Hi Folks, wanted to report that today I finally got my hands on an
elusive piece of Ardunology that I've been tracking for a long time
without success.
It was finally placed in my hands for 15 cents at the Microform Dept. of
the Perry Library at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA. They being
the custodian of a set of archives of the New York Times.
The item in question is an article that appeared in the Times on August.
18, 1947, p. 25, col. 2, under the headline "New Truck Engine Nears
Production". And it is, of course, a publicity release about the Ardun
heads which Ardun Mechanical Corp., Z. Arkus-Duntov, President, had
probably just provided to the newspaper, which had printed it. One
column, about ten inches long.
So now we see where the legend started that the Ardun was supposed to be
for truck engines. In fact, the company literature immediately stated,
"automotive-industrial-marine", and even offered complete racing engines
with Ardun heads. I doubt that many ever did truck service, many kits
did probably originally go into cars as a hot rod street engine, but
before very long, I believe most of them wound up in serious racing at
the Flats, the Dry Lakes, or on drag strips. Mike Hart of CT did
recently tell me that there is a sizeable old truck in his region,
non-running, with an original Ardun engine in it. Local rodders had not
been able to buy it from the owner. So there's one.
The article states that "five experimental engines" were "built for
research activities", and the product was "now perfected after two years
of intensive engineering and tests".
One more little gem for your Ardunology file.
Cheers from Ardun Bill in the Great Dismal Swamp, Chesapeake, VA
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