History Auto racing 1894-1942

Currently on Buzz Feed consolidator website: The 6 Most Terrifying Historical Car Races

http://www.cracked.com/article_19175_the-6-most-terrifying-historical-car-races.html

 

While wracking my brain this morning trying to find where the body for this little factory racer came from Google images answered my question. I think this picture of Eddie Rickenbacker's racer clears up my mystery.

Howard Dennis<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

 

It's very similar Howard but the cowl is much longer compared to the hood on Eddie's car.

 

That's because Eddie's car has a huge motor in it compared to the stock Maxwell and the street car has a longer body from the back of the seat to the cowl but I'd bet the same people made both bodies.

Howard Dennis

 

Howard, here is an earlier picture of the 1915 300 inch racers. As to the bodywork, they very well may have been made by the same company/people-there are some similarities. As to the windshield it appears to be an isinglass windshield and they came in different shapes and sizes. Here is a set in March or April of 1915, different but I have seen some nice shapes on some of the early fire engines-pretty easy to make. As a kid, I watched an upholsterer make them up in probably an hour or so .-Jim

 

Thanks for those pictures Jim. I now know where this closeup came from.
So you think the windshield on my picture is of the 1916 period?

Howard Dennis

 

Howard I cannot state with any real certainty what the date is but the license plate looks to be from the teens (porcelain??) and I remember seeing some early fire engines from this era with isinglass, that appeared to be original. I'd say there is a better than even chance though it is maybe 1915 ish. Unless my eyesight is totally gone it appears the plate on the pics I posted are Michigan 1914. I have a set of 1913 plates (two in sequence) that look similar-Jim

 

Thanks Jim, any idea how I could learn more about this type windshield's construction? Was there metal stiffeners? Was the isinglass sewn between canvas or leather?

Howard Dennis

 

Howard I would guess the best way to find out first hand the construction may be to look at some old fire engines. We had several in my grandfather's collection and they were all of what you allude to. There was mostly canvas but some leather as well. The isinglass was sewn sandwiched between the canvas or leather that I remember. There were metal braces that held the windshields into shape and position. Some windshields were pretty large and pretty fancy. We had a building that contained a number of old fire engines and the isinglass windshields always caught my eye. Maybe there is a museum or two that house an old fire engine with the isinglass so you can study them. Good luck-Jim

 

Jim, what would you use as a modern substitute for isinglass? I'm thinking .025 lexan, it could be stichted in like the real thing?

 

I haven't really thought about it I suppose but there has to be some better substances out there than the original isinglass. Lexan that is thin enough may very likely be a step up and may work well..

We restored a car with a complete set of side curtains with cut glass instead of isinglass. Used leather and it came out slick.-Jim

 

Could someone help me with "isinglass" please?
To me it's the swim (bouyancy) bladder of fish, and my first real dealing with it was when I learnt of its use in clarifying so-named "real ale" in a pub where my faithful Riding Mechanic & I worked in London in the late 70's.
Is the substance we're here referring to perhaps a form of mica? Or celluloid?
All contributions welcomed - merci en avance...

 

Casein? Dalton Trumbo's mother must have used it to preserve fresh eggs round a century ago 'cause that's why i looked it up - seen egg whites used to 'fine' red wine - and alum is another 'floculant' too, IIRC.
steven

ps is this it too? Detroit 1912 - posted by Mazooma1, #12269 on Vintage shots, etc ...

 

Yes, it's actually a reference to mica.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mica#Isinglass

 

The form of windshield on the police car above, post#6649 is what is called a Cambridge windshield. They really are a wind deflector and you look over the top of them. Looks like the serious bumpers that have been showing up on modern police cars is nothing new, check out the front bumper on this car.

I have seen very early side curtains and windshields with were also made from celluloid. It was one of the first types of thermoplastics and predates the automobile. It was developed in the 1850s.

I think that the P.D. car could possibly be a Chalmers?

 

Unknown.......

 

Mays.................??

 

Napier 30Hp

 

The picture of the #13 Bugatti is interesting to me in that the drag link (between the steering box pitman arm, and the front wheel spindle) runs decidedly uphill. Common wisdom says that it should be parallel to the ground, to minimize bump steer. Were the front springs so stiff as to be virtually immovable? I've made some Bug pieces over the years, but never had a chance to examine the springs, although in pictures they don't look all that inflexible.

Herb

 

Meo Costantini, Grand Prix de l'ACF, Lyon, August 3rd 1924.

 

Ernest Friderich, same race.

I wonder who had the fencing contract for that race - every picture I've seen of it has those wooden fences!

 

did any of the Maxwells survive? such neat looking cars.

 

I do not believe so. I seem to remember the cars were returned to the plant during the war and then some made it into Sloan's circus where they were probably pretty well used up. One or two may have made it into private hands to race in the 2nd tier circuits in the 20s but that is more guesswork than fact. They had built a few. I wish there was some that survived as they were neat little cars with pretty good technology.

Maybe someone has researched them more than I and can fill us in with a bit more accuracy-Jim

 

The Bugatti GP front springs are rather short, and as on all Bugattis go through the axle. There is no rear shackle, main leaf is flat and fits into a slot in a solid piece of brass bar stock. This brass cylinder is allowed to slightly move in an aluminum casting that bolts to the frame. The rear if the tire blocks it from view. It was a lot of fun working on Bugatti GP cars years ago, I'm a winning Lotto ticket away from owning one.

 

Having looked at a few photos/drawings the Type 35, etc., was indeed designed like this, afaik; the Type 37 maybe less so.
Le Patron did seem to have developed a rep. for inflexibility, though.

 

Le Patron did seem to have developed a rep. for inflexibility, though.

As in -If you don't have a heated garage--go away!

Herb
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talking through my hat; was thinking of 'waterglass' egg preserver, aka sodium silicate, sorry ...

 

V .........thanks for that


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Targa Florio

 

Mille Miglia



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