199 replies to this topic

[Jerry Entin]

Front and rear cover of Sportscar racing in the South: From Texas to Florida
Price: USD $125, GBP 80
Estimated availability: the end of April
Available from: www.daltonwatson.com or willemoosthoek@aol.com

Thanks to publishing house Dalton Watson, another persistent black hole in motor racing history will soon be filled: sports car racing in the southern states of the U.S.

The first of a planned series of three books, Sports Car Racing in the South, from Texas to Florida, will cover the years 1957 and 1958, when competition began to surge in that part of the country.

Author Willem Oosthoek offers detailed coverage of 52 events hosted from Texas [Fort Worth, Galveston Island, Hondo, Midland and Lubbock] to Florida [New Smyrna Beach, Cocoa-Titusville, Fort Pierce, Boca Raton, Opa Locka, Sebring, Venice and Dunnellon], plus everything held in between: Oklahoma [Stillwater and Oklahoma City], Louisiana [Mansfield and Hammond], Alabama [Courtland and Dothan], Georgia [Gainesville and St. Simons Island] and South Carolina [Chester and Walterboro]. Since many execs of the SCCA's Rio Grande Region resided in Texas, the Fort Sumner events in New Mexico are included as well.

The book contains 265 pages and 450-plus photos. The majority of the images were taken by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Bob Jackson. The private photo collections of race participants such as Bob Schroeder, Ed Rahal, Bill Kimberly, Lonnie Rix, Roy Schechter, E.D. Martin, Bill Janowski, Richard Macon, Lucky Casner, Joe Sheppard and Nedra Ware were major assets for those events not covered by Bob Jackson.

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 February 2011 - 02:12.

[RA Historian]

I have had the privilege of seeing a draft of the 1957 year. It is extremely thorough, covering even the most obscure of SCCA Regionals in that area. It is a must have for any student of US racing in the early years, especially in the Southeast. Another fine effort by Willem Oosthoek, who has deservedly built a reputation for accuracy and thoroughness.

Tom

Edited by RA Historian, 27 February 2011 - 17:31.

[Jerry Entin]

Some of the Southern characters who will play a major role in the upcoming Southern book, seen here at Mansfield in March of 1958.



photo: Bob Jackson

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 February 2011 - 02:20.

[Jerry Entin]

Not only Southern drivers will be featured, since the Sebring 12 Hours had International status.


photo: Bob Jackson

[Frank S]

I remember, sort of, Sebring 1958.

[raceannouncer2003]

Some of the Southern characters who will play a major role in the upcoming Southern book, seen here at Mansfield in March of 1958.



photo: Bob Jackson

Who is in the cap?

Vince H.

[RAP]

Does the book contain detailed results like Terry O'Neil's Northeast American Sports Car Races 1950-1959 ?

[Jerry Entin]

Vince: the fellow with the cap is Carroll Shelby, long before he started to wear that fashionable black cowboy hat.

RAP: the Southern book follows a different approach then Terry O'Neil's Northeast book. Each of the 52 Southern events has its own chapter, with event -specific photos and schedules in those chapters, while in O'Neil's book the years are combined, the photos used are spread throughout the year and the schedules are at the end of each year.

The Southern book lists for each event: Status, Sanction, Track Details, Crowd, Weather, Chief Starter, Entries and Race Program. Each race on the program is described in the text, from Novice race to Feature. Schedules are reserved for the modified races,listing race number, number of laps, race distance, number of starters, overall positions, car numbers, drivers, cars, class finish, completed laps, winner's time and average speed.

At the end of both years is a list of all identified chassis numbers, in order of race appearance. All Maseratis and Jaguars in the South are identified, all Ferraris [with one exception: Dick McGuire's Monza] as well, while Lister and Lotus are partially identified. No such luck for the Porsches or Coopers.

all research: Willem Oosthoek

[Jerry Entin]

Alan Connell chasing Mason O'Keiff

Describing the weather conditions for each event was sometimes made superfluous by the photos, such as here at the September 1958 Golden Days Races at Galveston Island. Fort Worth rancher Alan Connell [Maserati 250S, chassis 2430] chases Houston college professor Mason O'Keiff [Chevy-engined C-type, chassis XK-C 020].



Photo: Bob Jackson

[RAP]

Vince: the fellow with the cap is Carroll Shelby, long before he started to wear that fashionable black cowboy hat.

RAP: the Southern book follows a different approach then Terry O'Neil's Northeast book. Each of the 52 Southern events has its own chapter, with event -specific photos and schedules in those chapters, while in O'Neil's book the years are combined, the photos used are spread throughout the year and the schedules are at the end of each year.

The Southern book lists for each event: Status, Sanction, Track Details, Crowd, Weather, Chief Starter, Entries and Race Program. Each race on the program is described in the text, from Novice race to Feature. Schedules are reserved for the modified races,listing race number, number of laps, race distance, number of starters, overall positions, car numbers, drivers, cars, class finish, completed laps, winner's time and average speed.

At the end of both years is a list of all identified chassis numbers, in order of race appearance. All Maseratis and Jaguars in the South are identified, all Ferraris [with one exception: Dick McGuire's Monza] as well, while Lister and Lotus are partially identified. No such luck for the Porsches or Coopers.

all research: Willem Oosthoek

THats great thanks - looking forward to getting a copy !
Richard

[Jerry Entin]

Hap Sharp and Dave Morgan in their Corvettes

Mansfield,Louisiana March 1958: teammates Hap Sharp [#88] and Dave Morgan [#89] brought their blue Corvettes from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Both led, then retired during the 20-lap Race #6 for large production cars. As a result Ross Wees, Ebb Rose, Harry Washburn, Bill Fritts and Archie Means captured the first five spots with their AC/Bristols.



Photo: Bob Jackson

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 February 2011 - 17:06.

[Jerry Entin]

Sebring 1958. Is that a check for the winner's purse that an elated Ferrari team manager Romolo Tavoni shows? Phil Hill and Peter Collins look pleased as well, while ARCF exec Reggie Smith checks his notes.




Photo: Bob Jackson

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 February 2011 - 17:25.

[Jerry Entin]

Sebring 1958: Alec Ulmann congratulates Porsche team manager Huschke von Hanstein
with the excellent performance of his team.

Wolfgang Seidel and Harry Schell captured third overall with their RSK. Von Hanstein finished 10th overall in a Carrera shared with Herbert Linge and Johnny "Marquis de Quiver" Cuevas of Miami.



Photo: Bob Jackson

[Jerry Entin]

Aston Martin DB2 of Fred Hill at Eagle Mountain during pit stop

Aston Martins were a rare sight in the South. This DB2 belonged to Fred "Spinner" Hill of Denver, Colorado. He entered it in the 3-Hour Pit Crew Endurance Race at Eagle Mountain near Fort Worth in October 1957, with Bill Janowski as his co-driver. They won DP class.

The race mandated each car to make two pit stops, one for a tire change and one for at least five gallons of fuel. Having won Saturday's prelim in his first appearance with a new Maserati 300S [chassis 3073], Houston's Ebb Rose was the favorite. But Bobby Burns of Wichita Falls [Porsche 550RS] made the faster pit stops and beat Rose's 300S after 3 hours.



Photo: Bob Jackson

Edited by Jerry Entin, 27 February 2011 - 19:30.

[E1pix]

Very Cool, I really admire anyone tackling a somewhat-obscure book challenge like this!

I've done 5 (nature) books of my work so wish you the very best! You cannot over-promote, that's for sure.

Awesome, and Please Keep us all Posted!

[Jerry Entin]

Stillwater, Oklahoma, September 1957. In spite of racing with his left foot in a cast, Houston advertising exec Bob Stonedale finds time to clown with the photographer. He took his Jaguar XK-SS, chassis 701, to 5th overall and CM1.


Chassis 701 was the first XK-SS in the U.S. and started life as XK-D 555. Its first race came at Mansfield in March 1957, after Jaguar USA sales manager Gordon Benett drove it all the way from New York to beat the Corvettes in a production race. Afterwards the SCCA ruled the XK-SS a modified, by which time Overseas Motors in Dallas owned the car. Overseas sales manager Dave Tallaksen ran it in the April 1957 Frostbite Races at Eagle Mountain. By June Stonedale became the new owner, with an entry in the wet National at Eagle Mountain. Over time the XK-SS lost it luxury treatment to look more like a D-type without fin. By the fall of 1958, after many mechanical problems, Stonedale commissioned Dale Burt, midget driver for Tony Foyt, to drop a Chevy V8 in its engine bay. Delmo Johnson became the car's third owner in late 1959.

Photo: Bob Jackson

Edited by Jerry Entin, 28 February 2011 - 13:31.

[Jerry Entin]

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

[RA Historian]

Correct me if I am wrong, which I well could be, but this may be one of only two occasions that a full blown (pre-Runoffs) SCCA National feature event was taken by a production car over all the modifieds/sports racers. The only other occasion of which I can think was the 1963 Lake Garnett SCCA National which was won overall by Ken Miles in a 289 AP Cobra.
Tom

[Jerry Entin]

For SCCA Nationals you are right, Tom.

When it came to SCCA Regionals, with weaker modified fields, it happened more often.

In 1957 Lonnie Rix captured the Features at Chester, Walterboro and St. Simons Island with his production AC/Bristol.

all research Willem Oosthoek

[Jerry Entin]

Northrop Peck and his Ferrari 750 Monza at Mansfield in 1958

Chassis 0496 was acquired by Northrop Peck of Houston late in 1957. Its previous owners were Alfonso de Portago and Gary Laughlin. Laughlin took it to victory in the April 1957 Frostbite Races at Eagle Mountain.



Photo: Bob Jackson
all research: Willem Oosthoek

Edited by Jerry Entin, 02 March 2011 - 18:33.

[Jerry Entin]

Dick Hall's Ferrari 750 Monza, chassis 0510, at Fort Sumner in September 1957.


Bought from Allen Guiberson in 1955, chassis 0510 was raced for owner Dick Hall by Carroll Shelby [1956], Jim Hall [1955, 1957 and 1958] and Hall/Shelby sales manager Jim Roberts [1957].

Photo: Bob Jackson

Edited by Jerry Entin, 02 March 2011 - 19:03.

[ERault]

Dick Hall's Ferrari 750 Monza, chassis 0510, at Fort Sumner in September 1957.


Bought from Allen Guiberson in 1955, chassis 0510 was raced for owner Dick Hall by Carroll Shelby [1956], Jim Hall [1955, 1957 and 1958] and Hall/Shelby sales manager Jim Roberts [1957].

Photo: Bob Jackson

The full size windscreen is unusual before being made mandatory for international races in 1958. Any particuliar reason you can think of ?

PS : can't wait for the book !

[Jerry Entin]

ERault,

When Shelby took it to victory in the 1956 SCCA National at Eagle Mountain, chassis 0510 was white and still featured a small windshield. In the Monza's first appearance for 1957, the SCCA National at Eagle Mountain in June, it had changed to red, with a full-width windshield. Many of the competitors that day still featured small windshields, so it wasn't a requirement for SCCA racing.

Perhaps the Halls had international competition in mind when they changed the color, like Sebring in March. Weren't full-width screens mandatory for WSCC events by 1957?


All the changes were done at the factory. After Eagle Mountain in 1956 Dick Hall returned the Monza to Italy for a major overhaul. It took until May 1957 before the car was returned to the U.S., the result of a foul-up at customs in Genoa. Perhaps the factory people assumed the latest windshield treatment made most sense considering the changing international rules.


all research: Willem Oosthoek

[Jack-the-Lad]

These look like great books, but unfortunately way too spendy for me. Thanks for the pictures, Jerry. Nice to see Reggie Smith there.

It might be a good idea to post something in the book thread. I'm sure the chaps there would be very interested.

Jack

[David McKinney]

Perhaps the factory people assumed the latest windshield treatment made most sense considering the changing international rules.

Or perhaps he wanted to use it on the road?

[Jerry Entin]

Sebring 1958: Jim Roberts in the "Texas" Triumph TR3 he shared with Louis Heuss, the Dallas architect. Entered by Standard Motor Co., the car finished 26th overall.

Team member Bill Kimberly, who finished 20th overall with Mike Rothschild, remembers how the Triumph factory requested three regional dealers in the U.S. to come up with driver recommendations for Sebring. All three cars finished, winning the Team Prize for team manager Ken Richardson.

Jack: Just keep watching this thread. It is free and I am sure you will enjoy seeing the cars and drivers from that period.


Photo: Bob Jackson
all research: Willem Oosthoek

Edited by Jerry Entin, 03 March 2011 - 11:58.

[Jerry Entin]

Jim Hall after taking chassis 0510 to second overall in Race 2 during the June 1957 SCCA National at Eagle Mountain. Jim's younger brother Chuck having a chat with him.

David,

It is unlikely that Jim Hall intended to use his Ferrari Monza on the road. As the photo shows, even the full-width windshield offered minimal protection, especially for someone as tall as Jim. Legally it was not required for road use and considering the humid Texas climate [Jim liked his comforts and according to Bob Schroeder, Jim's Mercedes 300SL was the first one to have air condition installed] I tend to think that the wide screen was what was available in Enzo's parts bin at the time.

It did not take long for the reconditioned car to need additional work. Hall became involved in the first lap melee during the Eagle Mountain Feature [Race 8] and had to spend 30 minutes in the pits to make the Monza driveable again. In disgust Hall gave the wheel to Jim Roberts, who finished 15th overall and last. More trouble lay ahead a month later, when the car was transported to Galveston. On Friday before the race the driver of John Edgar's enclosed transporter drifted into oncoming traffic and hit another tractor trailer. The driver's wife, who was in the passenger seat, lost her life. The Monza suffered heavy body damage bouncing inside the trailer.

all research : Willem Oosthoek
Photo: Bob Jackson

Edited by Jerry Entin, 03 March 2011 - 18:12.

[Jean L]

The full windscreen (15cm hight) and the left door are adaptation to the FIA appendix C of 1957.

[David McKinney]

It is unlikely that Jim Hall intended to use his Ferrari Monza on the road. As the photo shows, even the full-width windshield offered minimal protection, especially for someone as tall as Jim. Legally it was not required for road use

I was really thinking of the girlfriend

[Jerry Entin]

In 1957 Jim was still happily married to Nancy, his high school sweetheart. The Monza would mess up her hair. No girlfriend[s] yet. Sandy did not come along until 1960.

As for the SCCA, they did not introduce the 1957 Appendix C rules until 1963, with the introduction of the professional USRRC races.

all research: Willem Oosthoek

[Jack-the-Lad]

Jack: Just keep watching this thread. It is free and I am sure you will enjoy seeing the cars and drivers from that period.

Thanks, Jerry, but now I'm hooked. I'll have to get this book!

Jack.

[Jerry Entin]

Sebring 1958: Norm Scott in his private Porsche 550RS, followed by Freddy Windridge's Corvette, raced by Windridge, John Kilborn and Dick Thompson.

Houston-based Mercedes-Benz dealer Norm Scott had bad luck at Sebring in 1957 and 1958. Running as high as 10th overall in 1957, his Porsche dropped out after 168 laps. The next year his car was delayed to finish 39th overall with only 109 laps completed. In both cases Scott's co-driver was Frank Bott, better known as an OSCA driver. Bott was a Chicago-born Jaguar engineer who worked for Overseas Motors in Fort Worth at the time.

Jack: As they say, you have seen nothing yet. This book is for you.



Photo: Bob Jackson

Edited by Jerry Entin, 04 March 2011 - 14:47.

[Jerry Entin]

Eagle Mountain, June 1957: John Edgar and Carroll Shelby look on while Maserati works mechanic Nemore Barbieri performs his magic on the Edgar Maserati 300S.

Having won the 1956 edition in Dick Hall's Ferrari Monza, Shelby was the pre race favorite for the 1957 SCCA National at Eagle Mountain. After disappointing performances at Palm Springs and Hawaii earlier in 1957, Maserati had sent over engine specialist Barbieri to work on the Edgar 300S, chassis 3071. It brought immediate results: Shelby took the 300S to victory at Cotati.

At Eagle Mountain Shelby set the best qualifying time and recorded 139 mph at the speed trap. Only Loyal Katskee's Ferrari Monza had superior top speed: 142 mph. But the two modified races on Sunday proved a disaster for the Edgar team. It rained and in both Race 2 and Race 8 Shelby crashed in the first corner of the first lap. Barbieri remained in the U.S. to become an official Maserati agent in San Francisco.



Photo: Bob Jackson

Edited by Jerry Entin, 04 March 2011 - 18:39.

[Jerry Entin]

Reggie Smith, Alec Ulmann and a table filled with trophies


Jack the Lad: How about this one?


photo: Bob Jackson

[Jack-the-Lad]

Nice one. Thanks! I'll share it with his sons and grandsons.

Jack

[ERIKZ]

Jerry, what years will the next two volumes cover?

Erik

[Jerry Entin]

EriK:
Volume 2 will cover 1959 and 1960.

The contents of Volume 3 are still in the air, but probably 1961, 1962 and 1963.

[Jerry Entin]

Sebring 1958: Joakim Bonnier in the blue A.V. Dayton Maserati 300S, chassis 3068, which lasted 90 laps. Team members blamed Bonnier's rough gearshifts.

A.V. Dayton was a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based manufacturer of electrical and seismographic equipment for the oil and gas industry. Ferraris and Maseratis had his interest as well. At Sebring Dale Duncan, Jack Hinkle and Bonnier were Dayton's designated drivers. All three had experience with the 300S model, but Hinkle only drove it in practice. He blamed Bonnier's driving style for the car's retirement after some six hours of racing, while running 8th overall.

In 1959 Enus Wilson, a native American and member of the Muskogee Creek Tribe, bought chassis 3068 from Dayton and repainted the 300S purple.


Photo: Bob Jackson
all research: Willem Oosthoek

Edited by Jerry Entin, 06 March 2011 - 12:49.

[Jerry Entin]

Jimmy Stout waves off second-place Frank Davis in the Mangham-Davis Special in Saturday's Race 2 at Eagle Mountain in October 1957.


A true backyard Special, the Mangham-Davis/Chevy was constructed in 1957 by owner Stormy Mangham and his driver Frank Davis for $2,000 in Smithfield, Texas. It was also known as the Checkerboard Special, based on its checkered tail pattern, a trademark copied from Mangham's private plane and Bonneville record-setting Triumph motorbike. It featured a carbureted Chevy engine [not even the fuel injected Corvette version], three-speed gearbox and Devin body. Once fully sorted by 1958, Davis left many Ferraris, Maseratis and other European thoroughbreds behind on the tracks of Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. It was the most successful Devin-bodied car of the era, yet remains little known outside the Southwest.

Photo: Bob Jackson
all research: Willem Oosthoek

Edited by Jerry Entin, 06 March 2011 - 14:55.

[Jerry Entin]

Jacksboro, Texas, rancher Roy Cherryhomes seen practicing the Ferrari 500TRC, chassis 0658, he bought from Ebby Lunken in 1958. Cherryhomes was an early sponsor of Carroll Shelby.

The 3rd Annual Texas Championship Sports Car Races at Eagle Mountain lost their SCCA National status after 1956 and 1957, in spite of attracting 112 entries. Perhaps politics were involved. The busy program consisted of four races on Saturday, seven on Sunday.

Cherryhomes won EM2 in the Feature race. Jack Hinkle won EM1 and fifth overall with his Maserati 200SI, chassis 2426.

Photo: Bob Jackson
all research: Willem Oosthoek

[Jerry Entin]

Bobby Burns of Wichita Falls, Texas, and his Bobtail Cooper/Climax at the Eagle Mountain National in 1956. He finished 6th overall [GM2] in race 2.


After his father, the founder of Burns Oil, was killed in a car crash near Henrietta in 1954, 33-year old Bobby inherited the firm and began to acquire a sizeable racing stable: a Bobtail Cooper, two Maseratis and by 1957, a Porsche 550RS.

Burns took his Porsche to overall victory in the Eagle Mountain 3 Hours in October 1957. His last race was the Sebring 12 Hours in 1959, where he finished 14th overall in a works AC/Bristol shared with Jim Cook and English expat Roy Jackson-Moore.

The indoor swimming pool of Bobby's Wichita Falls mansion became the scene of Cybill Shepherd's famous nude scene in the 1971 film The Last Picture Show. Bobby's wife Abbie had plans for a movie career of her own and, in 1974, arranged for a photo shoot at their residence. Bobby nixed it and ordered the photo crew from the property.

Abbie did not take kindly to Bobby's actions. On June 21, the pair was found dead in their bed, after an apparent murder-suicide. Abbie was known to be an excellent markswoman.

Photo: Bob Schroeder
all research: Willem Oosthoek

Edited by Jerry Entin, 08 March 2011 - 19:43.

[RA Historian]

Abbie did not take kindly to Bobby's actions. On June 21, the pair was found dead in their bed, after an apparent murder-suicide. Abbie was known to be an excellent markswoman.

One more example of when "Yes, dear" may have been the wiser response...
Tom

[bradbury west]

What is the little white car, top right, in post 41 please Jerry?
Roger Lund

[Jerry Entin]

Roger:
The white car is Bob "Sad Sam" Samuelson's HM-class Nardi [15th overall]. The white and red roadster on the left is the HM-class Siata of Jeff Koehne, George Koehne's wife, who would finish 17th overall.

Tom: It may be a good idea also not to teach your wife how to shoot a gun.


all research: Willem Oosthoek

Edited by Jerry Entin, 09 March 2011 - 01:30.

[bradbury west]

Many thanks.
RL

[etceterini.com]

My friend Howard has the Nardi. I'm going to visit it in April and hopefully get pics and
video! I have more pics of the Nardi on my Nardi page: http://www.ferrariex.....cing cars.htm

Edited by etceterini.com, 09 March 2011 - 05:19.

[Jerry Entin]

A closer look at Bob Samuelson and his Nardi before the 1956 Eagle Mountain National.

By 1957 Samuelson had moved on to a Bandini and no Nardi can be found on the Southern grids during 1957 and 1958.



Photo: Bob Schroeder
all research: Willem Oosthoek

Edited by Jerry Entin, 09 March 2011 - 16:13.

[Jerry Entin]

Ebb Rose and his 450S Maserati
Back to the big iron. The most powerful car in the South in 1958 was undoubtedly the Maserati 450S. Here owner Ebb Rose is congratulated by chief starter Jimmy Stout after his double win in the April 1958 Gran Carrera Lafitte at Galveston.

Carroll Shelby himself delivered Rose's new 450S, chassis 4509, at Galveston and did some warm-ups in practice, pursued by Rose in his Maserati 300S. Rose took over the wheel of the 450S during Race 4 and Race 7, to beat all opposition.

Photo: captured from an Ebb Rose 16 mm film, courtesy of Joe Trybulec.
all research: Willem Oosthoek

Edited by Jerry Entin, 10 March 2011 - 16:18.

[Jerry Entin]

Mystery driver in Ebb Rose's Maserati 300S, chassis 3073.


For the October 1958 Fall Roundup Races at Eagle Mountain Ebb Rose brought two of his three Maseratis, the 450S and the long-nose 300S, practicing both. The engine of the 450S had just been rebuilt at the factory and Rose raced it on Sunday. It proved a wise decision: Ebb beat Jim Hall's Lister/Chevy in both Race 3 and Race 6.

Chassis 3073 was raced by someone else. The car appeared on the second row of the grid next to Jimmy Younger's Lister/Chevy. Race reports do not mention its finish position and so far the driver has not been identified. Judging from his McHal helmet, not often used by SCCA drivers in 1958, the mystery driver may have had a USAC background.

Photo: Bob Jackson

Edited by Jerry Entin, 11 March 2011 - 14:06.

[David McKinney]

I know Carroll Shelby usually wore a white helmet in 1958 - but?