Quiz Archive

upd. : What is it? # 111 (or doing 100 mph in a 1915 'walking beam' Duesy )

by restorer David Greenlees: "To give you a feel for what this car is like we will give you a trip around the Indianapolis Speedway but first we must start it. The hand pump on to dash is used to pump up two pounds of pressure in the gas tank. The Miller barrel valve updraft carburetor with seven jets has no choke so we must stuff a rag up the velocity stack. Then we give the crank about five smart pulls to choke it. Rag out we go back and adjust to controls for spark, throttle and turn on the Bosch switch. Back out front one quick pull of the crank and it comes to life with a roar and pulse I can best describe as two big twin H-D motorcycles with straight pipes running at a fast idle. While it is warming up we put on our helmets and goggles and slide in. It is a very tight fit for the driver and riding mechanic who must be careful of the hot exhaust pipe. Into gear and we are off and enter onto to unbelievably large 2.5 mile track and down the 5/8's mile front straight. The car is geared very high ( Has three sets of rear end gears 2.2 to 2.6-1 for different tracks) yet pulls very strongly through the gears letting you feel each cylinders firing pulse. The track, pits, grand stands and people are an incredibly colorful site as we get up to about eighty entering the first turn.... proceed at --->'Read More' (includes technical background and a second driver's report of a second Walking Beam driver: Bob Cole ! ) "....through the first turn and we open it up down the back straight to about one hundred. The exhaust note changes to an angry note (sounds like a large low rpm piston driven fighter aircraft) the sixteen rocker arms sound like a hundred typewriters a once and the wind is tearing at your face. The car handles beautifully with very precise steering and almost seems to naturally dive into the corners. It is hot and cramped in the cockpit which really makes you admire the drivers and mechanics who did this for 500 punishing miles on the oily slippery bricks. Five short laps and it is all over leaving you with the incredible feeling that you won the race."

"What we have here is one of a rare breed, a pre WW1 thoroughbred American racing car. Its whole history is known along with photos and race results. It is a 1915 Duesenberg track racer with a 16 valve 4 cyl. walking beam engine. It is one of the first six cars, all racers that the Duesenberg brothers built. Up until the model A Duesenberg of 1922 they built strictly racing cars, marine engines and a few aircraft engines. They went on to win the Indy 500 several times and the French Grand Prix. One of their four cyl. cars did manage to finish second to a Peugeot at Indy in 1916. It has a very unique and ingenious engine, being a redesign of the earlier successful eight valve engine for more speed and power. It is a 298 C.I. four with a 3.75" bore and a 6.75" stroke, the massive forged crankshaft is mounted in a barrel crankcase with two large ball bearings for support. It has two camshafts in the top of the crankcase which actuate eight horizontal valves on each side of the top of the cylinder block via 18" long rocker arms (walking beams). It has two plugs per cyl. and the exhaust exits out of the top of the engine. The oiling system is full pressure backed up by a pump in bottom which sends the excess oil back to the eight gallon oil tank in the tail behind the seats. It also has beautifully machined tubular connecting rods. All this is backed up with a very designed chassis which handles very well. The car is owned by Joseph Freeman of Boston a vintage racing car enthusiast, racer, and author. Joe really likes the car and has entered it in events on ovals, road courses and hill climbs. I have had the privilege of giving it a extensive mechanical rebuild and keeping it prepped for racing here at the shop for the last ten years. I have also had the pleasure of driving it at Indy in a pre 500 vintage event and testing it on the beautiful back roads of Vermont." Thanks a lot David !!!

Several close winners mentioned the Kline Kar. Between them Bob Cole who restored and drove the car. Bob reports after we asked him: "Yes, I am driving in those pictures taken at Laguna Seca. You asked how it was to drive this bolide. Well, after figuring out how to make it run up the hill, (the updraft carburetor--Miller, I believe-- did not like sudden full throttle, you had to "ease it on,"), we finished third overall of 27 cars! During the race the gear shift lever knob broke off in my hand and I had to shift the actual lever itself but, the most memorable of all those wonderful experiences that day was experiencing the brakes--two wheel only--at somewhere around 90-100 mph, with all four corners 'speaking to you' applying the "brakes" I swear only made the car go faster and that great long emergency brake handle became very valuable indeed. After, we were awarded the weekend's best pre-war restoration at the Monterey Historics and were invited to the next day's Pebble Beach Concours where we won the coveted Pebble Beach Cup. Phil Reilly's group did the mechanicals and Stu Laidlaw the cosmetic restorations. All in all quite a restoration job by these magicians!! Bob Cole, Woodside, California

YES, a few truckloads of experiences before we finally arrive at # 111 winner Evan Ide, curator of the(Larz Anderson Museum)! Between 5 other competitors that came up with Walking Beam Duesenberg, he was the only one claiming the right year: 1915. Congratulations, Evan !

Tuesday, 18 May 2004