OP #1633 - Sadler MK V

[Otto Puzzell]

Looks like a Maserati...

Race cars of this type and era look a lot alike. This car - not a Maserati - bears a strong resemblance to the Lotus Allemano named previously. In fact, if one were to see them side by side  an untrained eye might think they were the same car, or at least from the same designer's pen. But they are not.

[Otto Puzzell]

Yes!

Damn it! I really need a vacation.

Not from the US - From our neighbor to the North.

[Allemano]

A Cooper "Monaco"? (still don't know if it's from Canada, though)

[Otto Puzzell]

Not that car.

[Otto Puzzell]

The first Cooper Monaco mated to a Chevy engine underwent that transformation in 1964, IIRC, so that's too new.

This was the last racer from this designer's drawing board for a very long time. He went on to engineer very different items.

[Allemano]

Do forename and surname of this person start with the same character?

[Otto Puzzell]

No sir.

[Allemano]

It could be the Sadler MK V..

[Otto Puzzell]

It is!

Conceived and built in late 1960, the MK 5 was Bill Sadler's first rear mid-engined racer. Comstock Racing founder Chuck Rathgeb spied the car in Sadler's shop, and commissioned him to build a second example, and put up the money to sponsor both in the 1961 season. Seeing the compromises to his quality of life - his wife had left him during his 8-year building and racing stint, and citing differences with Rathgeb, Sadler closed up shop, and went back to work at Westinghouse as an electrical engineer. Moving to the US, he eared a master's degree in electrical engineering from MIT in 1966. Only many years later did Sadler return to cars, building a Formula V for himself, and participating in the vintage racing community.

Here's a shot of Sadler MkV reproduction (left) with a Lotus 19.

[Otto Puzzell]

And a fully finished MK5. The resemblance to the Lotus is even stronger here - they even share a number!

[Allemano]

I like how he arranged the exhaust pipes.

The engineers of the Cooper Monaco did it later quite similar:




I'm always wondering about the two seat configuration since I've never seen those cars co-piloted.

[Otto Puzzell]

From the 'great minds think alike' department.

[faksta]

I'm always wondering about the two seat configuration since I've never seen those cars co-piloted.

That was done to give girls a ride.

[Allemano]

Aaha!