I know Carroll Shelby usually wore a white helmet in 1958 - but?
I agree our man looks like Shelby, but if I have the date right, Shelby was at Riverside for the LA Times GP that day.
Posted 11 March 2011 - 18:30
I know Carroll Shelby usually wore a white helmet in 1958 - but?
Posted 11 March 2011 - 21:33
Edited by Jerry Entin, 11 March 2011 - 21:34.
Posted 13 March 2011 - 15:07
Posted 16 April 2011 - 15:48
Edited by Jerry Entin, 16 April 2011 - 15:50.
Posted 16 April 2011 - 21:25
Edited by Jerry Entin, 16 April 2011 - 21:28.
Posted 17 April 2011 - 07:35
Posted 17 April 2011 - 12:56
Edited by Jerry Entin, 17 April 2011 - 13:01.
Posted 18 April 2011 - 23:00
Edited by Jerry Entin, 18 April 2011 - 23:04.
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Posted 19 April 2011 - 00:12
Posted 19 April 2011 - 06:45
The Mercedes-powered Hughes-Kircher Special
The Hughes-Kircher Special was raced by Danny Collins in the 6th Annual Road races at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in September 1957.
The H-K Special was built in 1954 by Charlie Hughes and Kurt Kircher of Denver, Colorado. German born Kircher was a test driver for BMW and Alfa Romeo before coming to the U.S. in 1949. Originally the car used a Jaguar XK-120 engine and Kircher won the Fort Sumner feature in September 1954. By 1957 the Jaguar engine had been replaced by a Mercedes 300SL unit. Its entire body, painted in Hughes' favorite blue, could be lifted for easy maintenance.
Photo: Bob Jackson
Edited by E1pix, 19 April 2011 - 08:27.
Posted 19 April 2011 - 19:46
Posted 19 April 2011 - 20:45
Sebring 1958: Alec Ulmann congratulates Porsche team manager Huschke von Hanstein
with the excellent performance of his team.
Edited by Raido, 19 April 2011 - 20:45.
Posted 19 April 2011 - 22:09
Dan Collins took third overall, first in Class DM, at the 1958 Road America June Sprints. He was beaten only by the two Briggs Cunningham Team Listers driven by Walt Hansgen and Ed Crawford. The 250 Testa Rossa was painted dark blue. I remember it well, as it was my first visit to Road America. I have been there hundreds and hundreds of days since. My second home. But I digress. I believe that was the only time Collins may have raced at Road America. In those days, today also for that matter, the 1000 mile tow from Denver to Elklhart Lake, Wis., was a long haul indeed.Charlie Hughes bought a new Ferrari 250TR in 1958, Danny took it to two victories in the South that year [in spite of the fact that the car wasn't yellow!].
At Midland in August he beat Ebb Rose [Maserati 300S] and Bobby Aylward [Maserati 250S]. At Fort Sumner in October he left Hap Sharp [Maserati 200S] and Dick Morgensen [Ferrari 250TR] in the dust.
Posted 19 April 2011 - 22:40
E1Pix : Thanks for your kind words on Danny Collins
Yes, he was quite a driver.
Charlie Hughes bought a new Ferrari 250TR in 1958, Danny took it to two victories in the South that year [in spite of the fact that the car wasn't yellow!].
At Midland in August he beat Ebb Rose [Maserati 300S] and Bobby Aylward [Maserati 250S]. At Fort Sumner in October he left Hap Sharp [Maserati 200S] and Dick Morgensen [Ferrari 250TR] in the dust.
RIP: Danny Collins
Dan Collins took third overall, first in Class DM, at the 1958 Road America June Sprints. He was beaten only by the two Briggs Cunningham Team Listers driven by Walt Hansgen and Ed Crawford. The 250 Testa Rossa was painted dark blue. I remember it well, as it was my first visit to Road America. I have been there hundreds and hundreds of days since. My second home. But I digress. I believe that was the only time Collins may have raced at Road America. In those days, today also for that matter, the 1000 mile tow from Denver to Elklhart Lake, Wis., was a long haul indeed.
Tom
Posted 19 April 2011 - 22:55
Posted 20 April 2011 - 05:12
Posted 20 April 2011 - 06:31
Did endeavour to purchase a copy of the Road America (?) publication I saw mentioned in a thread (think it was yours). Didn't seem to like my address so wasn't to be.
Posted 20 April 2011 - 12:39
Edited by Jerry Entin, 20 April 2011 - 12:48.
Posted 20 April 2011 - 16:08
Did endeavour to purchase a copy of the Road America (?) publication I saw mentioned in a thread (think it was yours). Didn't seem to like my address so wasn't to be.
I ordered Tom Schultz's book on RA from the website and it arrived here, UK, in 10 days, very well packed and presented. It is a good picture history of RA and is excellent value.
Roger Lund
The book, Road America, Celebrating Fifty Years of Road Racing, is available through the track's website. The address for the track store is https://www.roadamer...s.aspx?catid=14. I might add that the price has been discounted substantially since the book was published in 2005. (Good thing I took a lump sum rather than royalties!) The track is still selling the 50th Year DVD that Mike Beall did in 2005/6. Yours truly did most of the narration and interviews. It is listed on the same web page. End of commercial.Roger: Tom's book is very nice, and well prepared.
Posted 21 April 2011 - 18:54
Edited by Jerry Entin, 21 April 2011 - 18:58.
Posted 21 April 2011 - 23:17
Edited by Jerry Entin, 21 April 2011 - 23:21.
Posted 21 April 2011 - 23:38
Edited by fbarrett, 21 April 2011 - 23:38.
Posted 22 April 2011 - 00:43
Posted 22 April 2011 - 00:46
Edited by Jerry Entin, 22 April 2011 - 00:49.
Posted 22 April 2011 - 02:24
Bob Bondurant on final approach in his Cobra
Frank: Ken Miles wasn't the only one leaping at Green Valley, Bob Bondurant did so too!
Photo: Bob Jackson
Posted 22 April 2011 - 03:49
That's Gene Hammon's Cobra with an unknown guest driver, most likely in practice. Bill Steele was has Hammon's hired gun for the sports car races and also drag racing.
Posted 22 April 2011 - 04:07
Definitely Bob Bondurant's helmet scheme and face.
Posted 22 April 2011 - 05:14
Edited by Jerry Entin, 22 April 2011 - 05:20.
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Posted 22 April 2011 - 12:34
Edited by Jerry Entin, 22 April 2011 - 18:18.
Posted 22 April 2011 - 13:14
Posted 23 April 2011 - 14:31
Edited by Jerry Entin, 24 April 2011 - 13:55.
Posted 23 April 2011 - 19:11
In an interview with Chuck Daigh in 2000 Daigh recalled laughingly: "We used to call him 'Bill Sol' Shelby. There was a guy in Texas who got arrested for fraud with some grain elevators. His name was Billy Sol Estes and the guy was really a crook. It was a big thing at the time so we nicknamed Shelby, being from Texas, 'Bill Sol' Shelby!"
Posted 23 April 2011 - 19:16
The starting grid of the inaugural Cocoa-Titusville races in Florida, July 1958.
Sometimes interesting photos are discovered after a book has gone to print already. This is one that did not make it in time for the Southern book, unfortunately. It was among some 145 color slides supplied a few weeks ago by Benita Lane, who was married to Fort Lauderdale brain surgeon David Lane at the time. It was Lane's first race his Maserati 200SI.
Photo: Benita Lane Collection
Edited by Jack-the-Lad, 23 April 2011 - 19:18.
Posted 23 April 2011 - 20:02
Edited by Jerry Entin, 23 April 2011 - 23:44.
Posted 23 April 2011 - 21:25
Edited by Jack-the-Lad, 23 April 2011 - 21:28.
Posted 23 April 2011 - 22:22
Edited by Cynic2, 24 April 2011 - 01:34.
Posted 23 April 2011 - 23:38
Edited by Jerry Entin, 23 April 2011 - 23:42.
Posted 23 April 2011 - 23:40
Edited by Jerry Entin, 23 April 2011 - 23:44.
Posted 24 April 2011 - 00:14
followed by June 1959 by a Ferrari 250TR, he also competed with a 250GT SWB [courtesy of Gordon Pennington] and a LWB Tour de France [which may have been the former George Arents TdF].
Posted 24 April 2011 - 13:46
Posted 24 April 2011 - 19:40
Posted 25 April 2011 - 19:09
Posted 03 May 2011 - 17:16
I believe this car is in Artic Blue paint, and it is I believe the factory # 4 Lindsey Hopkins entry that Dick and Gaston Andrey drove at SEBRING. Hopkins was the head of Coke-Cola, and Ed Cole used him to sponsor the production 57 SEBRING Corvettes, which were both white with blue stripes and red interiors.
A surprise Feature winner of the 1957 SCCA National at Eagle Mountain: Dick Thompson in a production Corvette.
Driving a Lindsey Hopkins Corvette, Dick Thompson won Race 4 for big production cars during the National. Because of the wet weather, mechanic Red Byron changed the axle ratio of the car before the Feature, Race 8. In spite of a strong field of Ferraris, Maseratis and Porsches, Thompson caused a major upset by beating all the modifieds.
Note the nice 1957 Chevys in the background.
Photo: Bob Jackson
Edited by Vettefinderjim, 15 April 2013 - 18:44.
Posted 03 May 2011 - 17:50
I would really like to meet BOB JACKSON. Do you have a contact for him?Being interested in ancient Colorado motorsport, I'm going to be the first in line for this book!
Another point: Danny Collins was amazingly well-respected here in Colorado. For years he ran a one-man driving school at Second Creek Raceway, and I took a course from him in my lightly modified street 911E. After the obligatory classroom session, I was amazed that he never got into the car with me! His unique instructing technique was to simply watch as you drove "the line" then comment afterward. The biggest thing I learned from him was to "cling" around the inside of certain corners.
Yet another point, Jerry: on TNF I see some great photos by newspaper photographer Bob Jackson, who was best known for winning the Pulitzer Prize for his stunning photo of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald in the Dallas jail. Until I began researching old Shelby photos and found his shot of Ken Miles "leaping" the GT350 at Green Valley Raceway, I never realized that Bob had shot so many racing photos. Thanks very much for bringing them to light again. As you no doubt know, Bob now lives in Colorado Springs. I hope his historic negatives and transparencies are being safely preserved.
Frank
Posted 03 May 2011 - 20:15
Posted 03 May 2011 - 21:57
David Lane's early cars, an Alfa Romeo and AC/Bristol, seen during the Enoche at Gainesville, Georgia, in June 1958.
Behind the Alfa, part of George Koehne white-and-red Maserati 200SI can be seen. In the background the support vehicles of E.D. Martin [Martin Motors of Columbus, Georgia] and Jarrard Motors of Pensacola, Florida, a regular entrant of a Triumph for Smokey Drolet.
Photo: Benita Lane Collection
Posted 04 May 2011 - 00:25
Posted 06 May 2011 - 14:29
Gary Laughlin and his Burney Russell-prepared 750 Monza [chassis 0496] on their way to victory at Eagle Mountain, Texas, in April 1957.
After serving as a jet pilot in WWII and the Korean War, Fort Worth-based Gary Laughlin pursued a career in the international oil exploration business. In between he found time to compete in sports car events in the Southwest.
In 1959 Gary Laughlin was the driving force behind the three Corvette Italias that were built by Scaglietti, commissioned in partnership with Carroll Shelby and Jim Hall of Dallas. Shelby was instrumental in securing three rolling chassis from Ed Cole but failed to pay for his finished Italia, so it was sold to someone else. Hall did not like the fact that he received the only Italia with an automatic gearbox and sold his as well. Laughlin was not thrilled with the end result either and production ended at three.
But Laughlin is better known for being a passenger in Fangio's Lancia in September of 1957. Given a lift by the world champion, Gary walked away unharmed when the car hit an errant truck at 120 mph, halfway between Milan and Modena. Fangio suffered minor injuries that prevented him from participating in the Modena GP.
On May 4 Gary will celebrate his 88th birthday. He is still going strong and just e-mailed us: "Still vertical, playing golf, walking 18, shooting well below my age. I still like hot cars. I really miss flying. Racing then was an amateur sport and it was fun, not the business it's become."
Happy Birthday, Gary!
Photo: Bob Jackson
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Posted 06 May 2011 - 16:10
Corvette Mike Vietro in Anaheim sold one of the Scaglietti Corvettes to Bill Watkins I believe. And I remember it having a 1959 vin number and 283 fuel injection engine and 59 T-10 vintage 4 speed trans and differential. They were beautiful cars to look at, and fun to drive but hot inside and but handled and stopped like a solid axel Corvette.Jerry
Would the three rolling chassis's have been Corvette chassis's with drive trains? Would they have chassis or VIN #'s stamped on the chassis's? Is there a surviving car that would reveal the answer to what the chassis # is?
Thanks,
Joe