"#159 is a Simca Offy Special driven by Dr. William Eschrich."

(8-11-09)   From Ron Cummings:

"Looks like Doc Eschrich and the Offenhauser Spl."

(8-11-09)   From Bill Krueger:

"Yes, this is Doc Eschrich in his, what I always referred to as the Simca/ Offy Special (my brother tells me that the car had a transmission out of a Simca).  This is probably 54/55 as later in life the car got a more aero- dynamic nose and the first race with the new nose was the race at Glendale Grand Central Airport (if you can fix this date you will know that this photo is earlier). 

I remember Glendale being the first with the new nose developed by my dad because the nose was longer and made getting the car on/off the trailer difficult (probably something they didn't think about while doing it). When Doc moved on to the Porsche-Lotus (POTUS) in 1956 he kept the same # 159."