# Old Race Cars



## Capt Worley PE (May 3, 2013)

I love pics of the REALLY old race cars, pre-1920. Giant engines accounted for the nickname 'Road Locomotives' for these things

Racing on Board tracks:


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## Capt Worley PE (May 3, 2013)




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## Capt Worley PE (May 3, 2013)

Building a board track


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## Capt Worley PE (May 3, 2013)




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## snickerd3 (May 3, 2013)

cool pics!!


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## Supe (May 3, 2013)

Quite possibly the most badass race car to ever exist, the Porsche 917/30 - turbocharged V12 putting out nearly 1600HP for their qualifying setup (about 1100+ for endurance races),


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## Capt Worley PE (May 3, 2013)

^Technically it was a flat 12, but I guess you could say it was a 180 degree between the banks V-12!

It was also the car that killed Can-Am.

They also had a unique way to vary the wheelbase. Pretty cool car.


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## Capt Worley PE (May 3, 2013)

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/12/21/ebay-find-of-the-day-brass-era-american-lafrance-firetruck-spee/


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## Supe (May 3, 2013)

Capt Worley PE said:


> ^Technically it was a flat 12, but I guess you could say it was a 180 degree between the banks V-12!
> 
> It was also the car that killed Can-Am.
> 
> They also had a unique way to vary the wheelbase. Pretty cool car.




You are indeed correct, an air cooled flat 12.

It did indeed kill Can-Am, though Donahue losing the body and rolling the car at 150 mph sure didn't help with that.


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## Capt Worley PE (May 3, 2013)




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## Capt Worley PE (May 3, 2013)




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## Capt Worley PE (May 3, 2013)




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## Capt Worley PE (May 3, 2013)




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## Capt Worley PE (May 3, 2013)

Supe said:


> Quite possibly the most badass race car to ever exist, the Porsche 917/30 - turbocharged V12 putting out nearly 1600HP for their qualifying setup (about 1100+ for endurance races),




When Ferdinand Piech original designed the 917, he was a slave to aerodynamic. So much so that the initial cars had absolutely no provision for driver cooling.


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## Master slacker (May 3, 2013)

I wish the hat with suit trend came back. I sure liked my Grandpa's hat / suit combo back in the day. If I wore one myself, I'd look like a doofus for being the only one.


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## csb (May 9, 2013)

Too bad men's fashion isn't swayed as easily as women's fashion. In that instance, Downton Abbey would have the suit and hat combo back in a flash.


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## cdcengineer (May 9, 2013)

Why were there two guys in each car? Co-pilot?


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## MGX (May 9, 2013)

I think back then one was a mechanic and the other the driver. Racetracks were primitive and the races could be very long.


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## Supe (May 10, 2013)

Yup. One guy would also take care of the tires. Often, he'd be patching one in the passenger's seat in order to have it ready to go for the next flat.


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## Capt Worley PE (May 13, 2013)

Also, the riding mechanic had to man the hand pump to pressurize the fuel tank to provide fuel flow in the older cars.


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## envirotex (May 13, 2013)

Master slacker said:


> I wish the hat with suit trend came back. I sure liked my Grandpa's hat / suit combo back in the day. If I wore one myself, I'd look like a doofus for being the only one.




"I wear your granddad's clothes, I look incredible..."


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