Hi guys... I need your help IDing a vintage sports car I saw on a trailer the other day. It's been stuck in my head and I can't find any pics that look like it on line. It was a little two seat roadster. It was real low slung and bright red. It had a triangle shaped badge on it that I couldn't read that I thought might have been a Lotus badge but it wasn't green and yellow. It was just the triangle part too. There was no circle around it. The car had a faring for behind the driver's head, side-pipes and vents in the fenders behind the front wheel-openings. It had a wood steering wheel and dash but not extravegant. It was a real utilitarian looking car. It was pretty small. Smaller than a MB 300 SL but similar. It also looked smaller than a Ferrarri. Any Ideas? I'll try to post a similar pic later...
It looked similar to this from the front, but the back has radiused wheel openings and it just looked "older" if you know what I mean... http://www.virhistory.com/beach/beach/101/hk-101-01.JPG
But then again, maybe it was a Maserati... This looks pretty close. I remember now that it was right-hand drive like this. I don't remember the vents in the side being slashes though and I don't remrmber anything behind the rear wheels. http://www.nsxfiles.com/images/fontana_maserati_ferrari.jpg
Tons of homebuilts, kits and obscure marques of that era. Red doesn't narrow it down too much Check here for info... http://www.svra.com/ http://www.vscca.org/
Upon further research I found out that the Maserati in the pic was from Fontana, which is pretty close to where I saw it so that might be the car. But you would think the guy could afford a covered trailer for that thing.
The triangle badge doesnt ring a bell. Right hand drive would make it possible that it is English, but it doesnt have to be. A lot of Road Race cars are RHD because most Road Race Tracks are clockwise, placing the Driver on the inside of the Car in most corners. Ferrari had a rectangle badge that you would have easely identified, and it probably wouldnt have used wood on the Dash in a Race car ( Most Italian Racers used shaped Aluminum with black wrinkle finish paint.) Look at Tams old Race Car Site, you might find that car there, or one like it...
Poke around in the photos at Vintage, Body, and Chassis sections at http://sports.racer.net/. I know the "Chassis" section is labled Current Manufactures, but that's BS. There are lots of vintage chassis in there. There were lots and LOTS of home built and very limited production sports racing cars back in the '50s-'60s. FWIW, Toyota used a downward pointing triangle as a badge in the '60s. Look for it on the front fender of any handy 2000GT.
Elva. They ran a variety of engines, both front and mid-engined, from Fords to MG's to Porsche's and I think Climaxes.
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