Category Archives: Auto Racing 1946 – 1965
The Sunday Edition No.VII – The 1957 Pikes Peak Hill Climb – Double-Ended Model T Ford – A Streamlined Motor Home
The video for our Sunday Edition today was produced for the Socony Mobil Oil Company and shows and describes the running of the 1957 Pikes Peak Hill Climb. The event was sanctioned at the time by USAC with classes for both open-wheeled championship type racing cars and stock cars. In addition to the racing cars, at points in the video there are some interesting views of parked spectators cars. Bob Finey won the champ car class, and Jerry Unser took the stock car class win.
You can learn more at about the history of the event at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The video is courtesy of the pikespeaklibrary.
Reader Stan Fleming sent in this photo of a double-ended novelty car, made out of a Model T Ford. By the mid to late-teens used Ford’s and parts could be obtained cheaply and we assume that the first of these may have been constructed starting in that period or the 1920s. If anyone knows more about the origin of this type of car or the details behind this later one, please send us a comment.
In response to our recent post on the Zephyr Land-Yacht, reader Lillian Manfried from the United Kingdom sent us a copy of this press photo she bought at a flea market. She would like to learn more about it including the constructor and what type of chassis it is on. Send us a comment of you have any knowledge about it and can help out.
The Sunday Edition is for reader contributions, please join in and share with other vintage car enthusiasts from all around the world. If you have a great photo, know of an excellent video, a mystery or story, contact us here (we will send you and email address) and include your full name so we can credit your submission.
The 2014 Millers At Milwaukee Vintage Indy Car Exhibition
- The 1935 Pirrung Special, a f.w.d. special powered by an early Offerhauser
The annual Millers At Milwaukee meet is one of the few such events in the country that cater to vintage oval track enthusiasts. The focus of the event has always been the Miller Racing cars created by Harry A. Miller, and later cars powered by the Offenhauser engine. It is held at the Milwaukee Mile race track at the State Fair complex; the track opened in 1904 and is the oldest operating auto racing track in the country.
The 19th annual 2014 Meet was held last weekend with well over fifty cars attending. The two-day event has always been a fun and low-key gathering where you can see, touch, smell, and get up close to the cars. There is plenty of time to talk with the owners of the racers, and possibly even get a ride in a two-man car out on the track. A number of other related early racing cars and specials also attend so, it is a chance to see some very interesting machinery.
You can learn all the details about the event at Millers At Milwaukee. A great deal of information about the cars that Harry A. Miller built and the history behind them can be found at the Miller-Offenhauser Historical Society. And thanks go out to Lee Stohr of Stohr Design for his photos.
- 1930 Fred Frame Duesenberg Sprint Car – The John Zink Special
- Bowes Seal Fast Special – Miller TNT – Bugatti Type 37A
- 1913 Peugeot Type – 3.0-liter Coupe de l’Auto
- 1930 Miller Sampson Special with twin Miller 91 c.i.d. engines
Follow along above as Jean Jennings takes us to the Millers At Milwaukee event in 2013 to meet up with Miller collector Dan Davis and run a number of his cars out on the track. You can also read her post about the adventure at Jean Knows Cars.
Posted in Auto Racing 1894 - 1942, Auto Racing 1946 - 1965, Post-War Contemporary Photos, Pre-War Contemporary Photos, video
Tagged 1913 Peugeot, Bugatti Type 37A, Fred Frame Duesenberg, Harry A. Miller, Miller Sampson Special, Millers At Milwaukee, Milwaukee Mile, Offerhauser, Pirrung Special, vintage oval track
Circle Track Hot Rods in Post-War California
For this Sunday’s video, we have footage from one of the numerous short tracks that dotted southern California in the years immediately following the Second World War. The type of cars seen here offered a much more affordable way to get into racing than with the purpose-built midgets and so-called Big Cars that had been prevalent on the oval tracks in the nineteen-thirties. The vast majority of these roadsters were Ford-based.
It was the wide availability of inexpensive Model “A”, “T” and 1932 to 1934 models, flathead V-8′s and the speed parts for them that made it relatively easy to build a competitive car on a budget. An interesting footnote occurs at the 2:20 minute mark where we see a very young and very serious looking Dick Rathmann, the future Indianapolis driver. His expression might be at least partially explained in the last paragraph of this brief biography. You can see many more post-war racing posts on The Old Motor.
