Origins of Speed – a Historical Look Back

 

1948 Hot Rod Show display with Jack Andrews, Charlie Nordon and Ed Iskenderian…Pic Courtesy of Ed Iskenderian.  Click to Enlarge.

I know hot rods and customs is what brings us car guys and gals together but, its the people that make this hobby what it is.  Everyone has their own story.  My passion for the automobile started with my dad and uncle.  They have hot rodded off and on since they were teenagers.  It was their hobby, their passion.  It’s what kept them out of trouble when their dad passed away at the age of 15 and 12.  My dad has tons of stories of his ‘64 Mercury Comet Cyclone on the streets of Azusa, Calif and the original Irwindale Dragstrip.  My uncle has stories of tearing up GMR (Glendora Mountain Road) in his Nova and Datsun 510.  Most of my close friends are there because of our common interestes in cars.  My brother and I and my cousin have our own stories of cars (and motorcycles) that we have customized that we can share with our kids.  It’s the Hecht pasttime.

 

Gardena Speedway, September 15, 1946 photo courtesy of Don Johansen.  Click to Enlarge!

A recurring theme throughout the early days of speed equipment manufacturing was the dirt track racing with chopped and stripped down roadsters.  This is where you advertised your parts.  Win at the races and sell parts, it was the only formula before the days of engine dynos.

The automobile itself has only been around for the everyday person since the early 1900’s.  That’s really not that long in the grand scheme of things.  But time moves on and documenting and remembering our rodding roots is very important.  So, where are the origins of speed?  When did hot rodding and customizing your car really start?  The heart of that industry has got to be Southern California in the late 1930’s and 40’s.  Soon, hotrodders found the dry lake beds of California and the Salt Flats of Bonneville, Utah where they could let the flatheads stretch their legs…

In this post, the hot rod history lesson comes from one of the coolest automotive books of all time!  Motorbooks has done it again with the introduction of “Merchants of Speed”, authored by Paul D. Smith.  This is a fact based book, a history book if you will.  Photos are from the actual “Merchants” themselves in some cases.  Families and close friends have also proven to be a wealth of information, photos and documentation.

Ed “Isky” Iskenderian with his famous roadster purchased from a friend in 1938 for $25.  Photo courtesy of Ed Iskenderian.  Click to Enlarge.

Above is Ed Iskenderian in his military uniform posing with his 1924 T bucket.  Born in 1921, “he was about 12 years old (in 1933 or so) when he began to notice a type of car that was completely different than the run-of-the-mill vehicles that inhabited the roadways.  These street rods were mainly Model T’s void of all unnecessary parts and propelled with hopped-up four-cylinders.  Ed and his buddies found out they could see more of these cars up at Muroc Dry Lake.”

Like many of the time, Ed served in WWII and doing so, gained many mechanical skills that would serve them well later.  When he returned from the war, Ed wanted to get his roadster back on the road.  That obviously turned into “how can I make it faster”.  His first hot rod part was this 4 carb intake manifold for his flathead you see below.  Ed eventually became the first President of the Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association in 1963.

 

Isky’s first hot rod part, a 4 carb manifold for his flathead V8.  Courtesy of Ed Iskenderian.  Click to Enlarge.

To find out about the “Isky Cams” part of the Iskenderian history you need to pick up this book.

 

Vic Edelbrock Sr. in 1958 with his X-1 6 carb mani on a Chevy 283cid.  Photo coutesy of Edelbrock Corporation.

Edelbrock…just let that name ring in your ears for a second.  Probably THE most successful speed equipment manufacturer to date.  In 1938 Vic Sr. bought his dual-purpose machine, a 1932 V8 powered roadster which became his family hauler/dry lakes racer.  Vic was involved in every type of racing, oval track, midget racing, dry lakes/Bonneville, event boat racing.  There’s so much more, but I don’t have the room here.  Seriously, just buy the book!

 

Edelbrock, a family tradition of hot rodding.  Photo courtesy of Edelbrock Corporation.

In all, “Merchants of Speed” book includes the history of 22 Speed Equipment shops.  You’ll see others like Navarro, Ansen Automotive, Howard Cams, Braje, and more!  This book is insanely cool!  Being into more modern late model Japanese cars, I really appreciated this book.  Paul Smith did an amazing job of finding out the details of these shops and the speed parts that made them successful.  The old photos are great.  This book will be an important part of future hot rodders remembering their origins.  That’s just my humble opinion.

 

In all seriousness, this book is and will be one of my cherished possessions in life.  Sounds lame, but I’m serious when I say that this book will be very important in continuing the memories of the very first hot rodders.

Take a look at these photos and the history attached and think about your car story.  We want to hear yours.  Please share them with us, we’d love to share them with MyRideisMe.com readers.

Thank you Motorbooks and Paul D. Smith and an even bigger thank you to you Merchants of Speed.  I will have an increased sense of respect at Bonneville this year.

Picture coutesy of Paul D. Smith, author

Hechtspeed

Facebook and a Rare BMW 1802 Touring named “Lemon”

You’re on Facebook right yall?  No?  Get with the program!  That’s how MyRideisMe.com and Pascal Hein got together, through the MyRideisMe Facebook Fanpage.  Go check it out and join our Fanpage, right after you read this cool story of course.

Pascal is from Germany and he has shared his classic bimmer he calls “Lemon”.  A 1973 1802 Touring model.  Sit back, grab some Kugen (yummy pastries my German grandma Hecht makes for desserts) and enjoy storytime from the motherland.  Take it away Pascal!

“My Bimmer was built in 1973. The so called “Touring” was BMWs first try to build a hatchback and also the last try until 1993, when they introduced the compact edition of the 3 Series.

Actually people didn’t like this concept in the early 70s so just around 30,000 Touring models were produced and just around 970 of them were 1802 Tourings like mine, while there were houndreds of thousands of normal BMW 02 sedans.
So in 1984 my father managed to buy this car after he wanted to have one for many years. It had two owners before he bought it and had some damage on the rear left side. My father repaired the damage and then used it between 1989 and 1991 as his car for driving to work everyday.

Well he bought his 5 Series then and the yellow Bimmer was parked in the garage at my grandmothers house. As a kid I always saw it and was fascinated by it the whole time. But I never thought we could make it look good and get it running again.

In 2007 I passed my drivers licence test. At that time I thought about buying my first car. The problem was I didn’t know what to buy. Someday I said just for fun to my father, that we could rebuild the yellow BMW and then I could use it as my own car. Even though I wasn’t serious, he took it serious and said yes. Acutally it was his gift for my 18th birthday!

So in April 2008 we tried to get her running again to drive her up the trailer and to get her home. After some tries she actually started. But after sitting in the garage for nearly 18 years she really looked horrible. There was dirt all over and she looked like she nearly rusted apart.

In the Summer of 2008 we started working on the car. The plans were to get her done and to make her pass the safety inspection as soon as possible. First of all we got the engine and transmission out.

Both things were totally dirty so we cleaned them up as good as possible. The area around the engine really looked awful and rusty.

But after we scratched the old paint off it wasn’t as bad as we thought before. After some work it was repainted.

The next and most important thing for the safety inspection was the braking system. We bought all the parts we needed and the whole old original braking system was replaced with new parts. It got new brake discs and pads in the front, new drum brakes in the rear and all those brake lines were replaced too.

But the thing that took the most time was to clean up all the parts of the engine, transmission and the interior. There were also some parts of the body that needed to be welded (the footwell on both sides). And of course we installed a new exhaust and reworked the rims+got new tires (tires mustn’t be older than 10 years or you won’t pass the security inspection). We did all this work in just 3 weeks, because I wanted to go to Switzerland.  Well we passed the security test without any big problems, even though the car still needed some work.

The only thing that didn’t work out the way we wanted to was the vehicle license. Here in germany there’s a special license for vintage cars, which are older than 30 years. It costs less then a normal license (lower tax price) and has some other positive effects to. For example you aren’t allowed to drive into big cities with a car that has no catalytic converter. But with such a vintage car licence you are allowed. The big problem was, that the car must not look bad and has to be in a certain condition. We didn’t have any problems with the technical condition but with the visual. There were some parts of the car we didn’t repaint, so there was just primer on it.

Well, we didn’t get this license so we registered the car with a normal license. After test driving it for about 50 kilometeres, which isn’t really much, I jumped in and drove to Switzerland where I was driving many winding roads for a full week. I didn’t have any technical problems at all.

Later we repainted those primered parts and got the vintage car license.
In spring 2009 we took out the whole rear axle and differential to work. We replaced all the bushings and cleaned and repainted it. We also removed some rusty spots on the doors and repainted them too plus we changed the oil in the differential.

From summer 2008 until summer 2009 I also used it to get to school everyday, sometimes even in the wintertime. But after each day in the winter I washed her, because here in Germany they use too much salt on the roads, even if there’s no snow.

Since September 2009 I have used my other BMW (a 1994 5 Series station wagon), so now my 1802 Touring is my sunny day cruiser.
The first technical problem we got was on a tour with our BMW Club through Austria in June of 2009. One day the so called “Hardy”-Disk (a disk made of rubber which sits between the transmission and the cardan shaft) broke. Well we couldn’t continue our tour with this car so it was brought home to Germany on a truck. It wasn’t a big deal and we fixed it as soon as possible.

We also have some plans for the future: The next step is to replace the old and worn out wheel bearings and drive shafts. We also want to remove the rust in the rear fenders and well…someday it’ll get a new paintjob, but it will be repainted in the same color.

The color is the reason why we gave her her name: “Zitrone”  (German for “Lemon” ). But it all takes time. We still got some other Bimmers who want to be repaired too.

Some technical details:
1,8L 4 cylinder with ~90 hp
4speed manual gearbox
Top speed: 165km/h (~102mph)
Weight: about 1000kg

Words and Photos by Pascal Hein

If you have a cool car, hit us up on our Facebook Fanpage!  We love cars and others will dig your ride too!

Hechtspeed

VW Beetle Road Racers

My first car was a 1972 Bug I picked up from a family friend for $500 (Check my Bug Garage here).  Then I spent 2 years in Brazil as a missionary for my church.  Brazil was one of the few countries that manufactured the Volkswagen Beetle.  I was surrounded by them.  One of the cities I lived in had a race track and they used to run Copa Fusca, which means Beetle Cup, a race class just for road racing Vdub Bugs.  Some of these photos also come from the German version, the Kafer Cup series.  I got to thinking and did a quick google image search.  Check these Fuscas out, so rad!

I dig the front airdam spoiler, extra wide fenders and wide wheels and tires.  Pretty simple formula.

This silver Fusca may be running a front radiator or oil cooler, not sure.  Man that looks fun!

Here’s a German Kafer racer.  Check out that big Porsche style rear wing!  The little vent behind the rear window tells you its a 1972 or newer Bug.  I believe all these VW racers are “Super Beetles”, the name given to the ‘72 and later bugs that came with the road race friendly MacPherson strut front suspension.

Another German racer.  This one has a milder rear wing and a fiberglass front end.  They must be running oil coolers in the front bumper area, see those vents?

I think it’d be cool to do a street version of this setup.  Super Beetles are neglected versus their 50’s and 60’s brothers, so picking one up cheap would be easy.  VW performance engines are very affordable and body parts in fiberglass are also easy to find.

This 68+ Fusca is possibly the perfect Bug to me, perfect stance.  Super low, wide fenders, bumperless body and extra wide wheels.  Dang that’s hot!  Raise it up an inch or two and go track racing.  150hp pushing 1600 lbs has gotta be a super fun ride!

Hope you enjoyed these Fuscas.  Any Vdub lovers out there?  Let us know below with a comment.

Hechtspeed

Legends from the Land of the Rising Sun

Japanese Legends…also known as JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) Machines, Japanese Nostalgic Cars, J Tin, you get the picture.  Domestically here in the US of A, we have classics like the 1932 Deuce Coupe, 55-57 Chevy Bel Air, 67-69 Camaro, 64 1/2-70 Mustang, etc.

In Japan, the classics are cars like the Nissan Skyline, Toyota Celica, Corolla, Datsun 510 (Bluebird in Japan) and 240Z (Fairlady Z in Japan).

JDMLegends is a new shop located in North Salt Lake, Utah.  They had their Grand Opening last July 2009.  So bummed I missed it.  Looked like a nice gathering of Japanese cars!  R33, R34 and R35 Skyline GT-R’s in Utah at once?  Cooooool!!!

JDMLegends’ specialty is hunting down your dream JDM classic (25 years old or older) located in Japan, having it inspected and legally imported into the USA, where it can be delivered as is, or have the JDMLegends’ special touch.

The owner of JDMLegends is a Japanese car nut named Trey Cobb.  Trey started Cobb Tuning.  Initially a turbo Subaru tuning specialist, now Cobb focuses on ECU tuning for many platforms, including the new Nissan GTR.

Above is the engine bay of a Toyota Celica as received by JDMLegends

…and here’s the same 1973 Celica bay after much effort by JDMLegends.  Super clean!

Here’s the 1973 (chassis code RA21) Toyota Celica ready for delivery to a happy JDMLegends customer.

What exactly is the JDMLegends special touch?  Besides super detail and clean restoration work, it includes adding modifications like a modern turbocharged engine, 5 or 6 speed transmission, fully tuned adjustable suspensions, basically a Japanese version of a  ”restomod” or “pro-touring” car.

I personally think its a perfect idea, as do their customers.

One more example of the work involved in bringing this ‘73 Nissan Skyline “Kenmeri” up to JDMLegends’ standards…Here’s the engine bay of a ‘73 Skyline prepped for resto work.

And this is the finished product.  Looks great.  The RB26 comes with “280hp” from the factory in 1990’s and 2000’s Skylines.  This engine transplant is similar to putting a late model fuel injected 302 ci Mustang GT engine into a 60’s Mustang.  This is where the Restomodding comes into play.  Hot Rodding at its finest! (just with a little Japanese twist)

Here’s that Skyline Kenmeri, a GT-R replica with the addition of fender flares.  I love the look of the early 70’s Japanese classics.  They have American muscle car body lines written all over them don’t you think?  Like the round dual horizontal headlights, sloping fastback roof lines, long hoods.  These cars are gorgeous!

JDMLegends is your place for importing classic J Tin and providing a one stop shop for services like restomod engines and suspensions, bodywork and paint (see the pic below of another Celica in progress) as well as parts sourcing from their contacts in Japan.

Check out their website at JDMLegends.com and add their JDMLegends Blog to your RSS feed or Google Blog Reader.  I did.  The blogs include detailed stories about restoration and modification work with pictures like those in this post.  Keep your eyes peeled here too as we’ll be featuring some of JDMLegends work in 2010.

Have a favorite classic 70’s Japanese car?  Comment below and let us know.  One of mine has got to be the Datsun 510, like this one above that was recently shipped to a lucky customer in Canada.  It too runs a late model engine, this one a Nissan Silvia SR20DET turbocharged engine pumping out 400+hp.  Now that’s a power:weight ratio I’d love to experience.

Pictures by Eric at JDMLegends

New Kookie Car Clone Wins With Stromberg 97 Carburetors

Stromberg Headquarters—Kookie car clone wins the ultimate accolade and more running genuine Stromberg 97 carburetors at the 2009 Detroit Autorama.

Stromberg is pleased to announce our involvement with the new “Kookie” car clone, owned by Detroit’s Ron Kregoski and built by Reno Rods and Customs in Oklahoma City. Featured in hundreds of magazines and a highlight of the 1950s television series 77 Sunset Strip, driven by Edd “Kookie” Byrnes, the original Kookie car is one of the best known hot rods of all time, originally built in the 1950s by actor, artist and hot rod legend Norm Grabowski.

Running a hopped-up 1952 Cadillac engine with four chromed Stromberg 97 carburetors, Ron’s clone is as accurate as possible to the 50-plus year-old hot rod. He contacted Stromberg back in 2008 because their new and improved 97s are faithful in every detail to the original 97s Grabowski bolted to the Caddy’s rare Horne four-carb intake manifold.

The Genuine Stromberg 97 bowl and airhorn castings, stainless steel linkage and miscellaneous screws and fittings were all shipped to Advanced Plating in Nashville, TN, for chrome plating or polishing, then shipped back to Stromberg for final assembly onto new bases, specially color matched to the red engine block. The perfectly chromed 97s are an exact copy of the original set-up, and the crowning touch to Kregoski’s clone.

Looking like it just pulled up from its April, 1957 Car Craft magazine cover shoot, Grabowski said, “It’s the closest clone done yet,” at the 2009 Detroit Autorama in March, where it garnered 2nd place in the Modified T-Bucket category. Owner Kregoski said, “For Stromberg, Reno Rods and everyone else involved in the build, Norm’s approval is the ultimate accolade.”

Congratulations to Ron Kregoski and Reno Rods and Customs.

Stromberg will make fully chromed 97s available on a special order basis. Contact our dealers for further information or visit our website at http://www.stromberg-97.com/for complete information about carburetors and the full range of service parts for original Stromberg 40, 48, 81 and 97 carburetors, as well as a complete list of Genuine Stromberg dealers worldwide.

For more information please contact Thom at (949) 496-3300 or email at hotrodthom@cox.net

Email: sales@stromberg-97.com

URL: http://www.stromberg-97.com/

Press: hotrodthom@cox.net

5 Steps for painting Vintage Hot Rod Door Art by Andy’s Pinstriping

Andy from Andy’s Pinstriping gives us 5 Steps for painting Vintage Door Art on Shop Trucks

1. The first thing I like to do is use some wax and grease remover and clean the panel to be painted. This simple step is honestly one of the most critical and most often overlooked steps in any paint project.

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2. I like to make a stencil to help draw out the design. There are several methods I use to achieve the stenciled on pattern. One of the easiest ways is to use a pounce wheel & chalk, but on this particular truck I had no colored chalk, and obviously white wouldn’t do, so I went old school on it and cut the pattern out of poster board with an exact-o knife….five blades and several blisters later ta-da, a handmade stencil.

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3. Finally to the fun part, let’s thrown on some paint! I start by tracing the pattern (after centering it on the door) with a stabilo pencil. After that it’s pretty self explanatory…just fill in the spaces with the one shot color of choice.

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4. The almost finished product. When painting large areas its extremely critical to take your time! Make your brush strokes even (so the paint will flow out smooth) & don’t get the paint too thick…it has a tendency to crinkle up when its too thick. Its better to put on two or three thin coats to achieve full coverage. If you notice in the pictures there is a color difference between the passenger and driver side. This is because the passenger side three coats of paint and the driver side only has one.

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5. Finish work often involves the tedious stuff to include; any cleanup work to make sure your lines are clean & tight, outlining things or in the case of Ryan Hadden’s Truck ‘Plain Lorraine’, some pinstripe work on the hood.

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As for any tips I can think of that would help out, the first one would be to not soley rely on stencils. They are great to speed up the process but be sure to use plenty of freehand work as well. You want your art to look good and appeal to the eye. What you don’t want is to have it look so uniform that it looks like vinyl stickers. Hand painted is always worth more and in most cases is much more respected than cookie cutter stickers.That’s not to say that vinyl doesn’t have it’s place; it’s great for many things, but if you are trying to build a period correct hot rod, it has no place there.

And last but not least…practice, practice, practice. It’s the only way to get better.

Thanks for reading this little tutorial & if you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask.

Andy

Thanks to Andy for providing this “how-to” article.  To see more of Andy’s work, check out his blog “Andy’s Pinstriping”

Stromberg Carburetors and “Old Crow” Bonneville Land Speed Record

Stromberg Carburetor is proud to announce the first World Land Speed Record powered by New Stromberg 97 carburetors. Congratulations to Bobby Green and the Old Crow Speed Shop crew from Burbank, CA for shattering their 104mph 2008 V4/FS record with a new 127.270 mph pass at Bonneville’s Speed Week in August 2009 with their belly-tank lakester.

The traditional belly tank lakester has been a Bonneville favorite since Bill Burke fixed a war-surplus aircraft drop tank onto an early Ford chassis back in 1946. The natural streamline shape of the tanks, used during the war to hold extra fuel on aircraft which could then be jettisoned or “dropped”, was the perfect ready-made streamlined race car body. The Old Crow Team was put together specifically to maintain this tradition.

In the FS (Fuel Streamline) class, the design of the body is restricted only to the extent that at least two wheels must be covered. The V4 engine class is for Vintage (pre-1935) 4-cylinder engines.

Says Stromberg owner Clive Pew, “I met the Old Crow guys with heads in hands on Monday as they couldn’t get enough fuel into the very hot H&H Antique prepared 4-banger with the two old Stromberg 48s they had. I had New 97s with me, so three went onto the engine’s hand-build plenum-equipped intake. They needed to make up a riser for the center carb to avoid fouling on the magneto, but a sheet of plywood from another team was pressed into action. Real Salt Flats ingenuity in action.”
With little time to tune, Bobby smashed his own 2008 record with a 127.270 mph pass, backed up on Wednesday. A new V4F/FS record and the first New Genuine Stromberg 97-powered world Land Speed record!

Said Bobby Green, “The Old Crow Team were all talking about what great quality the new Stromberg 97s are. They don’t leak. They don’t even weep. And they did the job pretty much straight out of the box. Thanks for the help and nice work.”

Street, strip or salt, the genuine Stromberg 97 continues to maintain its record of over 70 years of hot rod performance.

Stromberg Carburetor replacement parts, new carbs and tech info

Up Close and Personal with 80 “Icons of Speed and Style”

Not all of you ladies and gents can imagine a car being raised to the status of an icon or art form. In fact I haven’t always myself. However, the more I get to work on and see cars, the more enamored I’m becoming. After attending RM Auctions “Icons of Speed and Style” my car love-o-meter has just shot through the roof!

An auction doesn’t sound that exciting you say? What if I told you that all of the 80 iconic cars being sold in this no-reserve auction were available to peruse up close and personal? Yep… you could even touch em’! At most car shows, the best cars are roped off to keep you admiring from a distance. There were no ropes at the Friday preview before RM’s “Icons of Speed and Style” auction at The Peterson Museum in Los Angeles, California.

With nearly seven million dollars being drawn in by the auction, people putting out the money needed to really see what they were paying for. So when I arrived during preview day, I was able to get as close as I wanted to each car. With 80 cars to look at, my head was spinning and I didn’t know what direction to go first! I felt like a little kid in a candy store.

As I walked around trying not to drool, I began taking notice of who else was there. Some people seemed excited, others were strictly business. I overheard many sentimental comments of “Remember when…” or “Remember that car that….” Who has this sort of money and spends it on cars like these? There were businessmen doing the work for someone else, moneyed looking older folks, and of course a few Japanese… they go wild in Tokyo over hot rods! But there were also some regular looking car people. In fact, I met a few guys who had previously owned and restored some of the cars present!

While the theme to the Pink Panther played in the background, my mind wandered to hair-brained heists and I began feeling a little villainous. Looking at Deora, my surprise favorite, I imagined getting inside, swinging the swiveling steering wheel in front of me and driving out the front doors. Could I get away with it? Would anyone notice? I don’t imagine the cops would have too hard of a time finding me driving that masterpiece around LA!

So rather than becoming a felon, I satiated myself with the fact that I could examine all 80 of these cars as much as I wanted to. When else would I get the chance to check out the unique engine set-up of Ed Roth’s “Road Agent” or look underneath at the belly pan of the Khougaz Lakes Roadster?!? I nearly wanted to jump through the window of General Lee and was considering taking a try at the backseat of Elvis’ Lincoln Continental Limo, but I thought better of it.

While not too many folks were around for preview day, I heard auction day was standing room only! Though everyone was betting on Deora to take home top pocket, it was beat out by the surprise bidding on the “Little Red Wagon” of Bill “Maverick” Golden drag racing fame. The pre-sale estimate of this wheel-standing truck was $200,000 to $300,000 but a surprise bidder overshot everyone with a winning $550,000 bid! The Deora did well also at $324,500, making it the second highest grossing sale.

If only you could have been there, for only $132,000 you could have driven home in the 1969 Ford Mustang “Mr. Gasket Gasser.” Since ya weren’t there and I’m guessing you probably don’t have that kinda change lying around, good thing I took a lot of pictures. You can check them all out in the MyRideisMe.com Icons of Speed and Style picture gallery. Hopefully they’ll inspire you to what skill, engineering, and invention can build.

As I took one last glance at all these beauties under one roof, I couldn’t help but imagine all the history and personal stories that went with them. I walked outside, took a seat in my own work-in-progress 1955 Studebaker Champion, and was glad to be rolling down the asphalt in a classic. She may not be as iconic as the 80 that were up for auction – but to me she’s just as special.

You can also see the full auction results at RM Auctions homepage or some high quality pre-auction pictures featured in the  Icons of Speed preview story.

Leave a comment and let us know which one you would’ve like to go home with or what result surprised you the most!

Most Wicked Shelby Cobra Ever – the Daytona Coupe

How rare is your chance to lay hands on a car a rare and historic as the CSX2601 Shelby Daytona Coupe? I had a chance thanks to the folks at Mecum Auctions, but the great people of Maricopa county thought it better for me to be in jury duty.

Here’s Mecum’s press release and info about the car. They also provided a fantastic gallery of pictures. I’ll be watching to see how high into the “8 Figures” this car rises. 1 of 6, fully restored, arguably the most famous/historic of the six, this American Legend has it all!

Phoenix kicked of the national tour in style over at Bob Bondurant’s Racing school of High Performance Driving. After carefully pulling the car out of the shipping truck, Bondurant relived the 1965 FIA clinching victory in Reims, France by taking a hot lap with the near priceless car.

Special thanks to David NewhardtPhotography and Mecum Auction for these pictures.

MECUM AUCTION PROUDLY PRESENTS AMERICAN RACING’S CROWN JEWEL

1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe Beat Ferrari to Capture First U.S. Victory
in World Manufacturer’s Championship

MARENGO, Ill. – High performance collector car specialists Mecum Auction will offer collectors a chance to own a piece of American race history when they auction the 1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe CSX2601 at the 22^nd Dana Mecum Original Spring Classic Auction taking place May 13-17, 2009, in Indianapolis, Ind.

And when this Crown Jewel of American Racing powers across the auction block, Mecum anticipates the championship race car to garner the highest bid ever paid at public auction for an American automobile – eight figures and counting. The Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe will be sold on live national TV Friday, May 15, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. during the company’s series, “Mecum Auto Auction: Muscle Cars & More,” on Discovery Communications’ popular HD Theater.

The 1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra was one of six cars built by Carroll Shelby to compete against the dominating Ferrari in the F.I.A. (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) World Manufacturers Championship for GT race class. An experimental coupe body designed by Pete Brock was built on an existing Cobra chassis, immediately increasing the top speed by 25 mph. That car won its first race, the 1964 Daytona Continental (prompting Shelby to adopt the name), and five more coupes were built, including CSX2601.

After competing at Daytona, Monza, Spa and Nurburgring, CSX2601 made history when it clinched the 1965 World Manufacturers Championship for the United States and Shelby American on July 4 in Reims, France.

“Many vintage race cars have a strong American racing history to share – including this vehicle’s sister car CSX 2299 – but no car can claim a finer race hour than the Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe CSX2601,” said Dana Mecum, president, Mecum Auction. “The legacy of its World Manufacturer’s Championship win stays with us more than four decades later, reminding us of one the proudest moments in U.S. race history and a competitive spirit of victory against all odds.”

Driving the car – and America – to victory on that fateful July afternoon was legendary driver Bob Bondurant.

“I won a lot of races with this Daytona Cobra Coupe, but when I crossed the finish line at the Reims race track I yelled ‘Yes!’ It was a fantastic feeling,” Bondurant shared. “I always wanted to race in Europe against the world’s best drivers. Winning that World Championship was the crowning achievement of my career. I think it’s wonderful that the car is being showcased 40 years later.”

The Daytona Cobra Coupe didn’t just race, however. At one point, a North Dakota businessman with six gas stations owned the car, and each day, he’d drive the 300-mile round trip to collect station receipts in this race-trimmed Cobra.

“This car is a true slice of Americana, representing a different time in America’s past when driving a full-blown race car on the roads didn’t turn heads,” added Mecum. “The Daytona was also leased to Paramount Pictures for use in the Howard Hawks cult classic ‘Redline 7000′.”

Now fully restored and wearing its famous Reims livery, the Shelby Daytona Cobra CSX2601 headlines the Original Spring Classis Auction, which is expected to feature 1,250 vehicles.

Held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, the auction is open to the general public with tickets are available at the door for $10. It will be broadcast live on Mecum’s popular television series, “Mecum Auto Auction: Muscle Cars & More” on HD Theater – Discovery Communications’ first 24-hour high-definition cable network, offering compelling real-world and motorized content.

The Mecum Auction Company has been specializing in the sale of collector cars, muscle cars and Corvettes for more than 20 years. In spring 2008, the company sold its 50,000^th car. Consignment, Bidder, event and accommodation information is available online at www.Mecum.com or by calling 815.568.8888.

# # #

Schedule:

Original Spring Classic Auction

Indiana State Fairgrounds, Indianapolis, Ind.
May 13-17, 2009

Price: $10

Vehicle check-in: Monday & Tuesday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Wednesday 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Preview: Gates open Wednesday through Sunday at 9 a.m.

Vehicle Auction: Wednesday – 2 p.m.

Thursday through Sunday – 10 a.m.

* Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe to be auctioned live on national TV May 15 at 8 p.m.

KudoSurf Me!

Classic Movie Clip Redline 7000 – How NASCAR Should be!

Now this is what NASCAR should be! Imagine going 179 mph in these cars! (that’s what the movie “track announcer” said) Those brakes and all that weight running that fast!

This clip is from the 1965 film called “Redline 7000” There’s a pretty well done crash stunt for the time. FIRE FIRE!!

Yes, that is Mr. Sulu!

Here’s part #2 (not sure how related it is to the first part…)

Then for something totally unusual, but still somehow related to this post… I give you, “Speed Lovers”

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