Know the story? For 1 point, please respond below and identify what the vehicle pictured was, what it had become as pictured here, and who was responsible.
Only complete answers will earn a point
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Is it being built as a Bonneville car?
I don't think this car went to Bonneville
OK, was it a dry lakes kind of car (top speed)?
No
Black Hole-e-cow
Is it Chevrolet powered?
No sir
Is the engine from an American independent (just noticed it looks like a L-head engine, leaving out Chevrolet, sorry)?
Engine from a prominent mainstream US manufacturer
Mopar powered?
Street rod versus dedicated drag racer
This one followed an unusual path. Originally a race car, it was later converted to street use.
While one might conclude that this lady's husband built the chassis, that is not, in fact, correct.
Quote from: Otto Puzzell on August 06, 2011, 07:43:30 AM
While one might conclude that this lady's husband built the chassis, that is not, in fact, correct.
Otto,
That picture is of 1960's "singer" Mrs Miller, so are you saying that the car does mot have a Miller chassis?
Hey! What do you mean "singer"?! Just listen to that golden throat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flqb8nLez4w
Your interpretation of the clue is incorrect. It is a Miller chassis, but the velvet-voiced Mrs. Miller was not married to that Mr Miller (Harry).
It's Monday – enjoy this and the week is your friend...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOuk4mtVq24
Wow - she's the best! :D
:bump:
Quote from: Otto Puzzell on August 29, 2011, 05:33:45 AM
Your interpretation of the clue is incorrect. It is a Miller chassis, but the velvet-voiced Mrs. Miller was not married to that Mr Miller (Harry).
So, it's a Miller race car later converted for road use. Is it one of the Miller-Fords?
Quote from: D-type on September 26, 2011, 04:13:42 PM
So, it's a Miller race car later converted for road use. Is it one of the Miller-Fords?
Not one of those. Not Ford-powered
Miller-Studebaker
Not Studebaker powered.
To clarify, this car is known by the builder's name (the top half of his his head can be seen as he's working on this car in the picture) and Roadster.
It's not referred to as a Miller-anything in the reference from whence I pulled the picture.
Santa's offering two points for finishing this one off.
Today only (13 February), three points on offer for the solution.
Quote from: Otto Puzzell on September 26, 2011, 07:27:24 PM
Quote from: D-type on September 26, 2011, 04:13:42 PM
So, it's a Miller race car later converted for road use. Is it one of the Miller-Fords?
Not one of those. Not Ford-powered
I feel I must clarify: This car did race at Indy, and it does have modified Ford body. However, this Ford body was added after its racing career ended.
I suspect this car remained unfinished for about 4 years, after this picture was taken.
This looks very much like the 1934 Ford 'Fuesenberg' roadster with Duesenberg straight-8 motor built by the Ullrich brothers. I can't tell if it's a Miller chassis, but the front axle, shocks and a lotta other stuff sure looks similar.
So to answer the question, it WAS a 34 Ford Roadster on top and apparently a Miller sprint car underneath. It was in the process of becoming the Fuesenberg or Ullrich Roadster and as stated above, created by Hal and Bill Ullrich.
No connection the the Ullrich family, to my knowledge. The engine is from a less glamorous brand than Duesenberg
I don't think builder the paid a king's ransom for this engine. I do not know if it was sourced from his father's car.
Is Ak Miller involved in this?
Not that I know of, but I can't rule it out.
Quote from: Otto Puzzell on May 22, 2012, 04:21:45 AM
I don't think builder the paid a king's ransom for this engine. I do not know if it was sourced from his father's car.
;)
So it's an Oldsmobile engine?
Yes! :cheer:
Was this created in the US of A?
Quote from: Otto Puzzell on May 09, 2012, 04:11:40 AM
I suspect this car remained unfinished for about 4 years, after this picture was taken.
Was the photo takenin 1941 and the car not finished until 1945 because more important things were happening?
Possibly - I don't know
The builder of this car shares his name with a dead comedian and comedy writer, a Mohawk chief, and a former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder.
Was the builder named Hendrick?
Johnson?
Not Johnson
Brant?
No sir.
Is the shared name a surname of all those mentioned in the clue?
Quote from: RayTheRat on November 24, 2012, 02:46:39 PM
Is the shared name a surname of all those mentioned in the clue?
Yes!
Morton?
Not Morton
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Norton?
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Williams?
Not Williams
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How about Gibson?
Not Gibson
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Davis?
Yes!
Locked for D-type
Could it be a re-creation of a Miller by Chuck Davis using a Miller chassis and an Oldsmobile engine (because it is similar in overall shape to a Miller engine)?
Or have I misinterpreted what i found on the 'net?
It started as a Miller chassis. It had an Oldsmobile engine; the reason for that selection may be as you stated; my source doesn't say. And somebody named Davis (not Chuck) was the owner-builder. As it was fitted with a non Oldsmobile, non-Miller body, a little more work needs to be done to complete the solution to the original puzzle challenge, which was:
...identify what the vehicle pictured was, what it had become as pictured here, and who was responsible.
Locked for D-type to have one more go. No guesses by others, please, until I have assessed and responded here to his next reply.
I'm clean out of ideas as to where to look, so please unlock it and let others have a stab at it.
As you wish
Open to all
Quote from: Otto Puzzell on December 04, 2012, 03:45:04 AM
It started as a Miller chassis. It had an Oldsmobile engine; the reason for that selection may be as you stated; my source doesn't say. And somebody named Davis (not Chuck) was the owner-builder. As it was fitted with a non Oldsmobile, non-Miller body, a little more work needs to be done to complete the solution to the original puzzle challenge, which was:
...identify what the vehicle pictured was, what it had become as pictured here, and who was responsible.
Locked for D-type to have one more go. No guesses by others, please, until I have assessed and responded here to his next reply.
and
Quote
To clarify, this car is known by the builder's name (the top half of his his head can be seen as he's working on this car in the picture) and Roadster.
This would lead one to believe that it's called "The Davis Roadster." There was one of those in the 40s. It belonged to a guy named Jack Davis. But it went on to become the better-known Calori Roadster, flathead Ford powered in both incarnations.
However, it had a 1929 Ford Model A roadster body, which is what the puzzle photo appears to have. The only problem is that I haven't been able to find anything relating it to a Miller chassis, nor Olds straight-8 motor.
I dunno if that answers part of the puzzle or not.
No sir. This is not the Jack Davis car.
I'm not absolutely sure about this, but on the basis of "know your puzzler", I can't help feeling that there's no coincidence that the Mohawk chief in Otto's clue was Thomas Davis, the dead comedy writer was Tom Davis, and the LA Dodgers outfielder Tommy Davis.
I'm not a betting man, but I'd wager that the builder's given name will also be a variant of Thomas.
I can't find the puzzle photo, but there's a likely looking Oldsmobile-engined car built by Tom Davis before WW2, used as a street rod, and also for racing at the dry lakes in the Mojave Desert in southern California.
The caption with the first photo says "The chassis was built by Herb Farrington using two side rails from a Miller Indy car. From there it was basically a shortened '29 Ford body with a long hood to cover the straight eight engine. The grille was made from standard grille work bought from Andrew's Hardware in Los Angeles. The Olds engine had a milled head, Winfield camshaft and Pierce-Arrow ignition. The car was never a contender for top speed, but it nevertheless offered a bit of variety; at the August 24, 1941 SCTA (Southern California Timing Association) meet at Muroc, the Olds was one of five non-Ford entries out of a total of 161".
Tom_I, your sleuthing puts all others' to shame. YOu consistently take the same clues that are available to everyone, and use them to build toward the solution. That's worth two points, easy.
The caption for the puzzle photo reads:
Tom Davis's Olds powered street roadster undergoing a rebuild in '41. The chassis was originally built by Harry Miller and raced at Indy before the Model A body was narrowed and put on it. He is seen working on the dash.
Here's another (equally fuzzy) pic of the car:
:applause: :applause:
Outstanding work, Tom. Ya done good!