Chris,
I am reasonably certain that this was not Ak's roadster. Ak gave me his
roadster to run in 1958. Ak's cars performed very well, but generally
were not show pieces.
The roadster on eBay could have been one of several that ran in the
50's. Don Wait comes to mind since he always built beautiful cars, (this
was a very nice car), but his modified that I have a picture of had a
track roadster type grill. The rear engined roadster was outlawed, I
believe, in 1960 because we had several that crashed. At the time Bill
Summers, Jim Kugats(sp?), Jim Culbert, John Cramer, (both from San
Diego), Fred Larson, Don Allen, Tom Cobbs, Whipp-Hammond & Johnson
(Redding CA) all had nice looking cars. I believe that five roadsters
got up-side-down during the 1959 meet. Summer's car returned after the
crash and set a record @ 225.078 that stood for several years.
Another puzzling thing is the number (69D). In the early days SCTA used
a class system that went from a A(0-180 cu in to D(306-488). This was
changed in 1956 or 57 to the class system we now have which D (261-305
cu in) and A (440-500 cu in). I suspect that this car was running prior
to the rule change and powered by a 1/2 stroke X 3/8 bore engine (324 cu
in).
I have been to nearly all the Bonneville Meets since 1957 and I don't
recognize the car. Most of the roadsters that I have mentioned I could
identify, but three of these are not clear in my mind...Don Allen,
Whipp-Hammond & Johnson and Jim Culbert. There was also a couple of
entries (same car ran a blown Chrysler and a 296 Ford) Alsberge &
Steffen and Alsberge & Lacey. I haven't a clue what it looks like.
Maybe Glen Barrett could jump in here and help.
Tom, Redding CA - #216 D/CC
Chris Pile wrote:
> List -
>
> The eBay rear-engine roadster (#6524455176) certainly resembles one of Ak
> Millers old creations to my eye. I seem to remember several photos in hot
> rodding books that picture this roadster. Unfortunately, Ak never seems to be
> in the viewfinder when the shutter is snapped!
> The irregular stripes (red, I think) are one giveaway, and according to
> what I've read - Ak favored pointy noses on his vehicles. He even ran a Cobra
> with a long, sheetmetal cone protruding from the "mouth" of the beast.
> If anyone would like - I'll dig these books out and quote titles & page
> numbers so that digest members can decide for themselves.
>
> Chris Pile aka aircap
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