Racecars
This will be the place to look to find information on all of the racecars and other motor vehicles that Wes has used in his stories.
Contents
1937 Ford Coupe
In chapter 5 of On the Road it's 1947 and Mel Austin buys a '37 Ford Coupe with a V8-60 engine. In the winter of 1950/1951 Mel trades the V8-60 to Spud for use in one of the MMSA midgets. In exchange he gets '51 Ford V8 engine which made '37 Ford Coupe pretty much into a hot rod.
In Chapter 4 of Bradford Speedway it's August of 1954 and Mel says: "I parked my old ’37 Ford out in back of the house and just let it sit there – it had given me good service for many years, but by now it was close to old as the hills. I’d taken good care of it and it was in better shape than a seventeen-year-old car had a right to be in those days. For a while there I probably would have sold it, since we really only needed one car with me walking to school even on the bad days. It was really only worth scrap value, not much in those days, and it had some sentimental value so I was reluctant to let go of it. The Ford sat out there for several months, until one day I realized that I needed a car to use for some Auto Shop II presentations and the Ford would fill the bill nicely. Again, I won’t go into the details, but over a period of three or four years the Ford spent most of its time sitting over in the auto shop, being used as a demonstration project on a lot of things. Over the course of all that it got a pretty close to full restoration to its original 1937 condition, except that it had the larger engine. I can’t tell you how many times over the next few years people asked me if I’d like to sell it so they could use it to make a hot rod, but I always turned them down. After another few years its value started to go back up, and I was glad I’d held onto it. Today it’s worth literally thousands of times the five dollars I paid for it back there in Chadron, Nebraska in the winter of 1947."
The wikipedia page for the 1937 Ford is here: 1937 Ford.
1964 Ford Mustang
In chapter 17 of Bradford Speedway Mel Austin buys a 1964 1/2 Ford Mustang convertible with a 260 ci V8 engine. It was red with a White convertible top.
In Chapter 18 of Bradford Speedway Mel says "The ’64 Mustang, especially the convertible, was an instant classic from the moment it rolled onto the showroom floor, and for once even I was smart enough to realize it. I only drove it on a regular basis for a couple years, but I kept it around for driving occasionally on nice summer days, usually with Arlene as my regular seat cover, and kept it parked the rest of the time. I wound up putting "historic vehicle" plates on it in 1990, and I still drive it regularly in parades here in town, and once in a while to a classic car show. It’s never actually been restored; I just kept it in good shape."
The wikipedia page for the 1964 Ford Mustang is here: Ford Mustang.
A page devoted to first generation Mustangs is Here 1964-1974 Ford Mustang Facts.
AC Cobra 427
In chapter 24 of Bradford Speedway They get the Bradford Speedway track open for the first day of racing. One of the cars that shows up is a Shelby AC Cobra 427 ci.
The wikipedia page for the AC Cobra is here: AC Cobra.
Before playing these videos turn down the volume on your computer!!!!!
Here is a link to a video of a 427 Cobra running AC Cobra.
Here is a link to a video of two original 427 Cobras Two Cobras
Dodge Shadow/Plymouth Sundance
In chapter 3 of My Little Pony Telzey discovers that her 14 year old neighbor Will Austin races; “It’s what they call a Pony Stock,” Will explained. “It’s an ’89 Plymouth Sundance with the 2.2 liter four cylinder."
In chapter 10 of My Little Pony Telzey gets a Pony Stock race car of her own. It is a 1992 Dodge Shadow that was built by Dean Sprinkle.
The wikipedia page is here: Dodge Shadow, and here there is a page dedicated to the Shadow. Dodge Shadow
Here is a page about a young lady racing a 1994 Dodge Shadow. Abigail Looman
Jeep
In chapters 2 & 3 of On the Road Mel Austin races a World War II Jeep.
The wikipedia page is here: Willys.
Kurtis-Kraft Offy Midget
Frank Kurtis created a tremendous number and variety of race cars over his long career, playing an important role in the evolution of the look of race cars in the U.S. and creating over a hundred machines that competed in the Indy 500 alone. The sheer number of cars that his company, Kurtis-Kraft, built over the years has ensured that many survive to this day, and even those just slightly familiar with midcentury race cars will immediately recognize the design details of Kurtis-Kraft cars.
The wikipedia page is here: Kurtis-Kraft, and here Midget complete with several photos.
Here is a page about a restored Kurtis-Kraft Offy Midget.
Here is a page about the Karl Orr Midget.
MMSA Midget
On September 16, 2011 Wes and his wife Kathy took off for the fairgrounds at Lima, OH. There at an antique auto meet he found his proto-type of an MMSA Midget.
Wes describes the MMSA Midget as built from a 1934 to 1940 Ford. The factory rail frame is cut down so that the car is a little less than 4' wide and a little over 8' long. It is a little longer than a normal midget since they kept the 3 speed transmission and clutch to make it easier to run on a variety of tracks without having to change out rear end gears. The motor is a basically stock Ford V8-60. It also has a self starter so that they can cut back on crews letting the drivers do all of the work. It only has a 2 gallon fuel tank to reduce fire danger. They have to put bigger fuel tanks on in the fall for running the longer fairgrounds tracks.
Wes's photo essay of the trip is here, Bullring Days
Here is a link to a video of a V8-60 running. 1940 Ford Flathead V8-60
Offenhauser
The Offy or Offenhauser Racing Engine is a racing engine design that dominated American open wheel racing for more than 50 years and is still popular among vintage sprint and midget car racers.
Here is the Wikipedia page Offenhauser.
Here is a page about how to start an Offy.
Before playing these videos turn down the volume on your computer!!!!!
Here are 2 videos about starting a Drake-Offy turbo in a 1972 AAR Eagle Indy car part one and part two.
Here is a video of the 1972 AAR Eagle Turbo Offy being run in on a 2 mile oval Turbo Offy
Eagle Chassis Turbo Offy
The Turbo Offy that Ray Austin worked on for Ted Hilyard in Banners Flying would have looked a lot like the car pictured to the right.
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