In the March 2009 VRJ I wrote about Don Blenderman’s Kurtis obsession and his wonderful Sutton-bodied 500KK. What I failed...
The photo caption on page 31 of the November 1953 issue of Road & Track read: “A strange assortment of...
Then After back-to-back wins at the Indianapolis 500 in 1953 and 1954, Bill Vukovich returned for the ’55 race with only one goal…to win three in a row. His mount was Lindsey Hopkins’ 1954 Offy-powered Kurtis 500C (Kurtis Chassis #372; the Hopkins Special; car #4) which had finished 21st at...
Don Blenderman is koo-koo for Kurtis cars. And why not? Frank Kurtis is arguably the greatest American racecar builder of...
In my book Vintage American Road Racing Cars, I wrote, “Of all the Kurtis road racing cars, the 500X is...
Sam Hanks may have been a quiet man who preferred to keep to himself, but at the wheel of a racing car he became a formidable force Between the two world wars, as Americans watched the Roaring Twenties tumble into the Great Depression and erode into the Dust Bowl, any...
There were a number of outstanding road-race weekends during the fifties. Phil Hill’s win at the first Pebble Beach comes...
Carroll Shelby once remarked, “There are only two people I can think of who could sit down, take a welding...
Track map from the event program (inset) and an aerial view (main image) taken after several years of racing. The airport’s main runway has since been reconstructed parallel to Hollister, the street on the far left, so the track could no longer be run as it once was.Photo: Michael A....
1949 Kurtis Sports Car [dropcap]F[/dropcap]rank Kurtis built racecars. He built many of the cars entered in the Indy 500 from...
An Eagle Indy car raced by Roger McCluskey in the 1966 Indy 500 is one of over 170 rare and...
Then I live in Texas. That means I’m supposed to be a barbeque snob. It also means that when invited to a chargrill in one of the lesser 49 States I’m supposed to attend, be polite, act as if I like the grub and then immediately report my findings to...
The 24th annual Millers at Milwaukee Vintage Indy Car Event, sponsored by the Harry Miller Club, will be held July...
This year’s Meadowbrook Concours, to be held August 4 in Rochester, Michigan, will pay special tribute to the legacy of...
Ed Justice Sr., who with brothers Zeke and Gus founded the international oil additives company that bears their name, has passed away due to complications from kidney failure. Prior to creating their own company, both Ed and Zeke worked for Frank Kurtis helping craft the racecars that made his name...
Hidden Kurtis Dear Editor, Just finished your terrific article on the Curtis Indycar. I am attaching a photo of two...
1957 Kurtis Kraft 500G2 The author gets up to speed on the banking of England’s Rockingham Speedway. Photo: Mike Jiggle When Champ Cars made a very rare appearance in Europe a couple of years ago, many of us thought this would be a dream come true for those people who...
During the early fifties, one of the biggest sports stars in the United States was Sam Hanks. Notice I said...
As we’ve done each of the ten years we’ve now been in publication, this month we focus all of the...
A shooting star is an astronomical phenomenon which appears suddenly in the night sky, burns brightly for a few seconds as it streaks across the heavens, then disappears from view as suddenly as it appeared. This also is an apt description of the 1950’s racing career of a Northern California...
We all know their names, and they all would tell you that we do because they won this one race....
Mecum Auctions has announced that it will be selling the 1957 Kurtis Kraft KK500G “Bardahl Special” at its August 23–25...
Talking with famed Indianapolis chassis builder A. J. Watson, the question arises about the front, twin air inlets—the signature of the Watson Roadster. The first four Watson Roadsters, of 1956–1958, had a single air inlet and chrome grille, so why the change? Surely it had some advantage. Was it the...