197 replies to this topic

[Jerry Entin]

Stuck in traffic trying to get to the Sebring 12 Hours in 1960.

 

Bob Bellows of Florida was an SCCA racer during 1959 and 1960. Bob ran a Porsche 1600S as a Scuderia Faux Pas entry in races in Florida, Alabama and Georgia, always in FP production class, where he was a strong challenger.

 

 

In addition, Bob was a budding photographer before he began racing and he continued after 1960. A few years ago he shared his photo collection with Willem Oosthoek, and Willem and I have decided to use a number in a thread dedicated to Bob's work.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 23 April 2017 - 21:05.

[Jerry Entin]

After finishing FP3 at Venice, Florida, in their first race appearance, Bob Bellows and his 1600S made the cover of Pit Patter, the publication of the Central Florida Region of the SCCA

Edited by Jerry Entin, 23 April 2017 - 21:12.

[Jerry Entin]

Bob's SCCA competition license, signed by John Bishop.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 23 April 2017 - 21:56.

[Rob Miller]

Great idea.

[Jack-the-Lad]

Bob's SCCA competition license, signed by John Bishop.

......and not just any 1600s. A Speedster.

Port St. Joe! Twenty miles west of me.

Can you tell us more about Bob...profession, original home town, etc?

Thanks, Jerry.

Jack

[Jerry Entin]

Auburn, Alabama, May 1959. Bob Bellows and his 1600S on their way to FP1 at Sharpe's Field, the former Tuskegee AFB

Edited by Jerry Entin, 24 April 2017 - 11:07.

[Jerry Entin]

25 cents got you the program of the 1st Confederate Grand Prix at Auburn's Sharpe's Field, where Bob and his Porsche finished FP3.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 24 April 2017 - 11:17.

[Jerry Entin]

 

At Dunnellon, Florida, in November 1958 two Alfa Romeos are slugging it out: Joe Cologero in #70 and Carl Dorr in #11.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 24 April 2017 - 11:13.

[Jerry Entin]

Sebring, March 1958. The finned works Porsche RSK driven by Jean Behra and Edgar Barth, which retired after 105 laps after running as high as 5th overall

Edited by Jerry Entin, 25 April 2017 - 03:01.

[Jerry Entin]

Another Bellows photo taken at Sebring in 1958, this one of the Porsche works team in practice.

 

 

The #42 Behra/Barth RSK would retire with gearbox woes, but the #41 550RS driven by Harry Schell and Wolfgang Seidel finished an excellent 3rd overall. The #43 Carrera Coupe finished 10th overall in the hands of Huschke von Hanstein, Herbert Linge and local boy Johnny Cuevas.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 25 April 2017 - 03:10.

[Jerry Entin]

Wacky Arnolt entered one of his 2-liter Arnolt-Bristols at Sebring in 1958. The car finished a low 35th in the hands of Max Goldman and Ralph Durbin, outrun by the AC Bristols

Edited by Jerry Entin, 25 April 2017 - 03:25.

[Jerry Entin]

Seen in practice at Sebring in 1958, the good-looking works Aston Martin DBR1/300 assigned to Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby. Their effort would last only 62 laps.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 25 April 2017 - 10:01.

[bradbury west]

Excellent stuff, Jerry and Willem, many thanks as ever
Roger Lund

[Jerry Entin]

Sebring, March 1958. Not sure what happened here, but obviously not "100% power."

 

 

The car is the Porfirio Rubirosa Ferrari 500TRC, in which he and co-drivers Jean-Francois Malle and Bill Helburn finished 11th overall, so it is likely that Bob Bellows took this shot in practice. Race organizer Alec Ulmann can be seen on the left.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 25 April 2017 - 16:11.

[Jerry Entin]

Sebring 1958. This one was taken by Bob during the race itself, with Alfonso Gomez-Mena in the Cuban Ferrari 500TRC #79 leading Jim Kimberly's Maserati 200SI #32 and the Zagato-bodied Fiat-Abarth with Californian Chuck Kessinger at the wheel.

 

 

Only Kessinger survived the grind, finishing 31st overall. 

Edited by Jerry Entin, 25 April 2017 - 16:31.

[Jerry Entin]

Sebring 1958. The Rubirosa Ferrari 500TRC again, trying to stay ahead of Dale Duncan in the Maserati 300S owned by Arden V. Dayton of Oklahoma.

 

Duncan's co-drivers were Joakim Bonnier and Jack Hinkle, although the latter never got the wheel. Hinkle blamed Bonnier's rough gear shifts for the car's retirement after only 90 laps.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 25 April 2017 - 18:39.

[Jerry Entin]

The years have not been kind to this image, showing Carroll Shelby in the DBR1/300 he shared with Roy Salvadori at Sebring in 1958. During his stint the gear shifter came off and he chased team manager John Wyer down pit lane, shaking the item at Wyer to embarrass him

Edited by Jerry Entin, 25 April 2017 - 18:42.

[Jerry Entin]

Two cars that reached the finish at Sebring in 1958, only to be non-classified for insufficient distance covered. Lou Comito and his private Alfa Romeo Veloce battles Bill Bradley in a works Elva Mk 3/Climax in the early stages. They managed to cover only 126 [Alfa] and 71 laps [Elva] at the 10 PM finish.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 25 April 2017 - 20:41.

[group7]

Excellent stuff, Jerry and Willem, many thanks as ever
Roger Lund

 +2...Great images !

 

Michael

[Ray Bell]

Once again, Jerry and Willem have come up with some great stuff...

Thanks very much for posting these pics.

[Jerry Entin]

A typical SCCA Regional grid in the late fifties, showing a mix of medium size production cars and small modifieds lining up for one of the supporting races.

 

 

The location is Courtland, Alabama, on a perfect day for racing, although the exact date has not been determined yet.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 26 April 2017 - 02:16.

[SKL]

Great pix!  I would have been 9 years old at the time of most of those pictures!!

[Jerry Entin]

"Honey, can we go home now? I am tired and the beer is all gone."

Edited by Jerry Entin, 26 April 2017 - 12:41.

[lcbulldog]

Yes, thanks Jerry to you and Willem for posting these pictures.  The Courtland standing start grid photo brought back fond memories of when dad and I worked corners at SCCA races in the SW US in the 60s.  We could hear the engines revving from anywhere around the track just before the flag dropped and knew the fun was about to begin.

 

Mark

[Jerry Entin]

Fort Pierce, Florida, November 1957. During the 4-hour Sam Collier Memorial Trophy Lucky Casner [#33 AC Bristol] narrowly avoids hitting John Cochran's Porsche 550RS, while Ed Rahal gets off track with his Chevy-engined Arnolt

Edited by Jerry Entin, 26 April 2017 - 19:49.

[Jerry Entin]

A few laps later Lucky Casner loses it completely, while Art Habersin's Austin-Healey takes off.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 26 April 2017 - 20:09.

[Jerry Entin]

Sam Collier Memorial Trophy, Fort Pierce, November 1957. A young Bill Kimberly leads teammate Bill Lott in their Triumph TR3s. A few years later Bill was to become Briggs Cunningham favorite long-distance co-driver, as well as an Aston-Martin works driver. 

Edited by Jerry Entin, 26 April 2017 - 20:12.

[Andrew Fellowes]

 

Fort Pierce, Florida, November 1957. During the 4-hour Sam Collier Memorial Trophy Lucky Casner [#33 AC Bristol] narrowly avoids hitting John Cochran's Porsche 550RS, while Ed Rahal gets off track with his Chevy-engined Arnolt

 

I assume that's a hairpin bend sign but the 1 and the 2? Willem and Jerry thank you for these photos, a very worthy TNF thread.

[Ray Bell]

Did Casner spin avoiding the spinning Healey?

Skid marks indicate that the Healey also revolved...

[Jerry Entin]

For Mark, to honor the Courtland corner workers, and for Andrew, who raced the shown car many years later........

 

 

Courtland, August 1958, with Walt Cline in Frank Harrison's Maserati 450S [chassis 4510] leading the pack. Wonder what that corner worker's sign says.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 26 April 2017 - 21:57.

[Jerry Entin]

Ray,

 It is hard to determine which skid marks belong to whom. The Fort Pierce event took place at St. Lucie Airport.

The corner shown in the photos was called Porsche's Lament and it would upset numerous drivers during the 4 hours.

 

AC Bristol driver Lonnie Rix was there and remembers: "the pit straight was a wide runway leading into a rather narrow taxiway with no lane or exit markings.

So it was very easy to dive into this left kink too hot and off-line. Porsche's Lament bit a lot of us."

 

Andrew,

 You are right that at the end of the photos there was a hairpin bend. It was called Wicked U. As for the numbers.... no idea.

[Tim Murray]

I'd suggest that those skidmarks are visible in the earlier photo showing Casner dodging the Porsche, so probably they'd been there for some time - they don't look very fresh.

Great photos, Jerry/Willem.

[JoBo]

 

For Mark, to honor the Courtland corner workers, and for Andrew, who raced the shown car many years later........

 

 

Courtland, August 1958, with Walt Cline in Frank Harrison's Maserati 450S [chassis 4510] leading the pack. Wonder what that corner worker's sign says.

 

 

Jerry,

great stuff. Seems that he did only shoot in color, right?

 

JoBo

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Tim Murray
I'd suggest that those skidmarks are visible in the earlier photo showing Casner dodging the Porsche, so probably they'd been there for some time - they don't look very fresh.

I'd suggest that the very faint skid mark near the upturned witch's hat is from the first spin, the Arnolt of Ed Rahal.

The darker ones in the second pic are, I'd reckon, from the Healey and the AC. They were not there in the earlier photo.

[Jerry Entin]

Another subject. Bob Bellows noticed that some things never changed at race tracks.

 

Elkhart Lake has remedied this problem by having state of the art washrooms.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 26 April 2017 - 23:12.

[Jerry Entin]

 

Ray,

It is virtually impossible to determine who caused the various skid marks.

So many cars went astray in that corner and we don't know the order. Here is Harry Rollings D-type in a spin.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 April 2017 - 01:10.

[Jerry Entin]

And Roy Schechter in his Lotus 11.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 April 2017 - 01:15.

[Jerry Entin]

And Newt Davis in his Carrera. And what the heck was Newt doing at Fort Pierce as a Connecticut resident.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 April 2017 - 01:18.

[raceannouncer2003]

Davis apparently raced his Porsche 550 at Miami in January of 1958. Maybe an extended Florida trip was part of the transition to that car ?

 

Vince H.

[Jerry Entin]

And George Smith in his XK-120. 

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 April 2017 - 11:30.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Jerry Entin

And George Smith in his XK-120.

Bob's great photos deserve to be full size...

[Jerry Entin]

Aaaahhhh, the girl in charge of tires. Hopefully posted in full size.

Note the 1957 Mercury in the background. This Hot honey is probably 75 by now.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 April 2017 - 18:44.

[Jerry Entin]

Sebring, March 1959. Ken Miles in cricket sweater discusses his chances for a good finish with co-driver Jack McAfee.

Their Porsche RSK, entered by Precision Motors, ended the 12 hours in 8th overall.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 April 2017 - 18:55.

[Jerry Entin]

Waiting for the 10 AM start at Sebring in 1959. Next to the #35 McAfee/Miles RSK is the #34 RSK entered by Cyrus Fulton for Bob Holbert and Don Sesslar. They finished 4th overall.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 April 2017 - 19:00.

[Jerry Entin]

The works Porsches at the 1959 Sebring starting grid. The #33 Carrera was driven to 11th overall by Huschke von Hanstein and Carel Godin de Beaufort. The #31 RSK finished best of all, 3rd overall in the hands of Wolfgang von Trips and Joakim Bonnier.

 

 

It looks as though the David Ash entered MGA # 28 receives last-minute attention. Ray Saidel and Gus Ehrman took it to 27th overall.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 April 2017 - 19:04.

[Jerry Entin]

Ivor 'the driver" Bueb took the 1959 Sebring start in this Costin Lister/Jaguar entered by Brian Lister, although already in Briggs Cunningham colors.

Co-driver Stirling Moss ran out of fuel during his stint and the car was disqualified.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 April 2017 - 19:08.

[SKL]

Great shots-  keep 'em coming

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Jerry Entin

Aaaahhhh, the girl in charge of tyres. Hopefully posted in full size.
Note the 1957 Mercury in the background. This Hot honey is probably 75 by now.

No, she'd barely be 74, but only if the car is new...

These are good, the line-up for the (probably stinky) toilets, the girl with the tyres, the queue at the entry gate, all sorts of pit scenes with interesting backgrounds, it shows how it really was.

Again, to Willem my thanks, to Jerry I'm glad you are posting them.




.

Edited by Ray Bell, 28 April 2017 - 01:20.

[SKL]

I especially love the line up of cars waiting to get into Sebring-  that old Caddy reminds me of my mom's car when growing up.  I'd love to have that 356 in the front!!

[Jerry Entin]

Twilight at Sebring.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 28 April 2017 - 15:12.