thebear's archive of motorsports trivia

[thebear]

April 12, 1888
MG founder is born

Cecil Kimber, the founder of MG, was born in Dulwich, England. MG stands for Morris Garages, which was the name for the Oxford distributor of Morris cars, a company owned by William Morris. When Kimber became Genreal Manager of Morris Garages in '22, he immediately began work modifying Morris Cowleys, lowering the chassis & fitting sportier bodywork.

In 1924, Morris Garages advertised the "MG Special 4-seater Sports," the 1st car to bear the famous octagonal badge of MG. Old #1, as the car was called, was actually the 48th body built for Morris by the manufacturing firm Carbodies, but it is still considered the grandfather of all true MG sports cars. Morris Garages outgrew its home in Oxford, & moved to Abingdon in 1929 under the name MG Car Company.

The early 1930s were the glory years of MG sports cars during which time the company's road cars were promoted by its successful racing endeavors. For fiscal reasons, William Morris sold his private companies, which included MG, to the public holding company of Morris Motors. Purists contend that MG was never the same. Morris Motors diminished MG's racing activity, limited the variety of the company's products, & even placed the MG badge on company saloon cars.

Cecil Kimber died in 1945 in a train crash. After his death, beautiful MG's were still produced, despite what the purists say. The Midget, the MGA, the TC, & the MGB were all good cars. Indeed, it wasn't until after Kimber's death that the MG caught on as a small sports car in the U.S. MG did, however, suffer after it was purchased by British Leyland, & the '70s saw the company fall to pieces. Production at Abingdon stopped in '80. In '92, an MG revival was begun w/the release of the MG RV8, a throwback to Kimber's earlier vision for MG sports cars but it was to little, too late to save the company.

[Dutton]

Great thread, .

[thebear]

Originally Posted by Dutton

Great thread, .

That's TWO I owe you. (This is "Pay Per View", isn't it?)

[thebear]

April 29, 1889

Belgium's Camille Jenatzy drives Jamais Contente (Never Satisfied), the first specifically designed Land Speed Record car to a new record of 65.79mph. The car was cigar shaped, constructed of Partinium (a predecessor to Aluminum) and though the driver sat in the car, the top of his torso is completely exposed. It was electric powered, the motor being mounted directly on the rear axle.

[thebear]

1959

An April race was held for USAC's Indianapolis cars on the tri-oval at Daytona's recently opened speedway. Dick Rathman fought with Rodger Ward while Jim Rathman snuck thru to win. The 100 mile race was completed in 35 minutes and 42 seconds at an average speed of 170.26mph. This was a significant event as it was the fastest auto race ever run. Professional open wheeled race cars were never again to be seen at Daytona International Speedway.

The following day a 1000km (625mi) sports car race was held employing the infield road course section of the track. A 1.5L Porsche RSK driven by Roberto Mieres (Argentina) and Fritz d'Orey (Brazil) was declared the winner after 910km (560mi) due to approaching darkeness.

Jim Rathman also won that year's "Race of Two Worlds" at Monza Autodroma in Italy, beating several of the day's F-1 stars whose cars and tires couldn't keep up the pace. He owned and operated a Chevrolet dealership in Melbourne Florida. His son Jim carries on at the dealership and the tradition by racing a Corvette.

[thebear]

April 28, 1939

Cincinnati, OH, entrepreneur Powell Crosley Jr. enters the car business for the fifth time with the unveiling of his Crosley minicar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After failing at three car-making ventures between 1907 and 1914, he amasses a fortune making automobile accessories, radios and refrigerators before again trying his hand in car production. Two 80-in. wheelbase '39 models are offered: a $325 convertible coupe and $350 convertible sedan. Both are powered by a Waukesha air-cooled 2-cyl. engine and featured 12 inch diameter wheels. Output at plants in Cincinnati and Richmond, IN, totals just over 2,000 units in 1939. Initially, the cars are marketed through department stores, appliance dealers and hardware stores. The line is expanded to include a delivery model and a station wagon in 1940 with a “covered wagon” convertible station wagon and sedan-delivery added in 1941. Total pre-WWII output is 5,700 units. During the war, Crosley sells a variety of vehicles to the U.S. armed forces, including a 2-passenger mini-utility vehicle.

The updated 1946 car has a new stamped-steel and copper brazed 0.7L SOHC 4-cyl. developing 26.5 hp. Crosley's peak year is 1948, with output of 27,700 cars, but the price of the least costly model rises to $850 against $1,017 for the cheapest Chevrolet. A more modern body style, a 2-passenger sports car, a cast-iron engine to eliminate leaks in resulting from poor brazed joints and 4-wheel disc brakes are introduced in 1949, but only 8,900 cars are built, 750 of them the Hot Shot sports car. The disc brakes are subsequently replaced by drum brakes due to problems with the calipers becoming jammed with debris from the road. A unique vehicle called Farm-O-Road appears in 1950, but after losing between $3 million and $4 million from 1949 to 1952, Crosley calls it quits in July 1952.

[thebear]

May 5, 1914
Cannonball begins journey across continent

Erwin "Cannonball" Baker began the cross-continental motorcycle trip that would influence the way Americans would think of the "big bike" forever more. Big, strong, & lanky, Baker discovered after buying his 1st motorcycle that he possessed something like superhuman endurance for riding. In 1912, he began training for his long-distance odyssey by arranging for a number of smaller feats. He rode across Cuba, Jamaica, & Panama before taking a steamer to California, where he trained until 1914. At that time, the state of the country's roads was inconsistent; while roads could be decent in stretches surrounding cities, rural routes were almost uniformly dismal. Baker began a letter-writing campaign from California, pleading for individuals from across the country to help him plot a contiguous course across our continent. He had to devise a way of getting gasoline during the stretches of road where it wasn't readily available. Baker's entreaties were rec'd by an enthusiastic public, who offered to pack gasoline to him by burro if need be. On this day in 1914, just 3 months shy of the 1st World War, Cannonball Baker, wearing leather riding trousers & carrying a 1-gallon canteen, mounted his V-twin 1000cc Stutz Indian motorcycle & headed east toward Yuma (AZ) w/a raging sandstorm at his back. To combat thirst, Cannonball used the old Native American method of carrying a small pebble under his tongue. On the 2nd day of his trip Baker ran out of gas just a few miles short of Agua Caliente (AZ) & was forced to push his bike in the 119-degree desert heat. Equipped w/a Smith & Wesson .38, Baker fought off a pack of dogs in Fort Apache. Dogs continued to hamper his trip; in Ellsworth (KS), a shepherd dog attacked his bike. "This dog seemed to have a great desire for the Goodyear rubber of my front tire," explained Baker. "The dog took a fall out of me which put me in bad shape, as I slid along the road on my elbows & knees. I kept the tire & the dog lost his life." In all, Cannonball traveled 3,379 miles across the U.S. Due to the poor roads & primitive "cradle-spring" shock absorption of his bike, he rode most of the way standing up. His feat made him a hero. Without a doubt, Cannonball's run reshaped the future of American motorcyclists. While Europe still clings to tight-handling sport bikes, Americans want nothing more than to hop on a big Harley & cruise the wide roads that stretch from sea to shining sea.

[thebear]

May, 1921

The real "Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang" made its racing debut at Brooklands in the UK. Cars entered at Brooklands needed names and the original submitted one was denied by the organizers. C-C-B-B was in fact from a WW1 R.A.F. squadron song and the connotation is not fit for publication on a family website. However, the unknowing organizers allowed it. The chassis was from a circa 1907 Mercedes and the engine was from a war surplus Maybach Zepplin (dirigible). It had six cylinders each with a bore of 165mm (~6.5 inches) and a stroke of 190mm (~7.5 inches) yielding a displacement of approximately 23 L (1400cid). The peak horsepower was at 1,500 rpm and it won the race at an average speed just over 100mph.

[thebear]

06 MAY 1906

The first runing of the Targa Florio.

Click HEREfor the story.

[thebear]

May 27 1923

The first 24-hour race at France's Le Mans track concludes with a 3L Chenard-Walker driven by Andre Lagaché and Reneé Leonard taking first place after covering 1,372 miles (2,210 km) at an average speed of 57.2 mph (92 km/h).

The idea of a 24hr race has been attributed to Charles Faroux (an engineer and journalist) and Georges Durand, general secretary of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO, Automobile Club of the West). Emille Coquille (the French distributor for Rudge wire wheels) offered the ACO ff100,000 (~$19,000) to organize a night race with the intention of (im)proving the lighting capability of the contemporary cars.

The contest was really a regularity run as cars had to cover a specified distance depending upon their engine displacement. Under 1100cc were required to cover 571.66 miles and average 23.61mph. 1101cc to 2000cc needed 745.64mi (31.07mph), 2001-3000cc needed 838.85mi (35.95mph). The largest class was over 6500cc which required 994.19mi (41.42mph). There were no entries for that class.

All cars were required to be regular `showroom' models, equipped with genuine touring bodywork, all lights, fenders, horn and a rear view mirror. Under 1100cc cars were required to have two seats, the larger classes needed four.

[thebear]

MAY 30, 1941

The first ever non-production Pace Car for the Indianapolis 500 was provided by Chrysler Corporation. A sporty twin cowled phaeton with streamlined bodywork was designed by Ralph Roberts and built by LeBaron.

[thebear]

May 26, 1937
Violence breaks out at Ford

Union leaders & Ford Service Department men clashed in a violent confrontation on the Miller Road Overpass outside Gate #4 of the Ford River Rouge Plant in Dearborn (MI) on this day in '37. The clash came 3 months after the United Auto Workers achieved its 1st landmark victory at Ford, when they had forced the company to negotiate a policy toward organized labor by staging a lengthy sit-down strike at the Rouge complex.

The sit-down strike had succeeded largely because of the support of Michigan Governor Frank Murphy, who protected the strikers' right to bargain collectively. However, the labor agreement did little in the way of changing the day-to-day life of Ford workers. At the time of the victory, the UAW was still a relatively small, well-organized group. Legally, Henry Ford was forced to give ground, but he did not relinquish his opposition to organized laborers. Instead, he allowed Harry Bennett, head of the Ford Service Department, to build an increasingly muscular force of Ford officials charged w/the job of maintaining discipline in the workplace. Bennett had, in the past, used what amounted to thug tactics to intimidate workers.

After the sit-down strike, tensions ran high between employees & labor officials. On this day in '37, UAW organizers Walter Reuther, Bob Kanter, J.J. Kennedy, & Richard Frankensteen were distributing leaflets among the workers at the Rouge complex when they were approached by a gang of Bennett's men. The Ford Servicemen brutally beat the 4 unionists while many other union sympathizers, including 11 women, were injured in the resulting melee. The attack was no surprise to Ford employees. One man summed up the tone at the Rouge factory: "I was glad to have a job, but scared to go to work." One of the Ford servicemen involved in the incident was Elmer Janovski, a 26-year-old ex-rum runner who had been personally hired by Bennett. "We were told there was trouble -- Reuther & Frankensteen were passing out flyers," said Janovski. "I started fighting w/them. I didn't poke Reuther, but I poked the others, including the newspaper cameraman."

The newspaper camera operator in question was what made the Battle of the Overpass an extraordinary event. The day after the struggle, all of America was witness to the primitive tactics w/which Henry Ford subdued organized laborers who had the law on their side. The publicity didn't end Ford's opposition to organized labor, but it certainly made his eventual acquiescence inevitable. Reuther later recalled the event. He said that anti-union thugs "surrounded us & started to beat us up. The men picked me up about 8 different times & threw me down on my back on the concrete & while I was on the ground, they kicked me in the face & head & other parts of my body."

Ironically, Janovski was fired from Ford & bounced between a number of low-paying jobs at automobile factories before he, too, joined the union. Some time later, he ran into Reuther at a labor rally in Detroit. "I told him that I was one of the guys on the other side at the Overpass," he said. "Reuther told me, 'It's all forgotten... we're all happy now... we're all brothers.' " Today, a reported 5,000 of River Rouge's 13,000 employees cross the Miller Overpass on the way to work. The landmark is a physical reminder of the suffering undertaken by brave workers who strove for a better quality of life.

[thebear]

With the 90th running of the 500 scheduled Sunday, here's a look at some of those traditions & how they began, according to Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian Donald Davidson:

The milk: Thank Louis Meyer's mom for this one. Meyer, a 3-time winner of the race in the '20s & '30s, followed his mother's advice to drink buttermilk to refresh him on hot days.

After his 3rd victory in '36, a dairy industry executive saw a newspaper photograph of Meyer taking his post-race swallow, & there's been milk in Victory Lane ever since.

The winner's wreath: With the milk comes a giant wreath, which 1st appeared in '60 on the shoulders of winner Jim Rathmann. The wreaths were the creation of the late William J. Cronin, an Indianapolis florist who also was a floral consultant for the Rose Parade in Pasadena & other events.

For most of the last 3 decades, the wreath has featured ivory-colored Cymbidium orchids w/burgundy tips, plus 33 miniature checkered flags, intertwined w/red, white & blue ribbons.

"Back Home in Indiana": It's sung before the race each year, usually by Jim Nabors, the singer-actor who has been doing it since '72. Before that, its singers included Mel Torme, Vic Damone & Dinah Shore.

It was 1st sung in '46 by James Melton, an opera singer & classic-car collector, who sang the tune w/the Purdue University marching band, which traditionally accompanies the singer.

Balloons before the start: Thousands of multicolored balloons are released during the final notes of "Back Home in Indiana." The tradition is believed to have started in '47 at the suggestion of Mary Fendrich Hulman, wife of the speedway's late owner Tony Hulman.

Yard of bricks: The 2.5-mile speedway originally was covered w/crushed rock & tar, but that was abandoned after only a few days & replaced w/3.2 million bricks. That's how the track became known as the Brickyard.

Over the decades the bricks were covered w/asphalt, but a strip of the original bricks 3' wide remains at the start-finish line & continues into the infield where it can be viewed by fans. (When NASCAR runs its annual race at the speedway, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, it's also become tradition for the winner to kneel & kiss the bricks.)

Carb Day: It's the Friday before the race, when drivers are given one last opportunity to practice w/the car in race-day condition, or "trim."

Originally, it was known as "carburetion day," because teams would use the last practice mainly to tweak the carburetors in the cars' engines. But the arrival of fuel-injection systems in the late '40s eventually made carburetors obsolete; they were last used at Indy in '63.

"Gentlemen, start your engines!": The command was made famous by 3-time 500 winner Wilbur Shaw ('37, '39 & '40), & later president of the speedway. Each year since '55, it's been given by a member of the Hulman-George family that owns the track.

In the years when a female driver has competed starting w/Janet Guthrie in '77 it's been changed to "Lady & gentlemen," & in 2000 it was "Ladies & gentlemen" because Lyn St. James & Sarah Fisher drove the race that year.

[thebear]

May 30, 1911

Indy 500 sees 1st winner

Ray Harroun won the inaugural Indy 500, averaging 74.6mph in the Marmon Wasp. The Indy 500 was the creation of Carl Fisher. In the fall of 1909, Fisher replaced the ruined, crushed-stone surface of his 2.5-mile oval w/a brand-new brick one. It was the largest paved, banked oval in the U.S. Fisher then made two decisions vital to the success of the Indy 500. First, he determined to hold only one race per year on his Indianapolis Motor Speedway; 2nd, he elected to offer the richest purse in racing as a reward for competing in his annual 500-mile event. By the 2nd year of the Indy 500, 1912, it was the highest-paying, single-day sporting event in the entire world. The purse alone guaranteed that Indy would attract the media's undivided attention. Add to Fisher's marketing tactics the fact that European racing suffered from an absence of major events due to the ban on public road racing, & you have the ingredients that made Indy instantly successful. The media attention, in turn, meant that the best drivers in the world would come to Indy to make their reputation. Manufacturers acknowledged that a car bearing their name would mean millions in free advertising. It's a simple formula by today's standards, but in Fisher's time the risk of putting so much money down was rarely taken. In the very 1st race at Indy, Harroun's Marmon became nationally recognized. The car was owned, built, & entered by the factory, & Harroun drove as a hired employee. Among the Marmon Wasp's novel features, it is cited as the 1st car fitted w/a rear-view mirror. (A 1904 Rolls road car had one. Harroun needed it beacause nobody would ride with him and one of the jobs of the `riding mechanic' was to watch the other cars).

But if the Indy 500 was responsible for attracting the industry to racing, it was even more responsible for creating racing as an industry. In 1911, the typical race car was built off the chassis of a big luxury car. They had huge 4-cylinder engines. Instead of the heavy body of the luxury cars, the race cars were fitted w/"doghouse" bodies that just covered the car's engine & cockpit. The floorboards were wood boards, the wheels were made of ash wood, & the seats were metal buckets bolted firmly to the floorboards. The cars were equipped w/rear-wheel drum brakes only. Bolster tanks, like tubular sofa bolsters, held the oil & gasoline. Due to the ill-fitting pistons, gaskets, & valves that comprised the cars' innards, the best cars dropped nearly a dozen gallons of oil on the brick racetrack over the course of the 500-mile event. So these cars, equipped w/no suspension, raced at speeds near 80 mph on a brick track covered in oil. Only a decade later in 1922, nearly all the cars that started the Indy 500 were purpose-built race cars. All of them carried aerodynamic bodies, w/narrow grills & teardrop-shaped tails. New straight-sided tires lasted much longer than their early pneumatic counterparts. The best cars were equipped w/4-wheel hydraulic brakes & engines made of aluminum. The cars were smaller, lighter, more efficient, & far more expensive. They resembled nothing that could be purchased in a storeroom. Ray Harroun's speed of 74.6 mph would have finished him 10th at the 1922 Indy 500. It wasn't the speeds that had changed so much as the driver's control over the car. Racing, at least partly because of Indy, had become a sport rather than an exhibition. In the mid-'20s, the Miller & Duesenberg cars took racing to another level. Indy became what it is today, a high-paying event attracting worldwide attention.

[Dutton]

Keep up the good work!

[Darren Galpin]

All very well, but the account misses out the achievements of one Cyrus Patschke.

Cyrus Patschke appeared only once at Indianapolis, when he relieved Harroun for laps 71-102 in the 1911 Indy 500. Harroun's car went into the lead for the first time on lap 103, having been put in that position by Patschke's excellent driving.

All too often these relief drivers and mechanicians are forgotten and ignored, but without their contributions, the more celebrated drivers wouldn't have achieved what they did.

[thebear]

Originally Posted by Darren Galpin

All very well, but the account misses out the achievements of one Cyrus Patschke.

Cyrus Patschke appeared only once at Indianapolis, when he relieved Harroun for laps 71-102 in the 1911 Indy 500. Harroun's car went into the lead for the first time on lap 103, having been put in that position by Patschke's excellent driving.

All too often these relief drivers and mechanicians are forgotten and ignored, but without their contributions, the more celebrated drivers wouldn't have achieved what they did.

Ah-HAH! Genuine esoteric trivia. Thank you for your contribution. His effort will be "lost in the mists of time" no more.

[thebear]

1956:

Just about 50 years ago, Mike Hawthorne drove his 1956 D-type Jaguar around the Le Mans circuit on a pre-race day with two movie cameras and a special microphone fitted. THIS clip is the result and you can hear his description (and the electrical interference that the ignition system causes with the audio) as well as look over his shoulder while he drives.

It is almost enough to bring a tear to one's eye, wouldn't you say?

[thebear]

June 06, 1961

The president of the Italian Republic, Sig Giovanni Gronchi issued a special decree. From that time on auto designer/stylist Pinin Farina would be known a Pinninfarina. His reasoning was that the company was world famous as Pinin Farina and that the two names were inseparable. Another reason was that Pinin's brother's (non-automotive) company was also known as Farina and the two companies were continuously being confused.

[thebear]

June 11, 1967

Dan Gurney and A.J.Foyt win the Le Mans 24hrs in a Ford Mk IV. Gurney begins a motorsports tradition by spraying the bottle of Moët ét Chandon Champagne over all within `squirting distance' of the victory podium.

[thebear]

June, 1952

Leslie Wilson and Tommy Wisdom finish third overall at Le Mans driving a Donald Healey designed Nash-Healey. It was a three seat sports car powered by a 140hp 4.1L inline six cylinder engine sourced from American carmaker Nash, featuring a three speed transmission with overdrive. Some financing was received from Kelvinator-Nash corporation and the cars were sold in the US. Demand in England resulted in a change to an Alvis engine and the car became overpriced and lost its market.

Donald Healey redesigned the car with a more modern body, called it the Healey 100 and displayed it at the London Motor Show. The new car featured a 2.6L 4cylinder engine from the Austin A-90. Response from the public was overwhelming and luckily Sir Leonard Lord of Austin Motorcars saw the promise the car projected. He talked Healey into letting Austin's factory in Longbridge build the car. Donald Healey received royalties and the rest is history.

[thebear]

Items from various `Junes':

1896 June 4, Henry Ford test drives the “Quadricycle”, the first car he ever designed or drove.

1926 June 29, Daimler Moteren Gesellschaft and Benz & Co. Rheinische Gasmotorenfabrik merge to become Daimler-Benz AG.

1933 June 6, Richard Hollingshead opens the first drive-in movie theater in Camden NJ.

1934 June 1, Jidosha-Seizo Co. Ltd. becomes Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.

1935 June 18, Rolls-Royce is registered as a trademark.

1947 June 10, SAAB introduces it’s first car, the model 92 prototype.

[thebear]

June 1953

Tony Rolt records the first 100mph avreage lap at Lemans.

[thebear]

June, 1965

Masten Gregory & Jochen Rindt drive a North American Racing Team Ferrari 275 LM to victory at Le Mans. It was also a big win for Goodyear since this was the first time a car fitted with Goodyear tires finished first overall in an international race.

[John Turner]

If memory serves, they absolutely thrashed the pants of this car for virtually the whole duration of the race, after early problems, expecting it to break. When it didn't, and all the prototype works Fords and Ferraris did, it stormed through to take the lead from it's Belgian entered sister car (the car, I think, that Juan Barazzi had his monumental crash at the Goodwood Revival a few years back) driven by Dumay and Gosselin. An LM 1-2; their finest hour!