Name this car....

[Rona!d]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Because Wilson mentioned "clean up mothers", here one story: I collected car brochures as a little boy (who did not?). One day my mother made her usual "junk heap" in my room and I came around the corner not a second too late. Original brochures (1950s-70s) of Countach LP 500, Urraco, several Rolls Royce, Jaguar XK120, Ferraris, Borgwards, BMW 507 and MB 190SL, even some of never sold prototype cars ready for the waste-paper. MUUUUUUUUM !!!! NO !!!!!! NOT THIS !!!!

 

I still have all of them 😉

[hektor]

2 hours ago, Rona!d said:

I still have all of them 😉

And I still have all mine, although I did give one to the chap who bought my Tipo 106 Alfa Romeo.

[John Z. Goriup]

Well, Wilson got it partially right by guessing it's a product of the Harley Earl era, but Ronald enhanced it with a flourish to demonstrate that he knows exactly which car it is, so I suppose the sporting thing to do is to give Ronald the win in this case.

Yes, it is the first of three ( it is believed by some there were four total built )  Chevrolet Corvette SR-2 project cars.......and there's a good yarn attached to the whole exercise. Harley Earl at the time ( mid fifties ) was head of the GM styling studio. His grown son was racing a 250 MM Ferrari at US club races. It is believed that some GM execitives heard about the son of one of their VPs racing a european car and suggested that it would be a lot wiser if his racing steed were an American made product, preferrably a Corvette, a GM product in its third year of existence and not exactly setting the world afire with sales or success at the track. Harley then ordered some of his people to design a proper race car based on the newly updated Corvette and subsequently also involved several legendary names such as Bob Cumberford, Zora-Arkus Duntov, et al.In '56 Jerry received his all-American, all-GM SR-2 and started racing it, but the Europeand still proved superior. The next year Bill Mitchell, Earl's assistant took, over the styling Department and had a second SR-2 built for himself to use as a development mule. That's when Duntov got involved, who contributed the 331 cu.in., Rochester-injected motor, it got a lenghtened frame, a lot of attention was paid to lightening the car              ( from 2900 lbs, stock down to approx. 2200 lbs ) including Porsche Speedster seats, some mild restyling, functional scoops for the rear brakes, built a 3rd car, and most importantly some professional drivers, chief among them capable Dr. Dick Thompson drove the car in some of the most prestigeous races, but never Le Mans. The best results came at the Sebring races, which, according to some historians is the reason it is called the SR - for Sebring Racing, although the time line doesn't quite work out.

The attached photos are of the first SR-2 during its shake-down testing after a museum quality restoration in time for the 2011 Monterey Historic races. When Jerry initially received the car it had a low fin, i.e. at the level of the rear deck, but proved to be totally ineffective, and was changed to thge 'high fin' as installed on this version.

I no longer follow auction results, but I understand the car was recently sold for over U.S$ 6.4 million .

JZG

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

[John Z. Goriup]

...........and a rear view.

JZG

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

[John Z. Goriup]

Harley Earl personally decreed that inspite of all the weight it added, the SR-2 was to have the stock, chrome-plated toothy pot--metal grille of the current production Corvettes so people would instantly recognize that the car was indeed a Corvette, and that they too could posses such a car........ 'win on Sunday, sell on Monday'.

JZG

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[a.j.z]

This was my first thought: why chrome on a race car?  Quite a different approach than the one by Adrian Newey (How to Build a Car is a quite interesting book also for people like myself without a tech background).

[Rona!d]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

vor 14 Stunden schrieb John Z. Goriup:

Well, Wilson got it partially right by guessing it's a product of the Harley Earl era, but Ronald enhanced it with a flourish to demonstrate that he knows exactly which car it is, so I suppose the sporting thing to do is to give Ronald the win in this case.

NOT ME this time. It was adan!

[adan]

I can provide a next mystery vehicle - but it depends on how loose the definition of "car" is.

It will have an ICE, 4 wheels, be fully road-worthy, can transport people and things - and has a distinctive design.

But it's not exactly something one would expect find at LeMans or Monaco - or in the typical family garage.

[John Z. Goriup]

13 minutes ago, adan said:

I can provide a next mystery vehicle - but it depends on how loose the definition of "car" is.

It will have an ICE, 4 wheels, be fully road-worthy, can transport people and things - and has a distinctive design.

But it's not exactly something one would expect find at LeMans or Monaco - or in the typical family garage.

Please do. Apologies for putting the wrong name on my post #16563.

JZG

[adan]

Leica M9, 135 TE

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[Michael Geschlecht]

Hello Andy,

Could this device be from Germany?

Best Regards,

Michael

[adan]

Not Germany.

[Michael Geschlecht]

Hello Andy,

Could this device be from Japan?

Best Regards,

Michael

[adan]

Not Japan.

[IkarusJohn]

Has to be USA

[adan]

Doesn't have to be - but it is.

(Hint #1 - and a handful of these, or close descendents, may have ended up in Japan or Germany, at some point)

Edited December 5, 2021 by adan

[wlaidlaw]

Could that be an Autocar truck (from the shape of the hood and cab) built in Indiana? 

Wilson

[Rona!d]

The rims look "mud/dirt optimized", especially the front wheels look interesting.

It doesn´t seem to be made for long distance routes, I think this could very well be a vehicle used at mining companies, maybe even in the underground. 1930s?

Am I completely wrong here?

 

OK, your hint #1 suggests it had been used in the US Army as well.

[stuny]

I was thinking US Army, too, but from the 1940s, some of which were used during reconstruction in Japan and Germany after the war.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[Rona!d]

I would through Diamond T/REO in. Late 1920s, 1930s.