A view of Harley Earl's legendary 1951 LeSabre dream car at the 1953 Chicago Auto Show.
The photo is made more interesting because the car is seen in a rare pose with the convertible top in the up position. Body panels were made of magnesium, and a jet-like intake contained two headlights. Housed in the rear fenders were the tanks for the gasoline and alcohol fuel. The LeSabre name came from the Sabre jet fighters, and was used on Buick models from 1959-2005.
Sadly, much of our drag racing heritage is fading into the sunset of time due to the passing of legends like Dick Wells, Wally Parks, Pat Foster, and many others. The destruction of storied tracks where a lot of racing legends were born isn't helping either. Places like Lions Drag Strip, Orange County International Raceway, US 30 Dragway, and Miami-Hollywood Speedway Park Dragstrip are where history was made, legends created, and where drag racing put its stamp on American society and culture. But all hope is not lost - All across America, drag racing enthusiasts and racers are doing what they can to preserve Standard 1320 history.
After his Triumph Spitfire engine crashed, this resourceful gearhead purchased a used engine from a seller on eBay Motors. Wisely, he chose to photograph the entire teardown so he had a reference to remember how everything went back together. He then realized it would be quite cool to make it an animation - from stripping its thousands of parts, cleaning them, to completely reassembling the entire engine again - and this is the result...
Robert is currently showing hot rod paintings in a group showing at Mikey Teutul's Wolf Gang Gallery - The show runs from July 14th - August 31st, 2012 The show is titled: A Midsummer Nights Dream - Featuring French artist Bernard Carver, Jacqueline Schwab, Nat Baines, Maureen Drury, Patti Kalosy, Amy Wiley, David O'Reilly, Nelson Pantoja, Caroline Harrow, Dexter Wetmore, Robert Hoover, Mike Teutul and Emily Adamo.
"It was one of those days when a guy could just feel the good luck all around him from the minute he woke up from his nap. A day like that was absolutely perfect for the big race he had planned all summer. The big Dodge racer was finely tuned, the weather was clear and the race track was dry and fast. He started from the pole position and ran in first place for the better part of the race but in the twenty third lap Barney Oldfield, in the Bardol Special, passed him on the inside and took the lead. On the last lap (just before supper), in a move race fans would later call sheer brilliance, our young friend shot around Barney on the left and flew in to take the coveted checkered flag and the World Championship of Motor Racing."
Saturday morning Kristi and I were traveling the back country roads of Florida to visit her parents near Ocala when we happened across this row of dilapidated cars on a piece of property near Stark. Very cool 1930's and 40's Buick's, Packard's, and Studebaker's.
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A view of Harley Earl's legendary 1951 LeSabre dream car at the 1953 Chicago Auto Show.
