>
>My grampa Gene, as we called him, loved old cars and had two favorite
>expressions about driving. This was used when you asked him if "we were
>there yet?" or later "which way should I go?" to which he would
>invariably reply "Drive on Laddy-buck, until I tell you to stop!"
> Of course if you or anyone drove a little too fast he would
>exclaim "Faster than Barney Ol'field!" or "He was goin' like Barney
>Ol'field."
> Q: Are any of Barney Oldfield's cars still raced today?
Yes...the "Golden Submarine", which is an early Miller project (1916-1917)
with a 4 cyl.engine displacing about 289 c.i (bore of 3.625in and a stroke
of 7.0 inches). Oldfield commissioned this car right at the beginning of
Miller's race-car career. Upon final delivery of this $15,000 car,
Oldfield did about 102mph on wooden boards first time out in 1917, in
chicago. During the '17 race season, Oldfield spent lot of time getting
into Ralph DePalma's face with this car...won four out of six matches
against DePalma's Packard. at the end of this '17 season, Oldfield flipped
the car into a pond at Atlanta and nearly drowned...he cut the top off and
raced it during the '18 season as a roadster. He later sold it. The car
is fully restored with the top back on it. I saw it at Monterey on the
"Miller Year" -- The old guy burns a lotta oil. I have no idea who the
current owner is, or even if this car gets brought out on a regular
basis...I've only seen it once -- which is enough of a treat for me.
Cheers
Thom Kuby
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