When you see pictures of the Lockhart car it was tiny compared to the
reigning land speed cars of the day. It took a long time for other
racers to catch on to the small frontal area concept. Some of the
1930's Brit cars had the driver sitting at the front of the car in an
upright position. That streamlining around him alone was probably a
greater frontal area than Nebulous II. The Vesco liner opened some
eyes in the late 50's and today a small frontal area is just an
accepted fact for going fast.
Wes
On Nov 8, 2005, at 12:28 PM, Want1937hd@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 11/8/05 1:30:53 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> FastmetalBDF@aol.com writes:
>> Wes .... In 1928 Frank Lockhart, the 1926 Indy 500 Winner, had a V16
>> engine
>> in his Stutz Blackhawk, and it only had a displacement of 182 CID
>> ..... he
>> ran the
>> Measured Mile at Daytona Beach at 198.292 on one pass, and he was
>> running
>> ' well over 200 ' when he blew a rear tire, and tumbled down the
>> course for
>> over a
>> thousand feet, killing him instantly .This Lockhart Miller 16 was
>> later placed in a Stevens INDY Car chassis and started the 1939 race
>> in 7th place, a rear axle bearing caused it to finish in 32nd, place.
>> In 1940 it started 20 and finishes in 6th place,driven by West Coast
>> Midget chanpion Bob Swanson, no we were not related. The car ran in
>> 1941 with Deacon Litz driving, finished 22nd. Then it was repainted
>> as the Spike Jones Special for the '46 500 with Sam Hanks driving,
>> finished 31st. Today it is fully restored in the Spike Jones paint
>> job and in the Indy 500 Museum. Bob Swanson in connecticut
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