I love early purpose built race cars. Jack Kuehn's, as seen in the April, 1959 issue of Hot Rod Magazine, is one of my favorites and it always makes me wonder why we don't see more modern renditions on the same theme. These early cars were just so da... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
I've been reading Al Drake's Fifties Flashback this weekend. He was talking about the early track roadsters and how they initially were dual purpose cars, daily drivers and weekend warriors. It really only took a couple of seasons to evolve into full blown race cars. That suspension set up was not meant for creature comforts.
They are way cool.... but as you said RC....."What do you do with them?"..... the venues for run'n them are disappearing.
Interesting that the car has steering linkage on the right side. And no mention of it at all in the article, though they do talk about the non-dropped axle, raised spring mount, and brakes. -Brad
Love em too! There is no rule against playing with them on private land. I know a private air field in southern georgia that let me on for the afternoon to dial in my four link.
Funny. Just last night I was staring at the '29 I'm working on and a '40 hood leaning against the wall caught my eye. I thought to myself, "I wonder why you don't see old photos of roadsters with noses made from '40 hoods?... that treatment always seems to be on a coupe for some reason."
Seeing articles like this always makes me wonder what happened to the car that's featured. In a barn somewhere? Museum? Wrapped around a tree in some backwoods town?
when it comes to art/sculpture, never question why, what's it for, or what do you do with it... enjoy.
At first I thought that was the one Babe posted in Help identifying this Vintage Lakester? Bepe's late father Don Canepa had this in storage But it is not the same
The faster ya go, the stronger / safer you need to be. I suspect that pretty much leaves a lot of the vintage stuff behind the times. Nobody is racing in sanctioned events in blue jeans, T-shirts and a leather helmet these days. But I love the way race cars are built. No fluff. Last year on my first trip to B-ville, the folks I traveled with (Hot Rod Haven) were running a phantom Ford RPU they built that could be "upgraded" from street to race by removing stuff like the windshield and seat, and then adding a custom bolt-in cage and other required safety gear. It was built to the rule book but could be stripped for the street. Ha ha. Gary
I have had the honor and pleasure of meeting and now continuing to get to know Jack Kuehn "Jack Be Quick" over the past year or so. He is a great guy and a wealth of information. The original track nose from that car is hanging on the wall in his shop along with a ton of other priceless items and hundreds of vintage photos from our greatest period. He also located the original engine and was contemplating buying it back. The first time I went to his place, I spent about three hours studying the collection before landing on a photo of a neatly chopped 1929 Fordor sedan with flathead V-8, chev bumpers, etc. The photo was dated 1953 and a 17 year old Jack was standing proudly next to the car, having chopped it himself and hand-formed a solid roof from a flat sheet of metal! He told me he would like to build another "open car", but he just can't get around like he used to, so he was contemplating the purchase of a more driveable car, like a '40 Ford tudor... He will be proud to know that the readers here have acknowldged his spread in the 1959 Hot Rod.
That is Fantastic, good to hear Jack is still with us. Can you ask Jack about the T ask about the finer details that weren't shown in the feature & when he sold the T and can you ask if you can take pics of the nose and his wall of photos. Taht would really complete this thread.
Yes, Lucky for us, Jack is a very detailed guy. His entire collection is labeled with information on where and who it came from, etc. In addition, he has numerous binders full of photos starting from the early post-war period that are a wealth of information. I may have a chance to see him later today.. Will post additional information/photos soon.
Such awesome cars and great ideas back then but it really takes the right person to implement them on a car today. On my '32 I originally saw it as a center steered early drag car with just one jump seat in the middle, a zephyr trans backing up a 4x2 flathead and flat aluminum wheel covers over the red wheels. However as times goes on I start to think "damn what am I going to do with a car that only seats one person....not exactly the family car." Further more, if I kept it long enough to give my son, what would he do with it? Would he be wanting to change it for something more practical? Sad to think that a lot of cars from back in the day won't get recreated or used as inspiration for newer builds because they're not practical. I wish I could just say "F-IT" and go through with it....I mean my coupe would be the perfect candidate for something stupid like that right??? The example above would be just so awesome to blast down the back roads with...
Vintage "purpose built" and street functional is the dilemma I've been facing since I started out building my T and the path is full of roadblocks and concessions... the lowered seating and higher drivetrain throws practial "normal" driver positoning out the window... the larger wheel behind the center steer blocks access to breaking with the right foot positioned over the tranny... a hand brake on the right side utilizing the emergency brake seems to be the only viable option when braking and using the clutch at the same time... since the drivers position is more centered the actual passenger space is limited at best... with the "real deal" it was a common to see a hand brake being used instead of the pedal... somehow I felt more comfortable with a brake pedal even if I have to use my left foot... and even having a windshield seemed wrong... I keep prioritizing the "purpose built" race car but I keep making little comprimises cause it looks like it will be a blast to drive...
I am building a purpose built race car with no purpose. Other than the race of gentleman and because its awesome. I can only hope that there will be more events for the traditional race cars Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Great thread, looking forward to the history it has unearthed. Far too often I've heard older racers say "last I saw of the car was when the new owner took it away, always wondered what became of it". Sounds like Jack could have a lot more history on the times as well as this car that a lot of us would like to hear about. Ed
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