15 replies to this topic

[Jerry Entin]

In 1957 an interesting special was built by Stormy Mangham and Frank Davis at North Richland Hills near Fort Worth. Stormy was a senior captain with American Airlines, Frank a midget driver and Chevy engine tuner.

 

The Mangham-Davis Special was based on a 1939 Ford chassis, a carbureted 352 cid Chevy engine clad by a Devin body that had to be widened to fit. In 1958 Davis won four features in the Southwest, beating the fastest cars from England and Italy.

 

The image shows the M-D Special #166 at Eagle Mountain in June 1958, where Davis won both the prelim and the feature. Additional feature wins were scored at Mansfield, Lubbock and Oklahoma City that year.

 

All period magazines focused on the California-built Scarab, but has anyone ever seen a report on the M-D Special in the 1957-1959 time fram

Edited by Jerry Entin, 23 June 2017 - 03:48.

[bradbury west]

Jerry, another very interesting US special. Many thanks. There is a nice write up in the Pace and Brinkner Vintage American Road Racing Cars book. It seems Davis won 8 out of his 12 races in 1958 against good opposition. I look forward to more info emerging.
Roger Lund

Edited by bradbury west, 23 June 2017 - 14:34.

[Ray Bell]

A '39 Ford Chassis was at best an unusual basis for such a car...

Any knowledge of the suspension systems used? A 352 was a big stretch for a small block Chev in those times, 283s were pretty new. Or was it a truck block?

And looking from another point of view, the photographer who took this photo seems to have been standing in quite a dangerous spot!

[bradbury west]

Not wanting to be contentious about the spec., but P and B say the chassis followed circle track practice, with a lightweight tube frame carrying live axles at both ends. The engine is given as a 283 Chev stroked out to 301ci with 4 Strombergs modified to produce 325hp. It ran a 3 speed Chev box and weighed in at 1800 lbs.
Roger Lund

Edit. Sp

Edited by bradbury west, 23 June 2017 - 21:53.

[Ray Bell]

Possibly '39 Ford front and rear axles...

'Circle track' could very well mean transverse leaf, that was the first year of hydraulic brakes on the Fords.

[Jerry Entin]

Roger,

 

 

Since we don't have a copy of the Pace book, could you share with us some of the technical details it contains on the Mangham-Davis Special? Hopefully it will answer some of Ray Bell's questions as well.

 

In fact, in 1958 the special took the start in 13 races, of which it won 4 features and 4 preliminaries. One of the latter came at Eagle Mountain in January, where Frank Davis beat Carroll Shelby in a Maserati 200SI. The late Delmo Johnson remembered the car as having ferocious acceleration, but mediocre handing in the turns.

 

As for Stormy Mangham himself, he is best known for Johnny Allen's two-way world speed record of 214.4 mph with the Mangham-owned, Triumph-engined, Texas Ceegar motorbike at Bonneville in 1956. This was the Texas Johnny Allen, not the South Carolina one who ran in NASCAR.

[Jerry Entin]

 

As per the Pace/Brinker book, it is likely that the M-D Special ran with a 301 cid Chevy in 1958. The car showed CM on its body, which covered a range of 3-liter to 5-liter. A size of 301 cid equals 4.9-liter.

 

But 1959? Reports mention that Frank Davis had developed more horsepower for the car, which may indicate a 352 cid [5.7-liter] engine. Unfortunately, none of the race reports ever mention a specific engine size.

 

 

These engine sized were not unusual. Bob Stonedale ran his Jaguar XK-SS with a 5.5-liter Chevy in 1959, while Bill Janowski's Monsterati Special used a 357 cid Chevy [5.7-liter] in 1960. All were carbureted, so no fuel injected Corvette versions. Incidentally, the Monsterati started out with a 1939 Ford chassis as well.

[bradbury west]

Jerry I will scan the page contents and e mail it
Roger

[group7]

Jerry, you might have already come across this, but some one is looking for information on Mangham-Davis in the link. 23rd post on the page after the post on  "new headlight covers'  the post is titled "looking for history".

 

 

http://www.devinspecial.com

 

also second post here, same forum.

 

http://www.devinspec...tured-cars.html

 

 

Michael

Edited by group7, 26 June 2017 - 16:02.

[Ray Bell]

I would love to know the chassis and suspension details...

Any chance of forwarding me a copy too, Roger?

[Jerry Entin]

Frank Davis holds the checkered flag after his feature win at Mansfield, Louisiana, in March 1958.

 

 

 

The Mangham-Davis Special beat stiff competition by Ebb Rose [Maserati 300S], Jim Hall [Ferrari 750 Monza], Mason O'Keiff [Chevy-engined C-type Jaguar], Ray Jones [Monza-engined Ferrari 500TRC] and Bob Stonedale [Jaguar XK-SS].

 

 

Photo: Willem Oosthoek Collection

Edited by Jerry Entin, 28 June 2017 - 04:30.

[Jerry Entin]

 

Many thanks for that, Michael. Yes, we are familiar with that web site and are still trying to figure out where exactly it was that the car was "featured in an automobile magazine." Could it have been Hot Rod magazine? We have not been able to find any reports in Road & Track or Sports Car Illustrated during that period.

 

Roger was kind enough to email us the page from the Pace/Brinker book, describing the car. It only leads to more questions:

 

Was the Devin body widened [the Devin website] or narrowed [the Pace/Brinker book]?

 

The book mentions that its front suspension consisted of a live axle. One wonders if the car could have been competitive with such a construction.

 

 

One thing it clear. While running in CM class with a 301 cid Chevy [4.9-liter] in 1957 and 1958, it moved to BM class in 1959, indicating the 352 cid [5.7-liter] Chevy originally mentioned. None of the magazines at the time mention its engine size, although the SCCA's Sports Car mentioned that by early 1959 at Eagle Mountain it ran with a "further souped-up engine."

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Jerry Entin
.....The book mentions that its front suspension consisted of a live axle. One wonders if the car could have been competitive with such a construction.....

It looks awfully like it does have to me, Jerry...

The hubs are almost certainly '39-'48 Ford both front and rear, the repeated mentions of '39 Ford in descriptions indicates there's something there from those models. And to have used transverse leaf springing on live axles would be following circle-track methods as also mentioned.

The wheels are 15", however, which means Mercury wheels, probably widened a little.

[Jerry Entin]

To further trace the source[s] used in the Pace/Brinker book, we contacted Mark Brinker.

 

Unfortunately, it seems as though the M-D Special write-up was done by the late Harold Pace, and Mark could not provide any further details.

[Ray Bell]

Jerry, I'm convinced that the pictures from Colorado on the Devin site are not this car...

I think the widening of the body was done through the centre and this car doesn't seem to be widened, and it has those flares on the outside which tend to verify this.

This also raises the question of whether it's got the '46 to '48 Ford axles rather than the '39 to '41, these had a slightly wider track. To that end, do we know what track the Devin bodies were built to suit?

Again, it would be invaluable to find that write-up. Popular Mechanics, Hot Rod Magazine?

[ray b]

348 was the first BIG BLOCK aka truck motor in 1958 chevy model year a minor bore would get 352 or 357 yes the little block became the race motor of choice over time but I would think the ''new'' 58 big block may be used back then