One of the delightful things about this group is the unexpected interest in
arcane subjects, such as the Crosley cars.
It has been mentioned that the Crosley engine was originally designed as an
auxiliary power unit for electrical power, and used in B-29 bombers. My
recollection is that it was used for many years as stand-by power for
refrigeration units, and in fact industrial refrigeration wholesalers were
the source of most Crosley engine parts when this engine was used in class
H (750 cc) racing quite popular in California in the early 60's. Other
engines used in this class were the 3 cylinder Saab two stroke, the Mercury
50 four cylinder outboard, also two stroke and the the Italian OSCA engine
made by the Maserati brothers in Modena just across the street from
Scuderia Ferrari.This last engine (OSCA) was perhaps the most successful,
but the Crosley acquitted itself very well, coming in second and third
places quite often.
Typical of the Crosley Specials seen then was one built by Walt Martin of
Akron, Ohio around 1959.It used a very light tubular space frame with rigid
axles front and rear mounted on 1/4 elliptic springs ( ala Midget). The
engine was an almost standard 1951 Crosley Supersports, with two Tillotson
carburetors from a Mercury outboard and a fabricated exhaust manifold. The
standard 3 speed Crosley transmission was retained as well as the Crosley
drum brakes. The total weight was about 900 pounds, achieved with the aid
of a very attractive papier mache body.Total cost of this Special was
about $300 of 1959.
A more ambitious Special was the Jabro, built in Missouri in 1961.The
chassis was a scaled down copy of the Maserati Birdcage space frame.It used
a divided axle front suspension and rigid rear with coil over shock
springing.Crosley disk brakes were used with stock 12" Crosley wheels.The
engine was much more developed than the Martin Special. It used a special 8-
port cylinder head with intakes on the left and exhausts on the right. Four
Dell'Orto motorcycle carburetors were used and the builder (James
Broadwell) claimed 65 HP out of this little jewel .The body was a very
beautiful and simple design which followed Italian lines of the
time. I am sure that with 65 HP and a small frontal area this Special must
have done considerable more than 100 mph and in fact had a good competition
record.
People who ran Crosley engines found them quite reliable, in spite of the
fact that were run consistenly above 7000 rpm and urged to develop
considerable more than the 26 HP stock output.It is also interesting
to mention that specialist cam builders such as Iskendarian and Harmon
(both of California) designed racing cams for the Crosley engine, so there
must have existed a reasonable large market for them. Some speed equipment
was also available from Nardi in Italy.
The mention of the Mercury outboards used in some of these class H Specials
is not without a long previous history, of which I would like to know more.
Evinrude and Elto outboards were used extensively in Midget car racing in
California in the 30's and 40's. Can anyone supply additional information
on these adaptations of marine engines ?
Sergio Montes Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering
University of Tasmania
Box 252C,Hobart 7000,Tasmania,Australia
Ph. 56-02-202113 (Int) 002-202113 (Australia)
Fax 56-02-234611 e-mail Sergio.Montes@cmech.utas.edu.au
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