Vintage shots from days gone by!

What a porthole back in time for any car guy or gal! Ya GOTTA read this! May '56 Mechanix
Illustrated coverage of the Daytona speed trials in February, written by the immortal (inimita-
ble!) "Uncle Tom" McCahill. Tom's really feeling his wisecracking oats in this one, as he brags
on the Chrysler 300-B, driven by Tim Flock, AND bitching about the newly heightened factory
presence! (I wish Tom could have been listening in when Chrysler officials politely told the DeSoto Adventurer outfit to, in effect, "sit out" after the '56 Adventurer turned in a first pass
-- into the wind -- of 137 mph for the flying mile. But, hey, one can't have everything, eh?) Joe
Roberts will surely enjoy the ink Tom expends at the end of his report, enthusing about Briggs
Cunnigham showing up in a RENTED '56 Packard-powered Stude Golden Hawk, then proceed-
ing to enter it in every event permissible! (For power-to-weight, the Hawk was said by some
to be the best American production model of '56. Wonder what might have happened with a
B/W 4-speed tranny!)

 

More Cuban road race photos - 1957
'Sagua La Grande to La Habana
(Havana)' 310 kilometer road race.
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Mart3406
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http://thechicaneblog.com/2010/07/09/reader-photos-cuba-57-59/

https://profiles.google.com/117502824818037960928/buzz/Zd6sRzv31o2
==================

 

Many of these same drivers and cars, including the F88 Olds, showed up at Sebring just a few weeks later on March 24, 1956.


Driver Marquis Alphonse dePortago drove a Ferrari in the 12 hour race sharing the driver seat with Jim Kimberly.



The Ferrari threw a valve late in the afternoon which ended the day for the car. dePortago went on to have some fun by taking a 1948 Tucker out on the 3890 foot backstretch where it was clocked at 132MPH. The Tuckers owner said the car was completely stock and still had its original spark plugs from 1948.

 

Richard Milhouse Nixon a.k.a. "Tricky Dick"

 

TuckFan, what an interesting piece of info on the Tucker. Thanks! I don't recall ever reading much of anything on just what a Tucker 48 would do under flat-out conditions! 132 mph! I only remember that they'd been run in roundy-round and, in factory setup, weren't well prepped for that punishment. BUT, I do remember well a story of one drag-racing head-to-head against a new Rocket 88 at some state fairgrounds (about 1950, as I recall) and winning three times, before the Olds cadre said "enough." That 336 Franklin flat-opposed six was apparently quite a beast!

 

The Franklin 335 made 166HP and 450lbs of torque at 1800rpm. The fastest Tucker was #1019 topping out in excess of 140+. It had a little help. The run was made just outside Dillon MT in the late 50s. The car was driven up to the top of the Continential Divide and then turned around. With the gas pedal to the floor, the 4235 pound Tucker quickly flew by the end of the 120MPH speedometer and continued to gain more and more speed over the several mile straight away. No one knows just how fast it went but one can only imagine.

 

Jimi, thanks so much for posting this great article packed with great info. McCahill was the reason for buying Mechanix Illustrated. I used to read his stuff over and over as a kid.

 

Wow! Any chance you have a larger version of this? My boys (and I) would love this hanging on the wall.

 

They still do.
There are a couple of brands were I live that still come in a box.

 

Yeah, man! Know what ya mean! After you put these (plus HotRod) down for a while, you just get DRAWN BACK and read 'em all over again! FUNNY, when you do, you ALWAYS find osmething you missed before, ever notice???

And Uncle Tom was a phenomenon in the flesh. When he DIED, Mechanix Illustrated played down his demise -- almost to the degree of secrecy -- as they were afraid their subscriptions and newsstand sales would plummet if readers found out the man even THEY considered "the franchise" was dead! LOL. Quite a tribute to Tom!

But, for SURE, he loved cars and KNEW how to talk about 'em in an ENTERTAINING way! Guess it was his savvy, schmaltzy insight on that! I don't think he was always RIGHT, but he was ALWAYS Uncle Tom!

 

I remember the Charlie Chips that came in a tin can MMMMmmmm

 

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset" class=alt2>Originally Posted by yellerspirit


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Ditto! THANKS, YellerSpirit! Larger, PLUS colorized! Notice, besides Mundy and Teague up front, there are two OTHER Hudsons in the top five?

(Hard to BELIEVE that, in a couple of years, this FABULOUS company would be essentially out of business, isn't it?)

 

Same deal with New Era. I'll have to snap a picture.

 

11 inches tall and 7 1/2 inches in diameter. I last remember buying them in the 50's. Found this can at a flea market a while back.

 

Wow, John, you shocked a memory center in my gray matter. I remember the stylized lady figure from billboards and newspaper ads in the '50s. But I had NEVER seen this again until now. love the HAMB, bro!

As for YellerSpirit's pic at Carrell Speedway:
Since "Rebel Frank" Mundy won three times at Carrell, in Gardena, CA, I'm wondering if this might have been the AAA race of December 7, 1952 (?). Or (maybe more likely), is this a '53 Carrell Speedway race in '53, after Teague had also parted ways with "Big Bill" France?

(FUNNY how so many good racers didn't get along with Bill, Sr.! lol)

 

OK Mart, here's another coulda, woulda story. In about 1973 this Corvette was advertised in a local rag for sale. $2400, advertised with 22 gauges,including and altimeter inside and outside temp gauges, disc brakes, etc, etc. Of course 1963 Corvettes didn't have disc brakes so e had a good laugh. Two guys I got to know later bought it. I sat in the car before it was restored, was later part of the Dominos Pizza collection. Google Harley Earl 1963 Corvette for more pics.

 

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Cool piece of history here from Paula Wirth of the FlickR community. [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] was back in the era when advertisers still tried to push -- or contrive -- [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]the [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"health benefits" of their products. NEW ERA potato chips. Hmmm! Imagine [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]HEALTHY potato chips! Maybe you'd want to wash 'em down with an ice [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]cold Lithiated Lemon-Lime sodapop? (7-Up's original name.)[/FONT]


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1945 7Up ad thanks to IOffer.

[IMHO, 7Up and other soda pops were a lot cleaner tasting and more
"refreshing" before companies started using high-fructose corn syrup
instead of real sugar. The issue of the post, after all, WAS what's
healthier.]

 

I remember this race... Oldsmobiles came in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.......

 

Tom McCahill the author of that Daytona story also test drove a Tucker and did a write up on it in Mechanix Illustrated. I have the magazine article here somewhere. I do remember he spoke very, very highly of the car.