|
HOME | FILM REVIEWS | PHOTOGRAPHY | BUILD | READING | ABOUT | BLOG | LINKS
Historic Automobile Races 20 AUG 2005 A selection of unique autos. Captions were taken from information boards displayed with the cars.
Cooper was an English brand of racing car. The company began with tiny single-seaters powere by 500cc Norton Manx motorcycle engines, back when the purists believed in keeping costs down...Cooper would eventually revise the world by proving the in formula cars rear engines are better than front engines and that small beats big, but in 1954 the firm was expanding just a bit and offered a sports car. Sort of. It was really the single seat car except that it had a body that covered the wheels and provided a place for headlights, and it had a second smaller seat. The main seat, the driver's seat, was in the center of the chassis and the passenger went on the driver's left. At the time, Porsche offered its 1500cc flat four in road, sporting and racing versions. Lovely took one of the milder ones, the 1500 Super, and put it into little car bone stock, on the theory that he wouldn't need more power than the engine already had and that he could ensure reliability if he didn't change the engine.
English racecar designer John Croswaite and aerospace industry craftsman Bud Hall began producing racecars in 1958 in San Diego, California. Over the next several years they built approximately 25 Formula Juniors and 12-14 Sports Racers. Most of the cars were built to race with 1100cc or smaller engines to compete in the SCCA Modified classes. The Formula Juniors were called INTERNATIONALS and the sports racers were called AMERICAS.
Californian Frank Kurtis made significant marks in the auto racing world during the 1940s and 1950s with his Indianapolis roadsters and midget racers. Twenty four of the starting thirty three 1952 Indianapolis 500 entries were Kurtis chassis. In 1953 Kurtis began producing the 500S, 500KK followed by the 500M sports cars based on the Indy Roadster design. The 500KK models were special order customer cars that were delivered in various stages of completion. A customer could order a bare chassis to a complete car, with any available power plant and transmission.
The Lola T-163 was one of the most successful cars built by Lola for the Can-Am series. The T-163s were part of a continual evolution of similar models designated as T-160, 162, 163 and 165. These were the first Lolas to use big-block Chevy engines. Approximately 25 of this series of cars were built in 1968-70 to Can-Am specifications. Of the 25, approximately eight of the T-163 models were built.
A very unique and special road racing prototype, the car is the second of only three road racing prototypes built by Marvin "Web" Webster of the Webster Gear Company in Mill Valley, California. The car was built in 1964 to compete in the 1965 USRRC series, for drivers Tony Settember and Ed Leslie. In 1966 the CanAm series prevailed with its unlimited rules and the car never raced in period again. The aluminum alloy body is one of a kind, hand formed by master fabricator Jack Hagemann covering the one-off chassis built by master mechanic Jerry Eisert. Louie Shefchik of J & L Fabricating in Puyallup, Washington restored the car from the ground up in 1985 and again in 2001. The engine is a special aluminum block 215 CID Oldsmobile V8 bored and stroked to 255 CID built in 2001 by Ron Shaver of Torrance, CA. After the 2001 restoration, the car was used once and parked until the car changed owners in May 2004.
Current Formula One constructor Peter Sauber's fourth series of prototype sports cars built in Hinwil, Switzerland. The 'C' in the chassis number is from his wife Christine's first name initial. This car placed 3rd in 1975 in the Swiss Sportscar Championship, and raced througout Europe. The C4 was the first time Sauber used an aluminum monocoque chassis instead of a tubular frame. Only one C4 was ever built, and was powered by a 2 litre Ford Cosworth BDG engine.
|
... Site content © 2006-2008 ...