1959 Tanner T-2

There’s always been something magical about the H-Modified cars of the ’50s and early ’60s. These 750-cc (and later 850-cc) weapons were driven with zing and enthusiasm, not grunt and anger. And the very best drove ’em foot to the floor all the way around, not hard on brakes, hard on the gas like the big bore guys. Make no mistake, winning counted. But the H-class was never just about green and checkered flags. And no one has said it better than the late H-Modified guru, Joe Puckett: “One thing that sets the H Modified apart from the other classes in sports car racing is the fellowship among the competitors. Sure, they’re each trying to blow the doors off one another but, when it is twilight time and one of the guys has to pull his engine or his transmission in the pits, the other guys are around to help with advice and extra hands, flashlights and beer. No other group that I have seen has the closeness of H-Modified. This camaraderie is as strong in vintage racing as it was the first time around.”

Okay, so the engines were diminutive. But if you can get past that, the cars were amazingly cool. The list of European H–Mod manufacturers is almost too numerous to count and includes Abarth, Bandini, Deutsch-Bonnet, Giaur, Moretti, Nardi, OSCA, Stanguellini, Volpini, and many, many others. What is particularly intriguing is that a number of these European purebreds were powered at their respective factories by Crosley-based powerplants from the good old USA.