Hello Tam,
Your site is fantastic and a daily habit
of mine. I have owned the car in the picture attached for less than
a year. It was found abandoned by the side of the road in Northern
California in the late '80s by its restorer, Ned Bacon of Carson
City, Nevada.
Apparently Bill Dixon raced a similar
bodied car in the Cal Club days,but according to his brother, John Dixon,
that car had a Kurtis 500 chassis and was destroyed in a crash and subsequent
fire. This car was found with a custom tube chassis with '46-48 Ford
suspension and a Dana rear axle with trailing arms and coil springs.
The car is currently powered by a 302 GMC.
Could you possibly place it on your site
as a "Mystery" car.
Any information on the car's history
would be much appreciated.
Rory Rinebold
Gardena, CA
Website vistor Rick Mundell offers this
information:
"YOU SHOW A MYSTERY CAR WITH VERY LOW
CUT FRONT FENDERS THAT GO BACK VERY LOW INTO REAR -- I THINK THIS MAY BE
A VICTRESS BODY OR CAR FROM THE EARLY 50S. I HAVE A KELLISON
AND I'VE DONE A LOT OF SEARCHING FOR INFO ON KIT OR BODY CARS.
PUNCH IN VICTRESS UNDER SEARCH -- I THINK IT'S THE SAME TYPE OF CAR."
Historian Ron Cummings contributes:
Remember this car? Well, if you recall,
I found a front page photo in MotoRacing showing Phil Cooper winning the
Triple 'R' night race at Willow Springs in Aug of 1958 with this car. We
were speculating as to who Phil Cooper was, I still do not know.
Last night I was doing a little reading
and this turned up. In the 'Official" race program for the March 7-8, 1959
Pomona USAC Los Angeles Examiner International Grand Prix I found
this entry"
Car # 229 Proctor-Cooper
Spl. Mk. II Chevvy (sic) Red
Clem Proctor 5440cc Bm Compton
The fact that the car is listed B modified
with a 5440cc (332 cu in) motor would indicate that the supercharger had
been removed before this race.
Now, in MotoRacing vol. 4, No. 11, March
20-27, 1959 page six in 'Marie's Clipboard' I found the following description
concerning the car:
"Clem Proctor didn't get any farther
than practice and an expensive practice it was. He blew all the rods and
mains in his Cooper Spl."
So, we have established that Phil Cooper's
ride at Willow Springs, Aug. 1958 and Clem Proctor's car at the first Los
Angeles Times GP at Riverside Oct. 1958 and first Los Angeles Examiner
GP at Pomona Mar. 1959 are one and the same. Remember, I think, Allen Kuhn
has a photo of the car at Riverside.
Also, last weekend Willow Springs Raceway
handed out a book on some of the track's history to the Fab. 50's group.
One page shows Elgin Holmes, Kurtis 500s. In the background there is a
blurred image of what I believe is Cooper's car."
From Ned Bacon:
"Hello "Mystery Car " guys,
Thanks for the diligent work Ron. I think
we can all agree that the "Mystery Car" is now officially the long lost
"Phil Cooper/Clem Proctor Special". Any thoughts on a small block Rory?
Keep in touch." |