What's the make and model designation of this car?
Expert attention required
Topped
Arciero Special?
Don't forget Quiller's on a 5-month world tour, PJ!
You are right, thank you!
World tour done; not an Arciero ...
Microplas body, I assume?
Based on what I think the wheels are from, perhaps it's a Jowett engined Buckler 90 with a Mistral body.
You are absolutely right that it's a Microplas Mistral body - but this version was marketed by a different company, and not in the UK.
Those wheels look suspiciously Saab-like, so could it be Swedish?
Not Saab
..but from Sweden by any chance?
Body by Sports Car Engineering of Hollywood, California?
Elmslie & Flockton Ltd Mistral, from New Zealand?
Quote from: woodinsight on August 02, 2010, 12:40:22 PM
Body by Sports Car Engineering of Hollywood, California?
That's the one! Now do you know the model name? Locked for you till your next reply.....
I haven't found the the exact name of this special.
Please unlock it for anyone who knows what this is.
I thought it may be the Tea Kettle Special and there were also several other possibilities.
I can't find it as a US sports racer and it may be from another country.
Anything to do with Kurtis?
It's as simple as Sports Car Engineering ******
Spyder?
Special?
Quote from: pnegyesi on August 14, 2010, 07:19:46 AM
Spyder?
Spyder is correct!
One point each will go to pnegyesi and woodinsight
I found a different name...
Very interesting find PJ.
I did originally have doubts about whether my answer was correct but I had nothing further to go on.
Sports Car Engineering's (or Sport Car Engineering as they called themselves) address was at 5807 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood 28, California.
I understood that they were the main agents/imports of Microplas bodies in the USA.
I've never heard of Track Kraft before but it seems clear that they were offering Microplas Mistral bodies at around the same time.
However it doesn't really answer what the car featured was called or what it was based on.
It seems quite distinctive with that forward air-scoop but I haven't come across another photo of it so far.
Anyone knows when their book is available?
Since we have not been told what it's based on I had a Google and found a site which included the following:
TK-102 (Mistral Sports Car Body): This is an exact copy of the Mistral sports car body that was introduced by Bud Goodwin to America in 1956. Bud later went on to create a company called "Sports Car Engineering" which sold the Mistral body under the "Spyder" name. Bud then went on to create his most famous company – Fiberfab – which continues to operate on the West Coast as of today.
Good friend Erich Schultz from Altadena, California studied the TK-102 in the picture and commented the following: "Geoff...it appears to have been a Jowett Jupiter Special. The pattern of holes on the wheels match the Jowett perfectly in configuration and number, and the extremely short hood with tall hoodscoop (which is entirely forward of the front wheels) matches the design of the horizonally opposed 4 cylinder engine of the Jowett. This may help in identifying who built this car and perhaps the driver who is pictured too. I also believe that the picture is from a car raced a few years earlier than 1960 – perhaps 1956 or 1957." Thanks Erich!
Like all internet sources, it is not evidence, but whoever Schultz is/was he and I agree on the wheels and his further analysis looks sound.
Interesting find Allan - I wondered why the air-scoop was so far forward.
I'll try some digging over the weekend to see if I can find some more proof.
Quote from: woodinsight on January 07, 2011, 04:51:53 AM
Interesting find Allan - I wondered why the air-scoop was so far forward.
I'll try some digging over the weekend to see if I can find some more proof.
Perhaps barrett knows something!
I've asked another Jowett Jupiter source.
Like so many other companies, Track Kraft sold various fiberglass body kits. Some appear to be somewhat original.