Ryan submitted a new blog post: Tom Cobbs: The Mining Cabin Visit… Continue reading the Original Blog Post
Ryan when you have nothing else on your plate, these photos deserve a book like The Birth of Hot Rodding. They are amazing and a treat to look at a important era of hot rod history. Thanks again for all this.
Wow - great stuff need more. Couple interesting things I see: wheelbase on roadster pickup with engine & body set back, early use of panhard bar on rpu front suspension, oil pan on blown sbc. Great stuff
Also… from another archive I was gifted years ago - The Bob Roddick Collection: Double Tom Cobbs Trouble.
Some more great history! Thanks, Ryan! Looks like the typical SBC to early Ford trans mate up, complete with the adapter, but what’s that pressure plate? Doesn’t look like the normal Merc B&B. Auburn?
Ownership Tree: - Bob & Dick Pierson: 1946(?) - 1951 - Dawson Hadley & Jim Evans: 1951 - 1953 - George Bentley: 1953 - 1954 - Tom Cobbs: 1954 - 1958 Tom sold the car to Bob Joehnck who installed a hemi, but never really got anywhere with it. He ended up selling it to an employee… The car sort of sat around for a while and then was purchased by Tom Bryant who raced the car for years and years… He eventually retired the car in 1991 and then sold it to Bruce Meyer.
Amazing story and cars thanks for sharing. I will say this 30-31 roadster just does it for me and makes me Smile . Does anyone have more info or pics. I have an extra 30 roadster body now I have to build one just like it!
That cabin reminds me of one my Uncle Charlie had, lots of good summer memories there! That little rpu looks to me like a neat little desert runner. Three carbed flatty, who said it had to be slow?! Seems like everything Tom Cobbs related is both neat and somewhat mysterious. What's with the cave picture? See what I mean?
Those cabins were undoubtedly built (just big enough) to satisfy the homesteading requirements of the federal government to obtain ownership of government acreage. These homesteads were numerous in San Berdoo, Riverside and Los Angeles county desert areas, as well as Arizona and other states. I'm pretty sure the "cave" pic is a portion of a (gold) mine tunnel.
You know what’s wild about the Morris-Cobbs roadster? That brutal little brick of a car went north of 215 mph in the late 1950s. Just wrap your head around that… hurtling through that white blinding oven in what amounts to a ballistic bathtub on bicycle tires. I think it was hemi-powered… Hopefully we will get a better look as we continue our way through the archive. Cobbs was heavily involved, so I gotta think he took pics… And speaking of ungodly speeds in crazy contraptions…. I’ve already started working on tomorrow’s feature. We’re heading back to Bonneville. Back to Mickey Thompson. Back to the madness. This one’s gonna hit hard. Stay tuned.
@Ryan wow that’s crazy 215mph back then and really no safety goodies just Ball of Steel! Awesome thread !! I just love the way she sits and you can see the hints of being a mid engine ish. The fact it’s Hemi powered is even more exciting. Let’s face it them engines are Powerful and full of torque making fabrication on the chassis even more critical. I hope he snapped a few pictures and look forward to seeing more of Mr Cobbs adventures
Awesome... First time I realize that a Model A RPU can looks like a WW2 Jeep... Since T's and A's with skinny tyres were good on mud in the past... There are some good points on my view I think!
The Jalopy Journal
