Come for a ride in my 1932 Studebaker Indy car

[Gary_Ash]

With my Indy car replica finally licensed for road use, I've been taking short trips up the road while I finish sorting out the bugs.  Here is a YouTube video from a GoPro 11 camera mounted on a stalk attached to the seat back. Enjoy the ride! 

 

 

[TerryB]

Wow..great stuff.  Thanks for posting.  

[pkhammer]

That ain't nothin' short of sexy right there!!

[zeke01]

Had you driven on down to the Dairy Queen, I would have bought the ice cream. Zeke

[STEVE POLLARD]

Very cool.... thanks for posting !

[30DodgePanel]

Great view of the road, thanks for taking us along, love those gopros…

Very cool

 

Just trying to think of what song would be good in place of the wind and the only thing that comes to mind is Steppinwolf or maybe Christopher Cross ride like the wind. 

 

 

[Marty Roth]

Gary,

 

That was a really neat experience-

Great looking car-

great sounding exhaust-

very nice scenery-

perfect day to be out and about-

 

Thank you for the ride-along,

and a reminder for me to wear a hat to protect what is left of my hair, as well as my exposed scalp !

[Don Jr.]

Thank you for the ride along. Wonderful build,

[edinmass]

Cool………unfortunately my planned test drive next weekend may not work out, as Mother Nature has other plans for Southern Florida and my plane may be canceled. Thus the “drive it like you stole it” test drive may have to be put off a few weeks. 
 

Seems long legged for the street……..starts great. 
 

Now, for the BIG question, you accomplished something very few cars guys have ever done. You scratch built a car. Bravo. What are your impressions of what you thought it would be like to the actual driving experience? And the other obvious question…….what’s next? 👍

[Templar Recruiter]

Gary-

YOU WIN! WoW!! Just Beautiful!

all that hard work was well worth

this Fantastic Indy Race Car! 

Great Job! Over the Top!

Hope to see it person some Day!

Best of Luck down the Road!

and to think I knew when this

was just a dream and now a reality!

 

[Terry Harper]

Thank you Gary for taking us along on the ride. Fantastic! Thank you for sharing the build as well. Your a true craftsman. Love it!

[Xander Wildeisen]

That flat kicks ass. In the 50’s on the dry lake beds and salt flats. They mirrored what they saw racers doing in the 30’s. That is a hot rod before there were hot rods. Congratulations, love that style of car. Would drive it early in the morning to get a cup of coffee. Great project to tackle and see through. You will have a lot of fun with that car.

[Gunsmoke]

That has to be the most enjoyable couple of minutes of video I've seen in many moons,  what a great car, must be a huge level of satisfaction for all your creativity and effort. Zoom Zoom.

[Lahti35]

Can't beat that! Sounds good, looks good!

[Gary_Ash]

6 hours ago, edinmass said:

Cool………unfortunately my planned test drive next weekend may not work out, as Mother Nature has other plans for Southern Florida and my plane may be canceled. Thus the “drive it like you stole it” test drive may have to be put off a few weeks. 
 

Seems long legged for the street……..starts great. 
 

Now, for the BIG question, you accomplished something very few cars guys have ever done. You scratch built a car. Bravo. What are your impressions of what you thought it would be like to the actual driving experience? And the other obvious question…….what’s next? 👍

The driving experience is wildly fun but it is challenging. There was limited space for the pedals, so I have to wear my smallest shoes to avoid tangling my shoes. The clutch pedal is high, stiff spring, but manageable. The gas pedal is lower but could be lower for comfort. The original cars shared the same issues. While I did tighten the Ross steering box, the steering remains “twitchy”.  Maybe adjusting toe-in can help, though I think it’s close to zero toe in on the Stahl Sport radial tires. I may send the box to Lares over the winter.  The engine is very responsive above 1500-1800 rpm, plenty of power. The ride is firm to stiff, about what I expected. It’s like a big, brutish go-kart. Brakes are great, firm pedal, quick stops. The gearing is very long legged, so 2nd gear is good to 70 mph or more. It may be that 50-60 is minimum speed in 3rd.  I copied the technical details of the 1932 race cars so I got a car that wants to run 100 mph. That makes driving at 30 mph an interesting story.  I’m short, fit the car OK. How Mike Cleary and son Jamie at 6’5”-6’6” fit in the original #18 car amazes me. 

 

What’s next?  I have to finish the 1963 Studebaker Standard Wagonaire, 6 cylinder, manual transmission, that I started on 15 years ago. No new projects, no more restorations at my age. But, I keep looking at photos of 1941-47 Packard Super Clipper 4-dr sedans…

[Studemax]

You deserve all the fun with it, Gary!

[Shootey]

I noticed the Studebaker logo studemax uses. Didn’t Ovaltine or Bosco in the ‘50’s give away metal automobile logos including the Studebaker one?

[Paul Dobbin]

Mike Cleary of Pacific Palisade, CA drove his 1932 Studebaker Indy racer with us in the 1984 Great American Race to the 1984 Indy 500.

His car was actulally in the 1932 Indy 500 and crashed.   Did you know him or the car?   Someplace in my piles of old pictures I'm sure I have one of

him and the car.   The number on it was 18.  Thanks for the ride in yours.  Felt like you were racing!

[Gary_Ash]

Paul:

I'm happy to report that Mike Cleary is a great friend and mentor.  I first got a ride in #18 back in 2009.  He helped a great deal in the construction of my car, supplied many photos and drawings.  We have visited with Mike and Laura several times and he has been to my house during the construction of my car.  In March 2022, we attended the Palm Springs, CA get-together of the Antique Studebaker Club just after we had visited Mike at his home.  Mike brought #18 to Palm Springs and I got to ride with him on a couple of days.  I even got to drive #18 for a couple of blocks.  Mike's son Jamie drives the car in vintage racing events at Laguna Seca and elsewhere.

 

Here's a video of a ride in Mike's car in March, 2020.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qazHMONV4A8

[Hans1]

Thank you for both RIDES !

[Paul Dobbin]

Gary,

Thanks for the update on #18.   At the time I knew it, the only thing that was painted blue was the #18.  Like yours. it was all aluminum.  Glad to hear Mike and #18 are still going strong.   A lot has changed for us all since 1984.   The Wrinkle City Racers 1934 Ford that I drove in 84 & 87 was sold and became a street rod, but we go the engine back and it now lives in a 1932 Ford School Bus.  I'm still touring in a 34 Ford. (The 4th one)

But I loved the straight 8 in the Chrysler Airflow for another 9 Great Races.   I could almost feel the power in your Studebaker videos.

Paul

Edited September 26, 2022 by Paul Dobbin
spill check (see edit history)

[Gary_Ash]

Here is another video from 2013 of a 1932 Studebaker Indy car, this time #46 on the 20 km Nürburgring track in Germany.  With a lap time of just under 15 minutes, the average speed was about 82 mph.  Not bad for a vintage car event and amateur driver!  Car #46 is also a replica, has a 337 cubic inch Studebaker straight 8 from 1929-33, built in Indianapolis in the early 1980s for a German owner.  It's currently in Switzerland.  The video is about 15 minutes long, one complete lap.

 

 

 

[Paul Dobbin]

That is a lot faster than I drove it in 1967 in my 1957 Porsche Speedster.   The pavement looks a lot better too.   Alos a lot more sadety barriers

along the way.    We felt like it was a pleasure drive in the woods,   Speed changes the perspective a lot.   I alos worked as a flagman on race tracks in Germany with no more safty barriers than hay bayles.    They were Porcshe Club of Germany sponsored races.    I was chicken to race my street Porsche, unlike the Germans.