Innehållsförteckning för September 1949 från MotorTrend

DISREGARDING THE fact that “time nor tide waits for no man,” the members of the Horseless Carriage Club of Los Angeles turned back the hands of time some 34 years recently when they broke out in their goggles and dusters and went on their second annual horseless carriage caravan. This year’s caravan took off for a different destination than the initial one, going to San Diego, instead of to San Bernardino. Because of the interest evinced by all participating members in the first trek and because of the splendid co-operation of the General Petroleum Corporation (sponsors of the event) and the various police departments, the members looked forward anxiously to another such event. The first caravan also served to deter the skepticism of some members that their cars would not…

TO PERSONS unfamiliar with the term, gymkhana (also spelled jimkana and gymkana), “A Gymkhana for Sports Cars” probably does not make much sense. For the benefit of these people, an explanation is in order. A gymkhana, as defined by Webster, is “a meeting for athletic contests, mainly racing.” As applied to sports cars, it is usually a trial over a set course to determine driving skill. Each contestant drives his car through the course and the one who finishes with the fastest time, without disturbing the obstacles or markers, is the winner. Points are taken away for knocking down markers, so the event is one that takes good handling as well as speed. An event of this type was held recently by the Foreign Car Group, an organization of foreign…

CUSTOM SPEEDSTER—A special built custom car, designed and built by C. H. Peterson of North Hollywood, California at a cost of $3500 over a period of 18 months. The car is registered as a 1940 Ford-Willys Custom Speedster and uses a ’40 Willys frame and a full-race ’36 Ford V-8 engine. The crown of the hood is from a ’41 Ford, while the crowns of the front fenders are from a ’40 Willys. The rest of the body, outside of the ’46 DeSoto grille, and ’42 Ford bumpers, was all hand formed. The interior is leather-upholstered and seats 4. No doors are used on this custom speedster, the sides being cut away for easier entry. When the red canvas top is placed on the car, it is raised back electrically…

Letters published in this department are the opinions of the writer and are not to be construed as those of the editors. Address correspondence to Letters From Our Readers, Motor Trend, 548 So. San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles 48, Calif. LIKES FOREIGN JOBS While in Europe I became extremely interested in the Continental and English sports and racing cars: Alfa-Romeo, Frazer-Nash, Bugatti, Cisitalia, Mercedes-Benz, Maserati, B.M.W., Healey, M.G., Tatra, Bentley, Veritas-B.M.W. and many more. I am planning to make a two seater sports job somewhat along the lines of the foreign machines, one of those lush dream jobs that one sees a drawing of now and then … Enclosed is a snapshot of a hand-made and hand-fitted foreign job—a Bugatti. John Richardson Grand Cane, Louisiana HOW ABOUT STOCK CARS? How…

NOT WILLING to take a back seat to the many fine sports cars being imported from Europe and aware of the growth of public interest in cars of this type, Frank Kurtis, well-known builder of midget and big race cars, has designed and is producing America’s one and only sports car. The impetus behind the development of such a car is in the fact that so many people are modifying their stock passenger cars to gain the appearance and performance of a sports car, and still do not have a true sports car. Further, Kurtis is of the opinion that many persons want a car with sleek lines not available in production models and also wish to be able to select their own engines, gear ratios, and other items that…

THE QUIET, isolated little farming and resort town of Bridgehampton, located roughly a hundred miles east of New York City, was recently inundated by an estimated forty thousand road race enthusiasts from all parts of the United States. The reason was the first eastern U.S. road race since the Watkins Glen event last October 2nd. Early morning traffic from Freeport moving east was spotted with sports car owners headed for the races—Cords, Hollywood Grahams and MG’s were most numerous, with a sprinkling of Rileys, Jaguars, Hillmans, Simcas, Fiats, Renaults, a Singer, a Sunbeam-Talbot, a couple of Healeys, some really ancientvintage Rolls-Royces, a maroon Bentley, several Alfa-Romeos and at least four Mercedes. The race course was four miles in circumference and was formed roughly into a square. Saganack Road to the…

WITH THE apparent trend of automobile operation pointing toward simplicity, car manufacturers are turning toward automatic transmissions to further this aim. The public reaction has been one of interest and questioning— interest in the unit’s operation, and questioning the feasibility of its design. Actually this trend toward design simplicity is not new, as witness the Sturtevant transmission of 1904, which was one of the first known automatic units. It consisted of two automatic friction clutches—one clutch which engaged at low speed, while the other engaged at a higher speed and gave direct drive by clutching the main shaft to the crankshaft. Before the introduction of the Sturtevant and since that time, many transmission designs have come and gone. Some of the units are of historical value only, but, in their…

ORIGINALLY, the ’41 Ford in the photographs above was like any other production model, but by the clever use of welding torch, power hammer and other sheet metal working tools, the car has evolved into a distinctive custom car. Designed and built by Barris Kustom Shop for Jesse Lopez of Bell, California, the car has been chopped, channeled and sealed from bumper to bumper. To obtain the overall height of 4 feet 11 inches, 6¼ inches were taken out of the top, a dropped front axle was installed, the body was channeled, and the frame was “kicked up” over the rear axle. The car is sealed from bumper to bumper — the fenders, the headlights, the doors, and the running board strip. The fenders have been rolled to clear the…

HAPPILY, THE SPORT-CAR and quality-car scene is brighter than ever today on the West Coast. Proof: the International Auto Show held at Oakland, California, from June 20th to June 26th, at which forty-seven years of motor trends were well represented. The first of its kind in the West, it drew 60,183 enthusiasts at a dollar per to see “Sport Cars of the World.” Top entertainment was provided, but showman Al Slonaker, who engineered the production, proved a pet point by refusing to advertise his non-automotive attractions. People will pay for the opportunity of looking at a good selection of interesting automobiles. And the interesting stuff was there. There were, in all, 41 cars from the U.S., England, France, Germany, and Italy. Our own country was represented by (to start with…

SOMETHING THAT the racing industry, and automotive industry in general, has been lacking for a long time is a new small engine. For that reason I am proud to announce the development of the Barker twin cam, rocker-arm, midget racing engine. This new engine, completely new in design, but patterned after the European sports car engines, such as the Riley and Healey, will be used in midgets for racing purposes. However, it has been designed with the thought in mind of eventually using it in a sports car. The engine was designed during three weeks of the offseason of racing in 1948. Actually, this was just the completion of the design, for it was in a formative stage for many months previous to this. Many long, sleepless nights were spent…

On the following two pages, Colonel Alexis de Sakhnoffsky presents his version of the coming trend in automobile styling. Many readers will recall his futuristic designs presented several years ago in ESQUIRE magazine. Some of the more important features of this design are the following: a “bubble” windshield, a rear deck handle integral with license plate light, a massively-designed bumper combined with airscoop, and “psychological styling” (suggesting speed) consisting of louvres and twin exhausts. The instrument panel is composed of a large speedometer, a tachometer, and a matching round dial for other standard instruments. The round buttons on the steering wheel spokes are blinker lights to indicate that gas or oil supply is low. Center of the panel has a combined radio grill and round television screen.…

WEIRD-LOOKING car from Sacramento, California, features a Cyclops eye that turns with the wheels and a grille that works like a Venetian blind to regulate the airflow through the radiator. The car was originally a ’40 Ford Tudor sedan. The turtle-deck has been made up special, with the spare tire sunken in. A ’39 MERCURY convertible, customized by Jack’s Trim Shop of Detroit, Michigan. Hood and turtledeck have been smoothed, with the fenders leaded in. All controls are concealed. The Oldsmobile bumpers have parking lights and tail lights in the guards.…