One of the great treats of this modelling business is that you can build models of cars that almost nobody ever knew existed. Car racing got started on dirt fairground tracks and Maine was no exception. Hundreds and hundreds of cars were built, in the late 1940's and 1950's that never achieved any sort of fame at all. All of these were junkers of one sort or another that did not cost any money to build and race. These were supported heavily by citizens from the various driver's families and towns. Most have passed into obscurity leaving little to no traces.
However pictures of more than a few of them survive, some not labeled as to builder/driver yet others belonging to guys who later became quite well known. I am intrigued with these old cars enough to try and build models of a few of them, guessing at some colors and features. The few cars I am familiar with in Maine had hundreds, probably thousands, of copies of others just like them, built and raced across the country. This picture crossed my path last year some time. The place is Unity Raceway, Unity, ME, around 1954, my best guess.
This is a 34 Ford 5W coupe with what appears to be an 85 hp Ford Flathead motor, that looks as stock as you can get, even right down to the oil bath air cleaner that they came from Ford with. The driver's name is Bill Carleton, from Bangor, ME. He started racing when Unity opened in 1948. This is not his first car and is far from his last. He was driving late models into the 1970's. We competed with him at Speedway 95 in Bangor, and our track in Ellsworth, ME, in the late 60's. He drove a beautiful 56 Ford, that I loved way too much for a Chevy guy, but always admired the man and his skills.
bc1 by
Nathan Pitts, on Flickr
Just so happens I landed an AMT 34 5W from Fred a couple months back with this car in mind. Let's see what I can do with it. Imagination is already running on it.
MB