History Vintage "Cageless" Midget Picture Thread

Jim, thanks for the quick reply....I started racing go karts back in the early 60's.I'll never forget the day Dad brought the kart home,he would run it in the senior classes and I would add another tank of gas and run it in the junior classes.He was the best father a boy could have ever had He always made time for me whether he had time to give or not....karts kind of died out a couple years later.......I then graduated to racing motorcycles......Thank God I didn't ever get seriosly hurt......A lot of water ran over the dam till I started racing a 4 cyl. mustang at our local track..about ten years ago....You've probably heard the story before....wrench,owner,driver.....burned myself out quickly......graduated to helping out a local 410 sprint car team.Owner sold sprint car and eventually bought six quarter midgets,three for his daughter and three for his son....Man have we put a lot of miles on his new pickup,going quarter midget racing(we go to Phoenixville)at least once a week in the summer.and go to all the ARDC events we can make....I have since been running a microsprint,also for the past 6 years.Last year I owned two microsprints,and let my friends daughter drive one.(she has had six years of quarter midget racing)We finished nineth and tenth in points at our local track.....Will racing ever end?????I don't think so, it's in my blood.....starman

 

The lack of a windshield, makes me think it was a indoor show.

 

Forgot To mention,last July,quite a few older midgets were on hand,and supposed to run a few laps around my local track(Clinton County Fairgrounds,Mill Hall,Pa.)The ARDC Midgets were also to be there twice this past summer but both events were rained out.We got rained out ten or eleven times this past summer......However,the older cars did put on a nice little show the very next week at a place called Greenwood Valley Action Track.....(not too far from Bloomsburg)

 

Rootie. Looks like a stadium to me. The grandstands say 1/4 mile track probably in the northeast looking at the dress of the people in the stands.

Don't believe it is Carl Miller, I never saw Dee Toran so...

 

......'I would have to agree, definitely a stadium. And could it possibly be Soldier Field in Chicago? It's hosted some midget races and has been known to be a bit chilly there??? There were some big midget races there back in the day. 'Probably the last, big one at an outdoor stadium was Gary Bettenhausen winning the "Crown 100" in 1972 in Philly, which paid $5,000. That was HUGE in '72.

 

Pretty sure it is east coast and some have mentioned Carl Miller at Lobitz.
This is before my time,so I can`t say.

I checked a photo of Dee Toran in Gordon White`s excellent Offenhauser book-hard to say,there is a resemblance,but that photo in the book is small.

 

i can remember that the gatorade sprintcar had green lettering,really at that time in the late 70s,gatorade only made a lime flavor drink,and how people use to talk about his green car

 

Has anyone checked with John Mahoney? He might have color photos of Rice in the car.

Here is what the Gatorade Indy car looked like in 1975

http://www.indy500.com/image/fit/w/.../1975/19750101-nphotographer/med/imsc4874.jpg

 

Why did they outlaw it ?

Similar cars were raced here in Australia.

 

Here are some pics of the Vintage Speedcar Spectacular held at the Ekka (the Brisbane Exhibition Showgrounds) here in Oz on September 12 this year. A combined event for both caged and non-caged cars. This is a selection of the non-caged cars. Enjoy.

 

'fredeuce, 'That is an incredible contribution to this forum you just made and I want to thank you. I can't believe the popularity of vintage midgets down under. They seem to get their hands on the best of everything. Any idea what engine is in the white car in the foreground of the 8th pic down? It kind of resembles a Toyota 3RC that some of the guys ran in mini-sprints over here. 'Too small cid for the midgets. I also really appreciate the attention to detail of the Aussie and Kiwi race tracks, albeit dirt, they always seem to have a beautiful grass infield like some of our tracks and stadiums did in yesteryear.

 

The motor in the white Nev Brennan car was a 60-70s renault

 

LittleFauss,
I believe that the engine was in fact a Citroen engine.

 

Thanks Tony .. I'll go there & take a look. But meanwhile on here a few things I immediately noticed about that car.

No roll bar - no gauges &/or place for them on the dash - strange non-racing type steering wheel .. body style looked more up to date than the years mentioned .. probably would notice more if I looked hard .... I also did notice that Lou Cicconi inquired about it.

 

Happy/sad you posted these, I was supposed to be there!!! But...

Bill Goode's son was in my class in primary school, grade 1,2, 3. Every Monday morning, his news for the class was "my dad won such and such race at the speedway Saturday night" and he'd have a ribbon or trophy to show.

They were great races every Saturday night in the middle of town, we used to go quite a lot.

That track was compressed decomposed granite I think.

Parramatta Speedway in Sydney is clay. I was in the infield for some races a few years back and got in big trouble for calling it 'dirt!'

 

I shouldn't have said "looks like" Carl Miller .. rather I should have said Carl Miller, without a doubt in my mind!!! .. I could never forget his "mug"!!!

Yes, definately a stadium, more than likely in the Mid Atlantic or North East states .. probably outdoors .. although Carl often overdressed, the way the people in the grandstands were dressed suggests chilly weather .. the lack of a roll bar give a hint as to the date - as does the way the fans are dressed .. also a good crowd also suggests not too many years after WWII .. looks like slick rather than groved tires.

NIce looking ride too .. Ford V8-60 powered.

 

Pic as mentioned in PM.

 

Possibly Hinchcliff Stadium, Paterson NJ .....?

 

Thanks Ken-Carl Miller it is then.

Thanks to Fredeuce for the great photos! Looks like one of the 10 KK roadster midgets is in Australia.
I esp like the photo of the Bonser Spl!

 

seems some of the reguler Offy owners were afraid it would beat them to often?
aXe

 

citroen goddess,& engineered to reverse rotation by nev.

 

'Thank you gentlemen, 'To all of our buddies from down under that weighed in on the engine in the car in question. What's funny, whether you're talking about Citroen or Renault, few people probably realize that at the beginning of the Miller/Offenhauser era in the very early part of the 20th century, they give full credit for the design of their 4 cylinder, 4 valves/cylinder, DOHC to another French automaker, Peugeot.

 

So it wasn't a case of being out side the rules but more a case of some folks not liking it. If that is so then its a bit sad.

Here is a pic of another one of these cars in Oz. Wally Witherick is the owner. The following pic is of a similar car that I'm building at the moment.

 

'fredeuce, 'That's exactly the way it was. I was there first hand to witness some of the very unfair practices of most notably, USAC. Back then, they virtually owned open wheel racing and always had a huge turnout of cars. So, they could indiscriminately ban a car owner or driver even though they might be well within the rule book without suffering any consequences. 'Just like with the Daimler, it was simply an OHV engine with a cid of 155 or less, totally within the rule book. And yet, turned away. In that case, the car owner, Ralph Young might have gone to court because he was allowed to run the following year. And, the case of Bill Leonhart, BCRA owner/driver showing up at the old San Jose Speedway for a USAC race and not being allowed to run his home-made SESCO. Look at the difference today; you can order a new Gaerte aluminum block (after-market) with any cylinder head you want and be legal. Brodix, Ford Boss 302, Robert Yates, etc, etc. We were also at Santa Rosa (CA) for BCRA indoors when L.T. "Red" Caruthers and his driver, Bobby Olivero showed up a year before they debuted the VW midget and were turned away with their Triumph motorcycle powered TQ Midget. BCRA officials deemed they "wouldn't be competitive." A few weeks later, they towed all the way back to USAC Indoors in Ft. Wayne (IN) and missed the show.

 

L/F Dido on that one!
One Year at the spring USAC opener at Old San Jose Speedway Gary B. drove our car and they had a height min. for the roll bar. Well or car never had much of a roll bar. some one protested and USAC Let Gary run .
It was there show and that was that !

 

Revisiting my question about 5 main bearing 4 cylinder engines prior to '55 there are only two others I know for sure.

The Frank Brisko engine running in 1940 (driven by Emil Andres) looked like and was built like an Offy but had a hydraulic timed pump like a diesel pump operating the individual valve units. The head was hemi but no camshafts or gear tower.There were 5 diaphragms in the tunnel crankcase carrying the babbited mains. A block, crankcase, diaphragms and billet crankshaft are in the back room at Speedy Bill's museum. There is also a 1985 patent that Brisko obtained on the hydraulic valve actuation!

The (Oscar) Norberg Offy look-a-like also had 5 mains.

There were a number of other Offy look-a-likes, several of which are at Speedy Bill's that I have no clue about, including the Ambler, Corrigan, Hal, and the Voelker.

The Sowers at Speedy's is obviously a 5 main bearing as can be seen from the picture on the website http://www.museumofamericanspeed.com/Collections/Engines/AllAlphaE199.shtml

 

Yes, very possibly Hinchcliffe Stadium in Paterson, NJ which .. back in the day .. was a hot bed of midget racing .. later on the early stock cars.

Some of the earliest TV broadcast (local only in those days and live too) of auto racing came from there, when it was promoted by a man I worked for (in much later years) .. Tom Galan & his partner Harvey Tattersall, Jr..
(BTW .. they were two of the original dozen or so that founded NASCAR.)

Ed Otto might have promoted Hinchcliffe at one point too.

In the Carl Miller picture, did anyone else notice a glaring absence of what is a manditory safety feature for the fans today??? .... The lack of a catch/debris fence.

The Hinchcliffe Stadium is still standing today and (I think) has been declared some sort of historic landmark. It's basicly abandoned though, run down, decaying slowly and grafitti covers much of it.

They hold a racing show, get together there every year. Here's a video clip of Ace Lane, Jr. doing some interviews at the 2007 one, plus some of the cars that were there running. .... Ken Brenn, Sr. was among the many there this past summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OdsfcNcnEE
It opens with water falls - the Great Falls - right near where the stadium was built & stands.

There's a local group working towards saving, restoring & preserving the 10,000 seat stadium, but as far as ever reviving it .. well (I think) that may be impossible, as today there is no place to park even a small crowd in the area.

 

How about Buffalo Civic Stadium??
mlight9.

 

Even a few more places it MIGHT have been.
The first three were definitely were hot beds of midget racing after WWII .. however all hosted midget racing at one time or another

In Connecticut --
West Haven -- a baseball stadium.

In New Jersey --
Ruppert Stadium -- (Ruppert / Knickabocker beer)
Roosevelt Stadium -- a baseball stadium in Jersey City

~~~~~~~~~~

In New York --
Although somewhat later & I "think" roll bars were being used by then????
The Polo Grounds in NY City -- where the NY Giants baseball team had formerly played.

In Pennsylvania --
Now I might be way, way off here, as I don't know when it was built &.or when racing started there -- or even what it's prior name was.
JFK Stadium in Philadelphia -- 100,000 seat stadium (like Soldier Field in Chicago also was).
It hosted the annual Army vs Navy footbal games.

I think all of these are gone today.

 

[The Hinchcliffe Stadium is still standing today and (I think) has been declared some sort of historic landmark. It's basicly abandoned though, run down, decaying slowly and grafitti covers much of it.

They hold a racing show, get together there every year. Here's a video clip of Ace Lane, Jr. doing some interviews at the 2007 one, plus some of the cars that were there running. .... Ken Brenn, Sr. was among the many there this past summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OdsfcNcnEE
It opens with water falls - the Great Falls - right near where the stadium was built & stands.

Wow, I thought they took a wrecking ball to that place years ago...last time I saw it it was covered in graffiti...not a place you would hang around very long.
Looks pretty damn good in the video, let's round up some old midgets and sell some tickets!