the Duesenberg owners, Harry Van Iderstine. He brought 2 of his cars to the reunion, she rode in the 1930 with him and I rode in the 1932 Murphy J Convertable with his son. We rode out to the airport and even rode with them during the drag races. At the Awards Brunch on Sunday, an award was given to the fast car at the drag race, it was clocked at 87mph. I didn't get to take any video because I was taking photos. You can check out my website to see some of the photos. We had a great time with Harry and his friend Bill Pet***. This was a once in a lifetime, I'm sure I will never ride in a Duesenberg again!! http://www.photosbyleigh.com/automobiles.html
Pretty cool! I think that each Dusenberg had a plaque attesting to the fact that the ch***is was driven at over 100mph prior to delivery to the coach builder.
You are correct regarding the procedure for taking the transmission out of gear, but what you're describing about the upshift certainly sounds to me like you've got a synchronized transmission. You said: "Then, quickly move the stick over to the next gear position, but don't force it into gear. Maintain enough pressure on the stick that you can "feel" it "almost" or partially engage, but not so far enough into the next gear to grind anything. When the revs drop to the point where synchronization is reached, as long as you're maintaining the pressure on the the stick it will , again, 'almost by itself' snick fully into into next gear." What you're "feeling" are the synchronizers matching gear speeds. In the non-synchro rigs that I drove, when upshifting, you would actually have to let the gears "bump" and, either by feel or by sound, determine when the gear speeds matched, then yank the shift lever the rest of the way.
-------------------------- [....what you're describing about the upshift certainly sounds to me like you've got a synchronized transmission." ] ---------------------------- Not hardly. The trucks I was talking about that I drove had 13 and 15 speed Road Rangers and they're not synchronized. I guess I was unknowingly doing it by 'feel' though. Pulling the stick part way into the next gear, before auto-synchronization was reached, there would be just very slight vibration you could feel coming back through the stick. But no grinding, bumping or noise though. At the instant the vibration disappeared, I'd increase the pressure on the stick and it would 'snik' smoothly into the next gear. Mart3406 =====================
You are thinking of Auburn Speedsters. I believe that DV32 Stutz may have also come with a "certificate" of some sort saying that they were tested at 100mph prior to delivery.
Mart, Ebbspeed is right. The truck transmissions you are talking about are not syncro, but are not sliding gear transmissions either. I'm sure the Duesey had a sliding gear trans, just like a Model A or the later 4 speed Ford truck crash boxes like I learned on. The later big truck trans' had constant mesh gears and a sliding clutch that engaged the gear, the missing part is the syncro ring to sycronize the gears. The sliding gear trans had straight cut gears and thus the gear whine in the reduction gears. The later truck trans have helical gears and the sliding clutches (like dogs) and don't make gear noise because of the helical gears. What you are feeling on the shift is the clutch teeth bumping off each other until the speed is right and then it falls into gear (actually engagement).
A journalist visiting the plant where Speedsters were being built was amused to see these plaques, signed by Ab Jenkins certifying that that particular car had been tested at 101.3 mph (or thereabouts), being screwed to the glove locker covers before the bodies had even been fitted to the ch***is.
The Jalopy Journal
