OlderThanMe Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I just have a fascination with these cars. Race cars that are more than hybrids...they are works of art. www.tamsoldracecarsite.net here is a site with a bunch of them. I would love to build a custom bodied race car with a Z's motor and tranny. What is cool is that several of the specials on this site were competing with high end race cars. One of my favorite TV car shows is "Victory by design" where you see very old maseratis, porsches, ferraris, lotuses, etc..being driven hard around a private road course at some huge mansion. one of my favorites is ol' yellar (sp?) and the maserati birdcage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirkatwork Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 I have a Ford boat-tail speedster 1928 Model A that I bought 5 years ago. Apparently it was raced for several years in vintage racing about 30 years ago I don't know too much about it beyond that. It is a blast to drive 3 speed with a 2 speed rear end. 6-volt, mechanical brakes, high compression flat head inline 4. It's an awesome parade car and the 2 fast and 2 furious crowd (and my kids) love it when I pop the clutch and squeal the tires during a parade. I'll try to attach a picture next time I'm checking out H-Z from home, but I found a somewhat similar style here. http://www.significantcars.com/cars/1929aspeedster/index.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 Those are pretty cool, but for some reason I just can't get into it. For the same reason I don't like watching NASCAR or F1 or most drag racing, the cars are so far removed from anything I can relate to, it just doesn't get me going the way a prepared production car would. I really wish NASCAR would go back to the way it started and ditch the tube frame/fiberglass shells that are only whatever car they represent because the stickers say so...Even then I probably wouldn't watch it though, because the racing is boring to me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 I like then just because of the backyard engineering and lobuck retrofitting that some of the guys used on their race cars so that they could put the money where it counts. Here is a pic of "old yaller" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 what happened to the front of the fenders? isn't that where you'd need the most aerodynamic help, instead of the back of the tire? That looks a lot like a lotus 7 replica...and for sure, you can't knock the backyard engineering. My preference doesn't lean that way is all I was saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 they weren't very areodynamically inclined back in the 50s-60s when they were racing these beasts... areodynamics did not come into play much until the late 60s or 70s. That is when Forumula Vee happened and cars got streamlined and very low to the ground. Formula1 cars went from 5-6 in clearance to an inch or less of ground clearance. The first version of old yaller was sorta rough. The 9th version was a little more streamlined. All of these old yallers were made from junkyard body panels and spare parts. The underpinnings are much nicer though. Refering to what the above site says: In l959. Max and Hauser parted company. Max put the Buick engine into his new car, Ol' Yaller Mk.II. He claims to have spent only $1456.72 to build this beast another quote: Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby also drove Ol' Yaller Mk.II. Gurney declared it "The best handling car I've ever driven". (This must have been before the Arciero-entered Lotus Mk.19 appeared.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 How much money was that in 1959 dollars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 $9778.44 on the first calculator I used. Here's another one: http://www.westegg.com/inflation/ and it shows $9304.72 in 2005 dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 I am taking a wild guess and thinking that since a Z was ~3500 in 70 and the estimated modern value is ~17000 then it is probably cost in the range of $10~15k. That is not bad for a buick V8 racing against Maseratis. a paraphrased quote said something like "racing with cubic inches rather than cubic dollars" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted July 25, 2006 Author Share Posted July 25, 2006 Jmortenson: well I am very close if not past that amount with my car..an it is probably not as fast as ol yaller was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoov100 Posted July 25, 2006 Share Posted July 25, 2006 seing the old riverside raceway brings back memories.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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