47 replies to this topic

[etceterini.com]

My friend Harlo Petoskey just posted this incredible video taken by John McClure in California.
Everyone on this forum will LOVE this time capsule never before published video, enjoy!!

http://thechicaneblog.com/

Please let us know what you think.

Cliff Reuter

[Frank S]

I laughed! I cried! Great fun for the whole family!

Actually getting rave reviews from all over the country.

Thank you so much.

[mikeC]

wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!

[David McKinney]

Agreed

Great to see the famous battle between Woods (D-type) and Daigh (Troutman-Barnes) before they both retired and left Richie Ginther (in Edgar's Ferrari 410S) to his first big win

Suprised too, as a single-seater man, to see not one but two F2 Cooper-Climaxes. One was Reventlow's - was the other the car Bob Drake drove? I didn't see it in the paddock shot with the DB3S Aston Martin and bob-tailed sports Cooper-Climax he was also driving at the time

I presume the MGA rollover was the one that cost John Lawrence his life

[garyfrogeye]

Oh for a time machine.
Fantastic.

[Jerry Entin]

Cliff: Tell Harlo the first car in the street parade at Elkhart Lake is the 1958 Echidna of Bob and Paula Hardison of the Phoenix area. Bob won First in the pre 1963 division judging, His car is the ex Jerry Hansen driven Echidna.

Also tell him in his 1957 Riverside video the guy in the striped shirt in Ol Yellar 1 is Eric Hauser. And of course thank Harlo Petoskey for allowing this great video and film coverage to be seen.

[Hse289]

Fantastic footage Great to see the Troutman & Barnes Special in action.

[Eric Dunsdon]

Brilliant footage. Thank you very much!.

[Alan Cox]

Many thanks for posting this great time-capsule movie, Cliff. I look forward to further submissions from the period.
There is much else to entertain elsewhere on The Chicane site, too.

[Terry Walker]

I'm on the opposite side of the world, and well below the equator, so I don't know any of the drivers but - fantastic stuff! Brilliant. I loved the optimist racing the T-Bird.

[fbarrett]

The Ferrari, which was driven very successfully by Carroll Shelby in 1956, is in the Shelby American Collection in Boulder, Colorado. Now owned by Denver's Roger Willbanks, it's one of the cars featured in the book Shelby Cars in Detail.

Date

9/21 Riverside Prelim. Richie Ginther #211 5th
9/22 Riverside Richie Ginther #211 1st

11/02 Palm Springs Prelim. Richie Ginther #211 3rd
11/03 Palm Springs Richie Ginther #211 6th
11/16 Riverside Prelim. Richie Ginther #211 5th
11/17 Riverside Richie Ginther #211 5th

Frank

Edited by fbarrett, 07 February 2010 - 19:26.

[RShaw]

A note on the video site indicates that the film appears to be two events, the Sept 21-22, 1957 Cal Club race and the Nov. 16-17 SCCA National.
As a confirmation, the Temple Buell Maserati 450S, car #4 appears at about 14 min 30 secs into the film. Buell did not enter the Sept. Cal Club event, but did enter the Nov. event, his Maserati carrying #4 and driven by Masten Gregory.

[David McKinney]

Thanks RS

That makes more sense of the appearance of the Lubin/Drake F2 Cooper, whch would have to have been built in record time and air-freighted to California to make the earlier date

[eldougo]

Great footage Cliff ,dusty old riverside at its best. I counted at least 12 right hand drive cars in those very big field of classic sports cars.

[Harlo]

Glad you're all enjoying the footage. This is just the first of quite a handful of late 50s races unearthed in Mr. McClure's collection that I'll be sharing on The Chicane within the next few weeks. Keep the comments coming, I love hearing more about the cars, drivers, and circumstances of the film.

[Harlo]

I've uploaded the 2nd film in this series.. This time I think i've got it limited to just one race. The 5th Running of the Torrey Pines Road Races, November 1954.

Take a peek: Torrey Pines '54 on The Chicane

[Hse289]

Excellent stuff , im enjoying these old films . I noticed the MG R1 being raced by i think Cy Yedor.

[lanciaman]

Wonderful stuff.
Reminded me of the race in "On The Beach."

[Frank S]

It's wonderful how good this one looks at full screen.

More thanks.

[Harlo]

I've uploaded the 3rd video to The Chicane. This time it's the August 1956 race at Paramount Ranch. Most of the footage seems to be the consolation under-1500cc, the featured under-1500cc, and the featured over-1500cc race. A few shots of the pits as well, including an interesting look under the hood of a front-engined Porsche 4-cam powered something; Lotus 11 maybe?

What a picturesque track it was.

Check it out.

[TooTall]

I've uploaded the 3rd video to The Chicane. This time it's the August 1956 race at Paramount Ranch. Most of the footage seems to be the consolation under-1500cc, the featured under-1500cc, and the featured over-1500cc race. A few shots of the pits as well, including an interesting look under the hood of a front-engined Porsche 4-cam powered something; Lotus 11 maybe?

What a picturesque track it was.

Check it out.

Fantastic stuff!!! It was a very pretty track. Most of it still exists as it is now a State Park. Starting at about 2:18 there is a red coupe that looks like a Cisitalia. It is in fact a Swallow Doretti with an Allied fiberglass body that was itself a copy of a Cisitalia. My friend now owns this car. He will be thrilled to see this footage. Thank you!

More! More! More!

Kurt O.

[Mal9444]

In the very first clip, from 1956, there appears in the opening paddock shot at about 0.16 what looks like a Mercedes-Benz 300slr. It then appears on the track at around 6.41 et seq.

I was not aware that any 300slrs were sold to private owners. Is this an ex-works car, or a 300sl that someone bodied to look like the slr?

Naive question, I'm sure. Be gentle.

[Charles Helps]

Wonderful footage.

I think that you will find that the Porsche 4-cam powered something in the 19 August 1956 race is a Lotus Mk IX as entered by Dr Eschrich.

It was good to see presumably John Timanus driving the red Lotus VIII/X, racing number 41F about half way through.

Does anyone have a programme or is there one on the web?

[RShaw]

In the very first clip, from 1956, there appears in the opening paddock shot at about 0.16 what looks like a Mercedes-Benz 300slr. It then appears on the track at around 6.41 et seq.

I was not aware that any 300slrs were sold to private owners. Is this an ex-works car, or a 300sl that someone bodied to look like the slr?

Naive question, I'm sure. Be gentle.

Probably Chuck Porter's Mercedes "SLS". Porter was, I think, an accomplished bodyman, and built the SLS from a wrecked 300SL. Some say the final "S" stood for "scrap". I believe the car ended up with a Buick or at least some kind of Detroit iron engine.
Ron Shaw

[RShaw]

Wonderful footage.

I think that you will find that the Porsche 4-cam powered something in the 19 August 1956 race is a Lotus Mk IX as entered by Dr Eschrich.

It was good to see presumably John Timanus driving the red Lotus VIII/X, racing number 41F about half way through.

Does anyone have a programme or is there one on the web?

Wasn't Eschrich the guy that bought the engine and trans out of James Dean's wrecked 550? Could that in fact be the same engine?
Ron Shaw

[Frank S]

Wonderful footage.

I think that you will find that the Porsche 4-cam powered something in the 19 August 1956 race is a Lotus Mk IX as entered by Dr Eschrich.

It was good to see presumably John Timanus driving the red Lotus VIII/X, racing number 41F about half way through.

Does anyone have a programme or is there one on the web?

Paramount Ranch August 1956


Addtional photography at 1950s SoCal racing

Edited by Frank S, 17 February 2010 - 00:54.

[Mal9444]

Probably Chuck Porter's Mercedes "SLS". Porter was, I think, an accomplished bodyman, and built the SLS from a wrecked 300SL. Some say the final "S" stood for "scrap". I believe the car ended up with a Buick or at least some kind of Detroit iron engine.
Ron Shaw

Ah - thank you. In fact, I believe we saw this car a few years ago at the Goodwood Revival?

[Mal9444]

Ah - thank you. In fact, I believe we saw this car a few years ago at the Goodwood Revival?

http://www.supercars.../cars/2909.html

thanks

[Charles Helps]

Paramount Ranch August 1956


Addtional photography at 1950s SoCal racing

Frank, thanks very much - just what I wanted.

There's even an interesting cockpit picture of the Mercedes 'SLS' in the second link for Mal.

[Peter Morley]

As it is of some personal interest I loved seeing the pictures of John Timanus in the Lotus X (with race number 41, he came 6th & 8th in the races that day).

The car with the Porsche motor is the Dr William Eschrich Lotus 9 fitted with the engine from the ex-James Dean Porsche Spyder.
Two months later he had an accident at Pomona, in the same race as his friend Dr Troy McHenry was killed in his Porsche Spyder and Doc Eschrich never raced again.
Apparently he also used the Porsche gearbox in this car, presumably in place of the Lotus diff. housing?

And the connection between both these cars is that Dean had ordered the Lotus but bought the Porsche when the Lotus was late arriving.

[RShaw]

...
And the connection between both these cars is that Dean had ordered the Lotus but bought the Porsche when the Lotus was late arriving.

Peter,
Are you saying the Eschrich Lotus was the car that Dean had ordered? I have read that Dean had considered buying a Lotus, but only as an alternative if no 550s were available. As luck (bad, as it turned out) would have it Competition Motors received 5 new 550s in early Sept., 1955, and the die was cast.
Some accounts of the fate of the Dean 550 indicate Eschrich purchased the entire wrecked car after it was taken from Cholame to San Luis Obispo. Other accounts say George Barris purchased it from Dean's insurance company. No question that Dr. Eschrich ended up with the engine and transmission, as well as the portion of the rear suspension that he subsequently sold to the unfortunate Dr. Troy McHenry. Also no question that Barris ended up with the wrecked chassis, less the engine and transmission. The details about how that all came to pass seem to be a bit murky.
It would seem more likely that Dr. Eschrich bought the entire car, as he was the one that ended up with the 1955 California registration document for the vehicle.
RonS.

Edited by RShaw, 18 February 2010 - 21:22.

[Peter Morley]

Ron
No the Eschrich Lotus was a 9.
The Lotus that James Dean ordered was the one that Timanus ended up with - basically a 10 wiith drum brakes (which were an option that was fitted to the other 10s - Dunlop wouldn't supply them for export at the time).

Dean also bought an Offenhauser engine at the same time as ordering the Lotus, when he found out that the Lotus wouldn't arrive in time for Salinas he bought the Spyder from Competition motors.
The car I'm having rebuilt has the remains of the Timanus car (chassis and other parts - except for some suspension that was used to build a replica 9, the body having disappeared over the years) with a small Offenhauser as Dean intended.

I understand that Eschrich bought the Spyder from the insurance company (for $2500) and sold some parts to Joe Playan and Dr Troy McHenry and what was left over went to George Barris 6 months later (Barris's own accounts about the car are extremely un-reliable, for instance he takes the credit for the sign writing that was done by Dean Jefferies), Barris decided not to rebuild the car and added some suitably bent panels (to replace those that were usable and had been sold by Eschrich.
I did read recently that there is some question as to the identity of the wrecked Spyder that was used for a road safety campaign and eventually disappeared while Barris was transporting it (not to mention the questions as to whether Barris knows where it ended up) until it turns up I don't think we'll ever know the story.

I understand that Eschrich's son still has the Lotus and Porsche engine but the Porsche transaxle went to another Spyder owner (which would also suggest that they didn't fit the transaxle in the Lotus Porsche).

Peter

[RShaw]

Ron
No the Eschrich Lotus was a 9.
The Lotus that James Dean ordered was the one that Timanus ended up with - basically a 10 wiith drum brakes (which were an option that was fitted to the other 10s - Dunlop wouldn't supply them for export at the time).

Dean also bought an Offenhauser engine at the same time as ordering the Lotus, when he found out that the Lotus wouldn't arrive in time for Salinas he bought the Spyder from Competition motors.
The car I'm having rebuilt has the remains of the Timanus car (chassis and other parts - except for some suspension that was used to build a replica 9, the body having disappeared over the years) with a small Offenhauser as Dean intended.

I understand that Eschrich bought the Spyder from the insurance company (for $2500) and sold some parts to Joe Playan and Dr Troy McHenry and what was left over went to George Barris 6 months later (Barris's own accounts about the car are extremely un-reliable, for instance he takes the credit for the sign writing that was done by Dean Jefferies), Barris decided not to rebuild the car and added some suitably bent panels (to replace those that were usable and had been sold by Eschrich.
I did read recently that there is some question as to the identity of the wrecked Spyder that was used for a road safety campaign and eventually disappeared while Barris was transporting it (not to mention the questions as to whether Barris knows where it ended up) until it turns up I don't think we'll ever know the story.

I understand that Eschrich's son still has the Lotus and Porsche engine but the Porsche transaxle went to another Spyder owner (which would also suggest that they didn't fit the transaxle in the Lotus Porsche).

Peter

Peter,
Many thanks for the Lotus explanation.
I had not heard that there was any controversy about the identity of the Dean 550 remains that Barris carted about the country in the late '50s. I suspect you are right, we will never know the whole story about the disappearance of the car. Should the remains eventually turn up in Omaha, or St. Paul, or New Orleans, or any of the other places where it is rumored to have been squirreled away, I would imagine that reappearance would be greeted with the greatest suspicion. The only thing that makes sense to me is that the dilapidated carcass ultimately became more of a liability than an asset and by 1960 it was time for it to disappear. It would be interesting to know if there was an insurance pay-out from the freight carrier after the car disappeared. "Follow the money", as they say.

[Jim Armstrong]

I was at at least two of those meetings, but with a dial-up modem and 40 year old phone lines, it took me less time to drive to the courses than it would to download the vids.

[Harlo]

I've added another piece of film to the site - the October 1956 running of the Pomona Road Races. Take a peek

[Alan Cox]

Thanks again, Harlo. More fabulous stuff and what great racing.

[Hse289]

Brilliant stuff, i never thought i,d ever see footage of Ken Miles in the Cooper Porsche R3. Are,nt we lucky. Hope there is more to come. im really enjoying these movies.
Paul

[Frank S]

I'm appreciating and enjoying your fifties films. Thank you for them.

While exploring your Chicane site I came across some familiar material about the Playas de Tijuana races. My comments are on this page:
Pictures from a Playas racing program

[dretceterini]

The entry list shows 2 Moretti 750 twin cam coupes. I found one at 3:42 (white and red), but haven't found the other one on the video

[etceterini.com]

Anyone have a scan of the Pamona program cover and entry list??

[dretceterini]

Anyone have a scan of the Pamona program cover and entry list??

No but if you go to this link and scroll down, it has some results by race for the June and October 1956 Pomona races (but no program covers as yet)

http://www.racingspo...ive/Pomona.html

Edited by dretceterini, 23 February 2010 - 23:49.

[etceterini.com]

Here's the 1954 March AFB new/old video:

http://thechicaneblog.com/

Awesome as usual!

[Hse289]

,excellent stuff.

[Harlo]

I posted another race last night - Palm Springs, March 1955. McAfee's 375MM vs. Pollack's Baldwin II Special.. Check it out.

[Frank S]

I posted another race last night - Palm Springs, March 1955. McAfee's 375MM vs. Pollack's Baldwin II Special.. Check it out.

I love this stuff.

Can you pick out Ken Miles in the Flying Shingle? James Dean in the light-colored #23 Speedster?*

Program, Palm Springs, March 1955

My Palm Springs Pages.


* I can't.

[Hse289]

What a coincidence, i was thinking today if there were going to be any more of these brilliant video`s put up for us to see. This one is by far the best in my opinion. Miles in the MG R2, fantastic. That car really moved too, did,nt it. Thanks.

[HistoricMustang]

Henry

[Harlo]

The next clip is up! More from Palm Springs, this time it's the December '55 race. Masten Gregory's Maserati and Ernie McAfee's Ferrari Monza battled hard all weekend. Take a peek

I really enjoy the Citroen 2CV racing in the small bore group, nearly toppling on every turn!