That came stock from the factory like that. It is a 1938 Standard Flying 10. It has lowering blocks in there...which are actually raising blocks to clear the chassis! I have left the suspension and brakes stock. I'll form the body to follow the ground line as the chassis rises at the front a fair bit. Cable brakes are all done now. I wonder how long until the diff gives up. One way to find out.
If this thread runs outta gas here you might want to post it at Dogfight. You might want to do that anyways, more people in on the topic can't be a bad thing As I said I love the specials most of all, a guy some chalk lines on the floor a bada-bing 'ya got a race car!
The Ford Popular has always been a favourite in the UK for specials to be founded on. Fairly small, cheap and plentiful. The same chassis would often be clad in bodies of vastly different vintages: Apparently stock Ford artillery style wheels suit either application. Excellent thread, subscribed!
Here's a car in the UK that's always fascinated me, though I know very little about it. I believe it's called the Grenville Mercury Special, and judging by its name, is based on a Mercury frame? http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_elgnYiHJk...T7YR6qR8u4/s1600/Grenfell-Special-Mercury.jpg http://beambreaking.files.wordpress...-in-grenfell-special-may-2010-shelsley_sm.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NCKrRGeIQKs/Tv4FuVc2RAI/AAAAAAAAG1I/2kqQPqrVx-Q/s1600/IMG_8935.jpg Often appears at hill climbs and flathead meltdown events in the UK, I'd love to know more about it. Come to think ofit, I've never searched The HAMB for more info . . . Never have I seen coil sprung independent suspension look as good on an open wheel car as this.
Cool, thread - thanks for starting it. My parents had this special in the sixties in England, but sold it before they moved over to New Zealand. It had a supercharged Ford 10 (1172cc 4-cyl side-valve) engine and running gear, and I am think it had a fabricated round tube frame. My dad bought it from a friend, so didn't build it but it looks like it was really well finished and love the little custom built trailer they had for it!
Posting the picture above reminded me that it has been a while since I did a search to see if I could find any trace of Dad's old car. We lost track of it years ago, but I have always wanted to know what happened to it. So I spent a few minutes searching and found of it on the Autosport nostalgia forum competing in a trial a couple of months ago So neat to see it still doing what it was built for 50 years later!
Here is my old Austin ,this car was raced,trailed and ran in hill climbs a true all rounder I even won a tech week on here with by bit on making the belly pan for it It was a 1936 lwb Austin 7
An odd breed within the special phenomenon is the Bentley Mark V/VI special, attempts to capture the character of the Vintage "W.O." Bentleys but built on the debased wide-framed post-war chassis: Some are more successful than others. All suffer visually because of the IFS.
The late Rt Hon Alan Clark MP owned a 1954 R-type Contential Special that had he converted. In its original saloon state it had been stolen in the early 1960's. It was turned over during a furious chase in the New Forest and killed the thief and two unfortunate hitch-hikers. Alan Clark bought the car as a write-off for a couple of hundred pounds and had Bentley specialists Bradley Brothers discard the original body, shorten the chassis and fit a minimalist special body with Brooklands screens and vestigal doors. He regarded it as one of the most exciting cars he had ever driven. I have a picture of it in his excellent book Backfire - but it seems to have disappeared since his death in 1999. Several Bentley Drivers Club members have searched for UXA 311 without success. I bet Bluto's got it.... ;-)
OK guys I need to be schooled. What makes it a special not a speedster? Feel free to PM me to keep the thread clean. Thanks for posting all the cool cars. Any close up pics of the frames and driveline Thanks guys Bill
No problem, Bill. I don't think there is a clear boundary between the two; more like a huge grey area where any given car might be one or the other or both. Mainly it's a difference of context: the definitive speedster is American and built around 1935 out of 1928 parts; the definitive special is British and built around 1952 out of 1935 parts - but in both cases there are more exceptions than definitive examples. It's easier at the extremes: the guy who turned a Model T into his answer to a Stutz Bearcat was definitely building a speedster. The guy who built his answer to a Ferrari Testarossa on a Ford "Pop" chassis was definitely dealing with a special. Everything in between is a bit woolly, but I wouldn't worry about it unduly.
While they resembled each other in a lot of ways, the U.K. 'specials' were more for road/road racing. Of course there wasn't much roadracing going on over here back in the 20s/30s so speesters/bobtails were more for oval track. Here's something that may be of interest: http://packmag.net/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&Itemid=28&catid=6
Thanks Guys... My wife is not going to be happy with you. Now I have to start save up parts for yet another protect I nice single seater would work real nice for the street any I don't need room for the wife because she will still be mad. PS My wife rules she puts up with a lot of shit
Some shots of Seth Hammonds modern interpetation bobtail hillclimber. More sophistcated than you would see back in the 20s but nice to look at anyway.
That invites comparison with some of the more stripped-down Austin specials. I'll see if I can find some pics of the sort of thing I mean. Meanwhile, here is a pretty but rather ill-advised Peugeot special that was built here in South Africa:
Austin 7 racer/specials are pretty nifty little rigs, lots of interesting/varied drivetrain/suspension engineeering.
from mid-60's effort via Pacific Northwest racecar driver Pete Lovely -- he called it the "Zoomer". A special that he and friends designed and had built in England by ex-Lotus crew. 260 Shelby Cobra engine. All aluminum bodywork. Spaceframe chassis. Formula1 style suspension.
Great link Rootie. What kind of rear suspension setup is Seth Hammond's hillclimber running? Are those some type of shock wrapped around the back axle?
Near as I can tell it has no rear suspension. The red circular things, I believe, are bearing carriers for the live axle, much like a go cart. It was purpose built just for the banger hillclimbs that are popular out west.
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