Christie's special: the world's wackiest racer?

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With its exposed cylinders the size of milk churns, the 20-litre V4 of J. Walter Christie’s racing special certainly was not your everyday pre-war car. This racer deserve the "mad" moniker like few others.

The massive engine is the first thing one notices about Christie’s racer, but it’s also the way it drove the vehicle that made it stand out like nothing else. Mounted transversely between the front wheels, the engine was not just for propelling the thing. Its impressive nickel steel crankcase served as an integral part of the chassis, playing the part of a front axle ánd giving the front an excellent degree of rigidity, too.

It utilised a single camshaft to operate the big exhaust valves, with intake managed by eight valves, if we understand correctly. The radiator in front of the driver sees the steering column pass through it, with the carburetter in between the engine and radiator. The V4 produced an estimated 100 to 130 horsepower, but think about the torque! It was said to run at 120 m.p.h. at 1,200 r.p.m. Incidentally, the front wheel drive set-up did not leave any room for brakes at the front…

There’s no doubt it must have been a challenging drive. Entered in the 1907 French Grand Prix near Dieppe, the car made some fast laps at almost 60 m.p.h. but retired soon after completing only four laps due to overheating and clutch issues. Nonetheless, it marked a significant milestone as the first American-built car to compete in a French Grand Prix event. Back in the U.S., it ran more successfully in New York, Boston, Massachusetts and Minnesota but on a track near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, things went wrong when it crashed into another car.

It was repaired but, oddly, Christie’s co-driver Lewis Strang took the car for some unauthorised runs, while the man himself was in hospital. Strang even sold it! It was seen in action for another year or two, but by that time, J. Walter Christie’s Christie Direct Action Motor Car Company had fallen into receivership, although Christie himself had already established a new motor company. He would later design and develop some noteworthy vehicles, among them a New York taxicab with front-wheel drive, fire engines with front-wheel drive, too, plus armoured cars and amphibious tanks. The V4 Special and its development cars are all believed not to survive.

Words: Jeroen Booij
Pictures: Old Machine Press

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