| Townsend Special -- 3
From your webmaster: "I only saw
Townsend Specials race twice. The first time was at the Memorial
Day Santa Barbara event in 1962. Don Hulette drove the car as #404
and he was quite competitive.
The Townsend car reappeared in my awareness
at the 1964 Riverside USRRC event. Again Hulette drove, and finished
11th against strong mid-engined competition. I would read of Townsend
Special placings in Arizona events with Pete Voevodsky driving, but I never
saw that car/driver combination in action."
| Fueling up at Santa Barbara?
The #404 car with its earlier Devin body gets some life energy courtesy
of the Mobilgas truck.
Butch McDaniel & Jack Voevodsky look
on. Voevodsky drove the Corvette in the back- ground in the "B" Production
class. |
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Frank Townsend receives a trophy from
Sheriff Burriss, a leathery Arizona lawman.
The flat terrain, mud splatter, and classification
numerals on the side of the car suggest that the trophy was won on a salt
flat or a dry lake. From the grin on Frank's face it must have been
a great run. I wonder what speed he reached?
From Gene Gibson's recent new info:
"Frank said that the speed trials netted a top speed of 160+.
He said it was faster with the second body. The car held several
NHRA records while still winning SCCA events. " |
| A look at the Townsend Special's space
frame. Impressive that local guys from Tucson successfully completed
something this sophisticated in 1961.
Note tread widths on especially the front
tires. Advances in tire technology led to radically wider wheels
& tires over the next few years.
It was interesting to watch the evolution
of Shelby's factory Cobras in 1963. Tires grew wider almost by the
week, with sheet metal fender extensions literally riveted on to cover
them. |
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Next: Townsend
Special -- 4
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Special -- 2
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Specials -- Homepage
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