History Auto racing 1894-1942

Yup Pope (Hartford-Columbia-Waverly-Tribune-Toledo-Motorcycles) built their own engines.

The most common of Hartford motors are 4 cylinder (cast in pairs), OHV, cross flow "heron head" (the hemispherical combustion chamber is cast into the top of the piston). the 40hp motors are 305 cu in, don't know the size of the 50hp off the top of my head.

 

Pope did manufacture their own engines which are OHV unlike most US built firms which were still using T-heads and L-heads other than the purpose built racing cars. They along with Buick, Knox and a few other had made the change to OHV early on.

 

I have been looking for pictures of a 50 HP Pope engine to compare with the photos I posted earlier....Did you look at them and does it look Pope to you ??

Do the built up rings on the outside of the cylinders at the bottom look like what I have seen on other Popes ??

 

... is future Indy 500 winner Floyd Roberts in his "Gray Essex", ca. 1924.

 

Thanks, guys! Obviously, my info did not include valve action, since the Wisconsin was a T-head, of course.

 

Definitely Ascot! #12 looks a bit like Jimmy Murphy's old Duesenberg/Miller...

 

A wild guess: Reggie Lyons in his "Packard Special"...???

 

In the web motorsnaps figure this information (1926 delage 8-cyl 1_5-litre sc)
But yes the side of the exhaust pipe is not the same and didnt find any pics in the web of this car, only pics of the delage 15 S 8.


(1926 delage 8-cyl 1_5-litre sc)



(1926 French Grand Prix, Miramas - Robert Benoist (Delage 15S8) dnf)

 

Going to consult with my father...the true master...

If you ever get mixed up with a real "portola" motor (factory hotrod), there are removeable plates under the jugs. When you got to the track, you pulled the plates and jacked up the compression (and reset the valve lash).

 

ke That looks like a Model TT Ford truck chassis swapped end for end.

 

Bob,

It looks like there is a bit of a kickup behind the feet of the "passenger". Also looks a bit like a Mercer or Dupont radiator shell.

 

I think only 3 Bugattis started that race and and the Delage debuted at the British GP a month later with the right hand exhaust, they went really well but burnt feet was a big problem.

 

Michael,

Thanks for the Serino info.

I`m sorry about mis-spelling your last name,too. I gave it a bit of a French effect with that "i".....

BTW that looks like an awfully large engine in the Serino #15. Anyone have any idea what engine that would be?

 

I helped out with casting and machining three sets of new 50 HP Pope cylinder blocks 15 years ago but cannot find the photos. Those cylinders had these same ribs like the engine in the stand. They also seemed to by quite large as these are.

I did find these small 1907 Pope photos of a 25-30 HP which also clearly shows them. I would be interested in what your father says and also in seeing a photo of the intake side of a 50 HP Pope.

 

Franquist
While going through some of the Original company archives I have, of the Simplex Automobile Company, I came across a bunch of signed documents. When Hermann Broesel Sr. died, his sons sold out to Goodrich and Lockhart. While Googling the numerous stockholders who signed these contracts, I came across one nice signature for G.E. Franquist , third largest Simplex shareholder, (equal number of shares to the Broesel bothers)and was pleased to see his interesting history of being the winner of the Cracker Handicap auto race at Morris Park, 1905-07-04. As Broesel Sr. was an avid auto racing enthusiast, I’m hoping to find some other early auto racers in these signed items. The records include a complete breakdown of every single asset and liability , as well as auto production and autos on hand, by month and a large original blueprint map of the company. I am researching these original company records, to cross reference the Simplex Co. sale, and all their aviation business interests, when it was sold to The Wright Company, then gearing up to use the Simplex Company’s holding of the country’s largest on-site manufacturing plant and Empire Foundry. They were looking forward to large production runs of license-built Hispano-Suiza aero engines for WWI.
If nothing else.. at least I turned up a pretty rare, early auto racing autograph. Anybody have a photo of him, or the 1905 races at Morris Park?

 

G.E.Franquist is also listed in 4th place and a DNF in the second heat of the Bronx Handicap on the 3rd of July, 1905 at Morris Park, NY.
Franquist is mentioned for obtaining a patent in 1906 for a water pickup "valve" for a watercraft. Apart from this i don't have anything else.

 

http://www.velocetoday.com/cars/cars_138.php






Read:
http://www.velocetoday.com/cars/cars_138.php

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Read:
http://forix.autosport.com/8w/delage.html

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http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00836/motoring-graphics-2_836045a.jpg

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Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

Robert Sénéchal and drive (burn) relief Louis Wagner 1926 Gritish GP winners.

 

Hemmings today, Any idea of the location?

 

More old race cars to identify - http://www.imcdb.org/movie.php?id=41179 - later ones this time. Some might be just out of period. The movie dates from 1949.

 

Feeling a little comedic this afternoon, Ehdubya?

I've always wanted to see photos of mechanics drilling holes into the Delage or of the driver's cooling their feet in a bucket of cold water.

 

heh, I'd like like to think I'm always in the mood but that's a real live freudian slip.

 

Remember these guys?



Thanks to those beavers at Chronicaling America we can deduce they are the York Motor Club probably off to Lanacaster...

Read how DePalma haired Mr Smith and his Argo went.

 

Irving C Barber Eye-See-Bee Benning 1915



The earlier shot with the scoops would be Benning Labor Day 1916 and probably Barber but he'd sold the car to William Weightman who drove it in one race but described himself as a 'rotter' in the car.

 

Somebody correct the nonsense these guys write...

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_41877-Maserati-IRC-1949.html shows two different cars, none of which is a Maserati, which is plain to see for anyone with the tiniest bit of knowledge about cars of the period: the Maserati had a chassis of box-section longerons covered by bodywork, while the car in the pits has a channel-type rail frame (it's the 1948 Bromme), and the car on the track is a 1948 Kurtis with a tube-frame! But hey, it's #6 so it must be a Maser... ROTFL

 

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_41602-Maserati-Boyle-1946.html

LOL - These guys are really funny... another Maser with right-hand exhaust! (It's actually the 1938 Belanger)

 

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_42196-Lincoln-Zephyr-77-1940.html

And now we know, that the first rear-engined car at Indy was a Lincoln Zephyr! (Actually, the Rounds/Offy wasn't really the first, but that's another story...)

 

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_41603-Offy-KK2000-1948.html

And to top it off, they identify a real Maserati as a... Kurtis! Oh my...

 

Excellent investigative work, Ehdubya. I had a feeling you would stick with this until all of the boxes were ticked.

While perusing through the results of the earlier races i notice from time to time the smaller cars sometimes compete against the giants. Although it wasn't a regular occurance, it did happen but mostly on the 1/2 mile tracks where the diminutive little buggies were quite successful against the larger touring models. I can't remember seeing any notable victories or track records the smaller cars did keep up thanks to a far superior power to weight ratio. It's a shame the Argo ceased to exist. I think it would've been a great competitor against the Model T Ford.

The newspaper article was great but so was the whole page. I'll have to jot down the results from this event as i don't seem to have it in my notes.

I have one question though. One of the races at York was the 5 Mile Australian Pursuit. Do you or anybody else know how this name came about as i have also noticed it in some races from Kansas. Thanks.

 

Actually that's a great photo.

The girl in the foreground, a highly desirable American racing car behind her, a highly desirable classic American car behind it and the famed Pagoda in the background.