Were sports cars an influence to early rodders? I think YES! Pics please!

Have a look at this Bentley Aero-Coupe - it came with this heavy roof chop directly from the coach builders (Guerney-Nutting I think). Surely this was an influence to Rodders?

 

I can't speak for everyone in the entire world or history of hot rodding, but when I was little (late '50s and '60s) there were a lot of hot rodders from around where I grew up that had sports cars also.

I don't know how much influence that sports cars had or has on what we consider to be a hot rod, but I've got to believe that there was and or is some influence. Raceing in general has had a big influence on hot rodding over the years.

I know of a a couple of guys that are resurrecting or reincarnateing old dragesters that had sports car bodies although there probably wasn't much in the line of sports car left in the old hoopties other than the sheet metal.

Well I guess I didn't really answer the question, I do have to say that I really appreciate it when Ryan or Alex posts something on one of the old roadtrack type of cars. its just a welcome brake from the norm.

 

1937 Mercedes Benz W125 - 646 HP

 

It's almost like the Chicken/Egg argument. The big Bentley's of the 20's were factory hot rods built to compete in LeMans and other racing venues across Europe, anyone who had seen one of these monsters at speed couldn't have helped wanting one...or something like it, as was well out of the reach of the common man, even at that time. It's hard to say if some guy in his garage in Bakersfield in the 20's knew about the racing scene in Europe, he just wanted to go faster. In later years, traditional hot rodders like like Max Balchowski (Old Yeller) and Doane Spencer (Hollywood Sports Car Sunbeam Tiger) moved into sports car racing, both pulled design and performance cues from wherever they could...as long as the end result was better performance.

 

The other version of the Blue Train Bentley. As owned by Tim Birkin (though not the car actually raced against the Blue Train, from what i understand.) And i think that the body is Gurney and Nutting

It is a really cool car tough.

 

http://oldyeller2.com/history.html

A little history on Max for those interested...

 

So true Phil...so true...the only "sports cars" we saw was in the movies...and they were teeny-tiny, driven by English gentlemen wearing those funny backwards hats, plaid coats and taught college...no such thing as "sports cars" in my little home town...about the only "open" vehicles we had were tractors...and farmers with bib overalls drove those!!!

R-

 

This might be better as its own thread, but wouldn't an old style hill climb, but for HAMBers be cool?? Any old style of racing is perfect for traditional hot rods. But hill climbs were a big thing in the forties and fifties, OUR era. Of course, they require prodigious horse power and good stout welds. Rat rods need not apply…

I believe many of the original places where the hill climbers ran are still available. It could be a form of vintage racing where the West coast does not dominate, because the hill climbers were from everywhere. Sounds like fun to me. Opinions?

 

I thought that was a fair assumption, Rodger. Because the most favoritest thing about your stories to me is the low budget underdog beating the rich kids to the stripe. If the sports car snoots were a big factor in your neck of the weeds, I know there'd be a bunch of hilarious tales about it. I've learned a lot from this thread. I'll never refer to Tea baggers again! ha ha

Phil

 

Hell yeah!!

I've raced on closed off public roads, parking lots, oval tracks with cones on them for chicanes ( and without ), airplane runway's, road race tracks, go kart tracks, etc...

The possibillities are endless...

 

My pops was a working class guy. Worked the steel mills while going through college. He was a rodder through the fifties and the sixties. But he loved his sports cars as well. Traded up here or there for a brit sportster or four. I don't think it was really a money thing, when it came to rods or sports cars. Maybe to some, but not the overall vibe. I mean I'm the same way - love rods, and love old sports cars. I think they're just two different driving experiences.

 

Let’s not forget about Briggs Cunningham and his Hemi powered cars.

 

And his BuMerc...

 

Briggs Cunningham had an auto museum in Costa Mesa. I never went to it and it closed. Now when I see pics from it I kick myself. Just a caution to all to not procrastinate seeing things like that.

The BuMerc proved my point. AGAIN, damn it!!

 

I was lucky enough to see one of the Cunningham cars at Lime Rock a few years ago. I was blown away with the hemi with six Weber carbs and the machine work that was in that car. That one car made the trip to the vintage races worthwhile.

 

Further evidence of the cross pollination is the fact that the original Hop Up magazine was published by Road and Track, for those of you that don't know, Road and Track was the quintessential sports car magazine in the early days, may still be, I quit reading it years ago. The tech editor of those early Hop Ups was John R. Bond, the editor/publisher of Road and Track through it's glory days.
Personally I lusted for a hot rod when I was growing up in the '50's and 60's, when I got old enough to drive I got into the sports car thing and then reverted back to my youth and the desire for a hot rod later in life. I currently have a hot rod, I am building another one and I have an old MG TD in need of restoration.
I would say, absolutely, sports cars influenced hot rods. And vice versa.

 

Actually, I think there was at leats 3 Old Yellers built over the years. I read an artical on the guy which was quite interesting. And your correct, more often than not beat the high dollar imports, which was pretty cool!

 

Dean Bachelors book The american Hot Rod has a chapter on the subject.


I have posted these pics earlier but thought they might have some interest.

It's a Norwegian "homebuild" racer from the 50's. Based on 30's Ford parts. Now has Ardun power, and a Jag gearbox.
Italian influences on the grill for sure.
Build by a Norwegian named Greger Strøm. Died some 10+ years ago I guess.
He was a hot rodder at heart. One of the few here at the time. A very scilled mechanic and engine builder, (Flattys and bangers)

Paul

 

i'd never log on to the HAMB again if i could get my mits on his DOHC Puegot.

The C4R-K is one of my all time favorite cars, it is just bloody lethal looking!!!

It would be on my extremely short list of cars to make a recreation of.

 

I think that what Ak Miller and a few others were trying to do was make cars like the Jaguar XK120 and Mercedes 300SL, but with available parts and ingenuity. They couldn't afford NEW cars, let alone sports cars, so they used good hot rodding and racing practice to make their own era's supercars.

Meanwhile in England, the cradle of sports car building and racing, Sidney Allard was building sports cars with American flathead and OHV V8s. Dragsters too.

The crossover between hot rods and sports cars was a healthy thing for both.

 

This little cast aluminum hollow body race car was given to me for Christmas when I was four years old.
My two year old sister got one as well, but since she never played with it I figured I had two . . . although in late years she came looking for it . . . and took it back.

Interesting part was my grandfather got it from a metal casting guy he knew.
The real interesting part was that WW2 was still going on and aluminum was hard to come by for toys and the like.

I've since seen a couple of looks to be the same maker, but slightly different designs at various places.

The little aluminum racer with wall thicknesses ranging from 1/8 to 1/4" depending is a solid little car and once you put a drop of Three in One onto the axle/wheel interface it would coast forever with a good push.
Coasting down the hill races were fun as well.

The aluminum racer gave me a good push towards being the car lover that I am today.
And once I got into high school, seeing a black flathead powered 32 highboy with white top that a teacher owned and commuted about 33 miles with pushed me over the brink.
My present day 32 is a fairly close approximation of the high school teachers 32 cept for the big Buick engine, mag wheels with their fatter tires and black top.

The second pic shows the Mercedes race car that I believe the aluminum racer was copied from.

 

Quite a few more than 3, actually...

 

Here is a pic of Ak Miller in his Devin Olds.

 

And here is a pic of an Allard built Dragster with a Supercharged 4cylinder English Ford engine.

I agree...

 

And thats the same Sidney Allard that's responsible for this car...

Recognise the driver?

Zora Arkus Duntov.

The Daddy of the Corvette, and the guy who wrote the Memo " Thoughts pertaining to youth, Hot Rodders and Chevrolet".

Funny how this all ties together, isn't it...

 

I think it goes both ways, I grew up with hot rods from my Dad and had some muscle cars and some sports cars too. I've used my hot rod experience to build up my race inspired 66 Vette. Not one number matches and was built with a lot of busted knuckles and hard work.

 

Haven't been able to find these since my last move but I had two Science & Mechanics magazines I saved from the early '60s that had how to build articles on the "Wild Hare". It looked similar to Old Yeller and was built from mostly Ford parts. Ford chassis and running gear, flathead V8 and the body built using roof panels and fenders from various cars. Pretty much hot rod underneath a sports roadster shell. I looked but couldn't find any pics or info on line, wish I could find the box those mags are in.

 

I'm looking for a C cab pick up beach buggy built on a Crosley chassis/running gear it was featured in one of those mags back in the 60s with pics of it on the front cover on the beach. I had a bunch of old do it yourself mags from 30s to around 70 from my grandfather and several uncles they each suscribed to one and exchanged them with each other then stored them in gramps barn tool room , but I lost them all when my moms house burnt I still have 2 encyclopedia sets from popular mechanic from 1954 and 60 from them

 

B.C. was a pretty inventive guy.

A lot of people don't know it, but he did well racing sailboats and in fact developed a device that carries his name to this day.

Got a pic if anyone is really interested....