Coldplugs - Exotic and unusual


This looks like your everyday Mercedes 300SL Gullwing but look carefully and you'll see some huge inboard brakes ahead of the engine. Also, count the tubes from the air plenum for the fuel injection. [Photographed at the Mercedes dealer where my cousin worked.]	Right - it's a real live 300SLR Coupe - the one with the desmodromic valves. Each valve had two cam lobes, one conventional one to open the valve, and one almost circular one to close it via a rocker.

A view of those huge inboard drum brakes. They don't make 'em like that anymore!	Joe T is a friend, teacher, and mentor that I've known since day 1. This was his 1952 Siata Gran Sport photographed by him in 1955. The car was purchased from Russ Sceli in Hartford, CT.

The car had a 1400cc FIAT 4 cylinder engine, with 2 Weber carburetors that had been breathed on by Candy Poole. The steel body was by Farina, and had aluminum trim and panels.	These cars were quicker than many contemporaries such as MGA's (at least the way Joe drives...) and are today particularly valuable partly because they're Mille-Miglia eligible.

Note the cold air intake - also the interesting mounting of the Lucas lights. Looks like a fog light and a "driving" light.	The Siata, with a Jag Coupe hovering in the background.

Taken at a car show about 1963 in Connecticut. We almost bought a Bugatti from a dealer in Hartford (Russ Sceli) once that had a Buick or Oldsmobile V8 in it but we chickened out. Probably just as well. I'm not a purist but that was a bit much, even then.	The GM Firebird powered by a gas turbine. This was way before the name was used by Pontiac. Picture taken about 1955 in Detroit. Built by GM, styled by Lockheed, I imagine.

A Talbot Lago 4.5 liter Grand Prix car. An exhibition was planned to take place in Germany in 1985 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the automobile. This picture was taken in 1984 at the show commemorating the 100th anniversary of the French automobile.	Typical Paris street scene. Some people just have to make a spectacle of themselves.

This was taken a couple of blocks from the picture at the right. Peugeot 203. [Only "exotic" to people who have never driven one I'm sure. Looks like a scene from a Maigret movie.]	Typical Paris street scene. Some people just have to make a spectacle of themselves.

Complete change of pace. I think that was the original Stingray, using the space frame from one of the 1957 Corvette Sebring cars. It was raced for a few years by Dr. Dick Thompson with good success. Picture taken in an airport, I think in Frankfurt.	Not many car dealerships put an engine in the window, but this one did. Taken in 1964.

This is one of the two or three Guanci's made. It was an impressive car, with a V8 mounted amidships. A fellow named John Guanci near Detroit had them built in the mid 1980's. I helped build some wooden models of it (see below). At the time, I was supposed to be demonstrating some fancy computer software but it was hard not to focus on the car itself.	This was a model after being machined and before the handwork. They were made in halves and then glued together. Length overall was about 20 inches.

A slick Lister Chevy. Pretty obvious who the car's prepared for. Look at the roll bar in these pictures - hardly seems worth it but needed for tech inspection, I guess. I don't remember seeing this car race The tires look narrow by today's standards. The dog was painted to match the car but his numbers haven't been applied yet.

The Chaparral 2J had two engines - the prime mover was was a 465 ci Chevy, and the "auxiliary" power was a Rockwell snowmobile engine that spun a pair of "sucker" fans that pumped air out from under the car. The car had sliding "skirts" that, with the bottom of the car, formed a plenum where a significant vacuum could form, holding the car to the ground. This created downforce, without the attendant drag of a wing. [Photo taken in 1970 at Watkins Glen by Fernando Molina]