Here from 1951 is the word about Crosley Super Sports from non other than
that man who never saw a car he didn't like, Tom McCahill:
"Powell Crosley, Jr.'s mechanical roller skate, dubbed the Super Sports, is a
great American sports car. This thousand-dollar tobacco can on casters may
not be able to take a Cunningham or Allard J-2 on a flatout run, but then it
won't give your bank roll such an extra large shellaking either.....With a 10
to 1 compression ratio that enables it to outjump an M.G.....and the less
than 750cc engine will take anthing in its class ever delivered on these
shores, actually like a baby Ferrari...." and on and on. McCahill had such a
flare with the language! And yes, George Schrafft and Phil Stiles ran the
'51 LeMans in it, reportedly getting up to 95 mph and leading its class when
the voltage regulator (Delco??) failed and they didn't have a spare in the
car (all spares used in the race had to be carried in the car in those days).
The gennie then failed and after dark the battery ran out so they retired.
No mention is made of the block material in the article nor my rumor of B29
use. There is a great pic of McCahill driving top & window down with his
faithful Lab in the passenger seat wearing goggles. Tom was a very big guy
for this car.
This little book(Fawcett no. 131) is a gold mine of obscure makes:
Besides the Cunningham, a fairly well known racer of that era, there is the
Gatso, Fitch, H.R.G., Paramount, Nacional (first ever Mexican sports car, and
maybe the last), Veritas, Dellow, Muntz Jet (which was the successor of the
Kurtis), Lea Francis, the Edwards, the Templar, Lozier, and the National
"40". Tom considered all of these plus the usual M.G., Jags, Bentleys, etc
to be sports cars. He lavished much praise on the then new Nash Healy, a few
survive today. Any one on the list with a N-H?
How did we get into Crosleys anyway???
Cheers
Terry
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