The Watson Roadsters
#1
Posted 20 July 2002 - 16:40
Beginning with Pat Flaherty's Indy-winning John Zink Special in 1956, master racing mechanic and builder A. J. Watson built 23 Indianapolis roadsters. His cars won the Indianapolis 500 six times between 1956 and 1964. Watson himself served as chief mechanic on three of his winning cars.
Where can I get such a book (especially in Germany!!!) and is it worth buying it? I'm sure some of the members in this forum will know the answers.
Thanx
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#2
Posted 20 July 2002 - 16:52
#3
Posted 21 July 2002 - 14:28
http://home1.gte.net/res0fsoe/
...but unfortunately no eMail address . Here from Germany this would have been the easiest way to contact Gary. Anyone who know his eMail address? Of course if he runs a website he surely has one...?!
#4
Posted 21 July 2002 - 15:49
I contacted him last September, and he was willing to send the book to Germany at a reasonable price (44 USD), but wouldn't accept credit cards, just a money order. Unfortunately, this is far too expensive to do from Germany!
#5
Posted 21 July 2002 - 19:52
Another very good book on Watson Roadsters is the book INDIANAPOLIS Roadsters 1952-1964 By Joe Scalzo.
It reads like an adventure story.
And dont forget to buy Gordon Whites , Kurtis Kraft book is the same series
And..
Well, buy these first!
Paul
#6
Posted 22 July 2002 - 13:22
the last Gary Wayne's email addres I know is:
Wayne.mail@verizon.net
What worked for me when I bought a copy of it is: ask him the rate including postage and send it as US banknotes in a letter.
it's a neat book when you are in about the cars only. There is not so much on the drivers who drive the cars but read Scalzo's "Indianapolis roadsters" tome for that. If it comes to the register of the individual watson's, Wayne's work is unsurpassed.
Value for money.
Henri Greuter
#7
Posted 22 July 2002 - 15:22
Now and again... there are 2 Ddutchmen answering questions about American Indianapolis racing cars....
Is everything failes:
He announced The book at the American Racing history Forum about a year ago.
I am sure he is still a member, so think you can reach him there
http://groups.yahoo..../RacingHistory/
Greetings
Paul
#8
Posted 26 July 2002 - 12:45
Gary came up with 23 Roadsters that A.J. Watson built, which initially surprised me since I thought there were more -- turns out that I was counting the clones and copies as "Watsons" as well before I figured that one out.
At any rate, I used the system to identify those Roadsters I found based on the one which was moreorless used by the constructors and the Scribes as a relatively painless way of sorting out the various chassis -- the date the chassis was made (56) and then assigned a number in that years build (56/1). I was close to what Gary has in some cases, but completely missed the boat in others.
Here is what I am using based on Gary's wonderful work:
Wayne Capps First Appearance 1 56/1 1956/May/30 No. 8, John Zink Special, Pat Flaherty, Indianapolis 500 2 57/1 1957/May/30 No. 52, John Zink Special, Troy Ruttman, Indianapolis 500 3 58/1 1958/May/30 No. 16, John Zink Special, Jimmy Reece, Indianapolis 500 4 58/2 1958/May/30 No. 97, McNamara Special, Dick Rathmann, Indianapolis 500 5 59/1 1959/Apr/04 No. 16, Simoniz Special, Jim Rathmann, Daytona 50 6 59/2 1959/Apr/04 No. 5, Leader Card 500 Roadster Special, Rodger Ward, Daytona 50 7 60/1 1960/May/30 No. 1, Leader Card 500 Roadster Special, Rodger Ward, Indianapolis 500 8 60/2 1960/May/30 No. 4, Ken-Paul Special, Jim Rathmann, Indianapolis 500 9 60/3 1960/May/30 No. 9, S & R Racing Special, Len Sutton, Indianapolis 500 10 60/4 1960/May/30 No. 98, Ajajanian Special, Lloyd Ruby, Indianapolis 500 11 61/1 1961/May/30 No. 2, Del Webb’s Sun City Special, Rodger Ward, Indianapolis 500 12 61/2 1961/May/30 No. 41, Leader Card 500 Roadster Special, Johnny Boyd, Indianapolis 500 13 62/1 1962/May/30 No. 17, Bell Lines Trucking Special, Roger McCluskey, Indianapolis 500 14 62/2 1962/May/30 No. 3, Leader Card 500 Roadster Special, Rodger Ward, Indianapolis 500 15 62/3 1962/May/30 No. 4, Bill Forbes Racing Team Special, Shorty Templeman, Indianapolis 500 16 63/1 1963/May/30 No. 1, Kaiser Aluminum Special, Rodger Ward, Indianapolis 500 17 63/2 1963/May/30 No. 14, Konstant Hot Special, Roger McCluskey, Indianapolis 500 18 63/3 1963/May/30 No. 16, Coral Harbor Special, Jim Rathmann, Indianapolis 500 19 63/4 1963/May/30 No. 32, Sheraton Thompson Special, Ebb Rose, Indianapolis 500 20 63/5 1963/May/30 No. 45, Bardahl Special, Chuck Stevenson, Indianapolis 500 21 63/6 1963/May/30 No. 46, Racing Associates Special, Ebb Rose, Indianapolis 500 22 63/7 1963/May/30 No. 7, Leader Card 500 Roadster Special, Len Sutton, Indianapolis 500 23 63/8 1963/May/30 No. 9, Bryant Heating & Cooling Special, Eddie Sachs, Indianapolis 500
I hope this helps some of you. Needless to say, Gary's book is a great resource and cleared up more than a few mysteries for me.
#9
Posted 26 July 2002 - 13:08
I have tried to do the same, using Scalzo's "Indianapolis Roadsters" book and the Clymers.
That only helped for the cars that qualified, the DNQ's were almost impossible to allocate.
Was a fun job to as I remember. But consulting Wayne's book was a lot quicker and more complete.
Henri Greuter
#10
Posted 26 July 2002 - 13:50
Originally posted by Henri Greuter
Hi Don,
I have tried to do the same, using Scalzo's "Indianapolis Roadsters" book and the Clymers.
That only helped for the cars that qualified, the DNQ's were almost impossible to allocate.
Was a fun job to as I remember. But consulting Wayne's book was a lot quicker and more complete.
Henri Greuter
My hat is off to Gary since he did something that just stumped me for years since, as Henri points out, those DNQ's really made life difficult. I tried it do this originally in the 1980's, so really hit a brick wall in some cases or went waaaaaay up some box canyons trying to round up these doggies....