TIFOSITEASER # 69<SOLVED> NORMAN TIMBS BUICK SPECIAL/BLUE CROWN/HALIBRAND SHRIKE

[Tifosi]

This car was built by a famous race car designer.  Name the car, the designer and the name of the race winning car he designed and I'll give a point for each.

[Paul Jaray]

Hi, that is an home made streamliner made by Norman E,. Timbs around a Buick engine.
"Home Made Streamliner
HERE'S a little workbench project you can try out some evening. But remember, the job (pictured above) took mechanical engineer Norman E. Timbs 2-1/2 years of sparetime work and cost him around $10,000.

The chassis is of tubular construction and the car itself is 17-1/2 feet long with a 117-inch wheelbase. It weighs 2300 pounds. The hydraulically raised rear deck (1) covers a Buick engine (just behind the driver's seat), gas tank (between the wheels) and a spare tire and wheel. And the front hood (2) covers a luggage compartment.

Some pedestrians think the auto looks like a whale; others think it resembles a turtle. But, whale or turtle, all agree they'd like to own the "critter" themselves."
Modern Mechanics

[Tifosi]

Good job on naming the car and the designer/builder.  Now, can anyone name the famous race car he designed?  It was a groundbreaker, at least in the U.S....



Dan

[Allan L]

I found this:

Some of his more notable INDY designs include the late 40s Blue Crown Specials, a mid 50s INDY streamliner for Bill Vukovich and the mid 60s Halibrand Shrike rear engine cars

I know little about Indy cars but is one of those "groundbreaking"?

[Paul Jaray]

<<< link removed >>>

[Allan L]

Yes, that's where I found it: I though it kinder to copy/paste than to expect someone to hunt down the 73 pages of photos of this streamliner ;D

[Tifosi]

I found this:

Some of his more notable INDY designs include the late 40s Blue Crown Specials, a mid 50s INDY streamliner for Bill Vukovich and the mid 60s Halibrand Shrike rear engine cars

I know little about Indy cars but is one of those "groundbreaking"?

It's close enough.  The Blue Crown cars were forerunners to the monocoque chassis that prevailed in the '60's.  Timbs was an aircraft engineer, and based the cars in part on aircraft construction fundamentals.  They still had tube frames, but the bodies were very light.  They could run longer on less fuel, and tire wear was minimal.   They were the class of the field at Indy from 1947-49.

The Halibrand Shrike was a true monocoque, and only weighed 1100 pounds in 1964, even with 450 pounds of Ford engine behind it.  The Shrike is unfortunately best known as the car that Eddie Sachs was killed in at Indy in 1964, along with Dave MacDonald.  The car actually held up pretty well, all things considered; only the radiator area in the nose of the car was severely damaged.  The culprit was the  last minute addition of a fuel tank in the nose of the car, over Sachs's legs.  When he T-boned MacDonald, the top of the tank was dislodged, gasoline spilled out, and that was that...Sachs evidently broke his leg upon impacting MacDonald, probably from the radiator collapsing onto it. 

The Shrike never really got the chance to prove what it could do, Lloyd Ruby won at Phoenix in one in 1964, but that was the pinnacle of success for the car.  USAC figured that if the car were heavier, Sachs might not have been killed at Indy, so weight limits went up 100 pounds in both '65 and '66.  By 1966, minimum weight for an Indy car was 1350 pounds.

If I can find it in my files after switching to Windows Vista Home Edition and having to reorganize my pictures, I have an image of the Shrike with Sachs at speed that shows just how tiny the car was.  I'll hunt for it and post it.


Dan

[Tifosi]

Here's the image...

[Otto Puzzell]

Halibrand Shrike, eh? Where have I seen that car before...? ;)

[Ray B.]

Thanks, Tifosi. Great car! Just the kind I love to find on this forum.

[Tifosi]

Thanks, Tifosi. Great car! Just the kind I love to find on this forum.

You're welcome!  Happy to oblige. :)



Dan

[Wendax]

Reportedly the car was destroyed in the current Malibu fires.