Solved -PJ651- Ford Sprint Car for sale by Chaseside in 1954

[nicanary]

Is this car a homebuilt called the "XXX Special" or something similar? I still think that's a Peel glassfibre body which someone has fitted to a Ford 1172 s/v base.

[Paul Jaray]

It is quite particular.
Not based on a 1172.
Not called Special.
Some interesting features there

[richard cuyler]

This is a real puzzler - I think it may have Anglia 105E components, judging by the wheels. If this is so, I'll have a better chance of finding out what it is.

[Paul Jaray]

This is a real puzzler - I think it may have Anglia 105E components, judging by the wheels. If this is so, I'll have a better chance of finding out what it is.

About the engine: bore 2.6 stroke 3.64 

[nicanary]

My head hurts. I haven't done calculations like that since I left school in 1969. My sums say it's a Zephyr engine.

No it's not - my second working says it's 25.03ci per cylinder. That's 410cc per cylinder.

So it's around 1600cc if it's a 4-cylinder motor, or 2440cc if it's a 6-cylinder, so my Zephyr guess could be right.

NURSE!!!!!

[Paul Jaray]

I don't know...I only know bore & stroke 

[Wendax]

It's rather (2.6/2) * (2.6/2) * 3.64 * Pi = 19,32 Cu.in per cylinder (or 316.7 cc per cylinder). In case it is a four-cylinder engine, we would have 1267 cc displacement, or a little less regarding how many digits you take for Pi.

The displacement would fit a Standard Ten, but that was a long-stroke engine (100 mm = 39.3 in).
Then there is the Hillman Minx engine: 1265 cc, 2.56 × 3.74 in, which would come closer.

[nicanary]

It's rather (2.6/2) * (2.6/2) * 3.64 * Pi = 19,32 Cu.in per cylinder (or 316.7 cc per cylinder). In case it is a four-cylinder engine, we would have 1267 cc displacement, or a little less regarding how many digits you take for Pi.

The displacement would fit a Standard Ten, but that was a long-stroke engine (100 mm = 39.3 in).
Then there is the Hillman Minx engine: 1265 cc, 2.56 × 3.74 in, which would come closer.

We had to hand back our slide-rules when we left school. 

[Paul Jaray]

I tried all the options (4,6 & 8 ) but couldn' find the matching unit.
I know they already modified a Ford V8 in the 30s.

[nicanary]

Batten ?

[Paul Jaray]

Not Batten or a race car.

[richard cuyler]

The 105E engine was a brilliant little thing. Bore 80.96mm (3 3/16"), stroke 48.41mm (1 29/32"). No wonder it could rev so high when modified. If it was much modified, the centre main cast iron bearing cap could fail and those who knew this would fit a steel unit to prevent expensive problems.

[Paul Jaray]

I don't know if this may help but this car is mid-engined!

[nicanary]

I don't know if this may help but this car is mid-engined!

QUE!!!??

Now that I've calmed down - it's Ford mid-engined and built by a company with connections to Ford who had pre-war modified a Ford V8.

Was the builder a well-known franchised Ford dealer, like the Harrisons?

[Paul Jaray]

I don't know if this may help but this car is mid-engined!

QUE!!!??

Now that I've calmed down - it's Ford mid-engined and built by a company with connections to Ford who had pre-war modified a Ford V8.

Was the builder a well-known franchised Ford dealer, like the Harrisons?

so far so good...
(I don't know if it is well known...)

[nicanary]

I know you probably won't know the answer, but my mind has me thinking strange ideas. It would have been very odd for a garage to think in terms of a mid-engined car at that time (for road use) - I wonder if they got the idea from the WW2 Bren Gun Carrier? Indeed I wonder if some of the components come from one of those.

[Paul Jaray]

I am not sure if they actually build the car or just proposed it for sale.
They worked on at least 2 Ford V8s and in both cases they were aerodinamically shaped: streamlined body, vertical fin, covered wheels and rounded fenders (not all those elements in both cars, of course).

[Wendax]

W.J. Reynolds?

[Paul Jaray]

Not Reynolds.

[nicanary]

Bristol Street Motors?

[Paul Jaray]

Not them.

[D-type]

An Allard connection?

[Paul Jaray]

Not that I'm aware of.

[Paul Jaray]

How many Ford dealers were there? It can be solved.

[nicanary]

How many Ford dealers were there? It can be solved.

I'll be in my coffin by the time I've gone through them all!