Old Race Car ID Help

[midman]

I found this old photo in a scrapbook of 1950's era racing pictures.

This is obviously a prewar car so doesn't fit with everything else in the book.

Any ideas of the year and make? Does the driver look familiar?

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Chuck

 

 

 

[Guest]

Sorry I can't help with the ID,  but remember, race car spelled backwards is......race car. 

[1937hd45]

Looks like a late 1920 era photo to me. Car is a bit larger than most, the two behind it look like standard Fronty Fords built with Model T Ford parts. Bob 

[wayne sheldon]

I can't tell if any of the cars are model T based or not. The close one does not appear to be at all. The one behind it, might have a model T front axle? However, the front suspension is not model T at all. That however was not a rare modification in those days.

I would also speculate that the cars and photo are latter half of the '20s, based on the general appearance of the cars and the clothing. Race car styling and technology changed quickly from 1928 throughout the '30s. Among the most obvious change being tire and wheel sizes. In 1928, tire/rim sizes were very rarely much less than 20 inch. By 1931, they were rarely over 17 inch on racing cars.

 

Just not enough details of the two other cars. One thing I see, but cannot see well enough? Is it possible that one or both of those other two cars have downdraft carburetors? Both look like they could be early Winfield carburetors. Especially the second (middle) car. That looks like the carburetor sneaking behind the near car's Motometer. That could narrow down the time at which the picture was taken. If I recall correctly, the earliest proven record of the Winfield downdraft carburetor being available was April 1928. This detail has been debated, argued, and hard fought, for many years in the model T racing car crowd. The April '28 date makes them a post model T production era part. They are not allowed in some events that try to exclude post T production era race cars. 

The whole downdraft carburetor debate is a sore spot with many people. Only a handful of non-Ford automobile manufacturers began using downdraft carburetors during 1928. Many more followed in the few years that followed. Downdraft carburetors were used on some airplanes during and after the first World War. But only a few reports indicate any use of those carburetors on automobiles of any kind in the years that followed the war. The few that were used,  were used along with the airplane's engine, not an automobile engine. No verifiable reference has shown any significant use of a downdraft carburetor on a race car before 1928. In 1929, however, Winfield was selling these by the hundreds!

 

If that is a downdraft carburetor (Winfield or other), and the near car appears to have 20 inch (about) tires and wheels? That would put the photo at likely between 1929 and 1931.

 

Wonderful photo! I love it. Wish I could identify the car for you.

[Dave Henderson]

"Flat" curved panels were simple to make, but compound curved ones were something else.  Radiator shells such as on the large car were sometimes crafted from opposite side sections taken from around a window at the upper rear corners of a donor car.  May not apply in this case.