Midget Car Racing (4 results)

Condition: Good Plus. Collection of 4 vintage snapshot silver gelatin photographs of midget race car drivers, with car numbers present: 5, 24, 46 (like other sports, numbers were used by several persons). Each photo shows notations on the versos: three with the driver's name, and two with photographer credits, Elwood Wilson (Philadelphia, PA). It's possible Wilson took all of the photos. Midget cars were smaller versions of sprint cars, the sport popular during the Second World War, and began around 1930s California and gradually eastwardly expanded to Midwest and eastern US. Photos range but 2.75 x 4.25 inches to 3.5 x 4.5 inches, all with white borders, single-weight. Good Plus overall, light rubbing, toning, foxing, curl, a few short tears, some with brief insect chews, and one is cropped to maintain the contour of the driver and the steering wheel (background cut).…

Collection of six vintage photographs of California midget car racing, each with the same decorative border, at the short-lived Atlantic Speedway in Los Angeles, circa 1941. Featuring an unknown race car with number 23 painted on the tail, and "Warner Spl." painted just below the cockpit, a few of the mechanics responsible on-hand. "X34" rubber-stamps on the versos. Midget racing began in California in the early 1930s in Los Angeles, the sport then owned and operated by the Midget Auto Racing Association (MARA). Small custom cars, many called "specials," looped on small wood tracks formerly reserved for bicycle races. A notable venue was Gilmore Stadium, built in 1934 by Earl Bell Gilmore, an heir to the Gilmore Oil Company. The Atlantic Speedway operated about 1935-1942, near Compton at the intersection of Atlantic and Banducci Boulevards (now part of Long Beach Expressway), and this collection offers a humble, pocket-sized look at that lost California track. 2.5 x 4 inches, silver gelatin. Near Fine.…

Condition: Very Good. Collection of 9 vintage snapshot photographs of midget race cars, from a state fair or auto show in Ohio during or shortly after WWII, with men in uniform, and "Isaly's" store sign present. Car numbers present: 1, 3, 8, 12, 24, 30 (like other sports, numbers were used by several persons). Midget cars were smaller versions of sprint cars, the sport popular during the war, began 1930s California and gradually eastwardly expanded to Midwest US, where stores like Isaly's operated. Isaly's had locations in Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, offering fine deli products rooted in 19th century Swiss cheese. Locations ceased but products are sold to date throughout Appalachia and the Mid-Atlantic. Photos 2.25 x 3.5 inches, all with white borders. Versos have small "9" rubberstamp and numerical notation. Very Good Plus overall, a few corner creases, faint smudges.…

Oblong folio. 24 x 17.5 in. [3 leaves (unnumbered).], blueprints stapled at gutter margin, self-printed softcovers, fold creases from having been originally rolled (minor edgewear, couple minor closed tears at outer fore-edge), still VG set of plans. These designs were prepared for Lundgren (1896-1979) who in the 1930's also worked as an auto mechanic, machinist, as well as body fabricator and designer for himself, and later E.D. Lewis Motors in Chicago. Inspired by the "Modern" streamline design cues of the Century of Progress World's Fair 1933-1934 in Chicago, this 7 foot long open-wheel midget racer according to the plans had been fitted with reduced-size Miller-Duesenberg racing engines, first introduced as 16-cylinder 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0 liter Grand Prix & Indy race-cars in the 1920's. By 1934, DOHC 4-cylinder Miller engines intended for powerboat racing were driving Indy car winners. The Lundgren Modern Midget Racer featured Pontiac, Ford Model A suspension, Hartford Shocks, and other converted parts. Wilke (1910-1999) was a noted draftsman, scale model builder for Dowst Manufacturing Co., the noted Chicago toy manufacturer of the Tootsie Toys, and later worked for the Stewart-Warner Corporation, Automotive Parts Division.…