Photos of engines?

[smittythewelder]

I've greatly enjoyed looking at the extraordinary collection of old photos here from Mr. Baldwin and many others. The shots which seem to get the most response are the candid snapshots of racers and families in the pits, and it's fun to see how young everybody looked then. But in a sport that is not just about people, but specifically about people who are fascinated not only by racing but by machinery, by racing equipment, there aren't all that many close-up shots of that equipment.

Would it appeal to anyone else if there were to be some sort of engine history photographic series, with clear, close-up shots of all of the various racing engines that have come and gone over the decades? Augmenting the photographs could be scans of manufacturers' brochures, when available. And not only production engines, but any photos of custom and one-off projects would be good, too. Some of this can be found if you hunt for it; Charlie Williams found a nice set of Merc 2, 4, and 6-cylinder stock and alky shots for his website, and by searching you can find such oddities as the Italian Soriano engines. But how about gathering shots of as many motors as can be found, in one place, as an historic reference collection? I have a couple of things I can contribute, and surely the membership has no end of goodies.

Maybe a similar stand-alone series of good close-ups of boats would be good, too. A couple of weeks ago I posted a thread asking if anyone had a photo of a DeSilva hydro, and in a few days we had a couple of lovely color photos. Now suppose someone wanted to see what a "bulldog Sid" or a Jones cabover or a Goff or a Swift Big D or a Charleton or a Neal or Jacoby looked like; he could use those terms in a search that specified a sub-forum specifically for "Historic Outboard Raceboats," and get right to what he wanted.

Does this make any sense? Is there a way to organize the submissions (without putting anyone to a lot of work), or should photos just be in the random order of when they're submitted?

[Steve Litzell]

It is a Noble effort Smitty. Problem is Racers are racers. They do not in most cases take pictures as they are "At Work" At the races. As Wayne has said, some of his pictures were taken because of some failure of equipment or injuries that allowed a man of Wayne's abilities to take good pictures of what you seek. I too am very guilty of not taking pictures at races because I go to a race to race, not take pictures. That is why pictures of motors and such are rare. In my mind, I can see every motor I was involved in on making as well as the ones I have made myself. Case in point. This is a question, Can you tell us what motor and who made it with pictures that won more APBA Nationals in a row and over all since 1938? This motor also set all the records in the book with exception of 1 2/3 and kilo. Wayne's candid pictures of " The Gang" show only a little of what was behind the seen's. I have only recently taken pictures of some of the stuff I have done and do from homebuilt race motors to restorations I do for customers. Those of us that do this are not so much into the being reconized as much as we are interested in " The next idea". I'm sure there will be some to give to you pictures of their work. Any pictures or know of the where about's of any of the Blankenstein Home builts? 125 thru 250? I have one, but there where many from the early 70's. How about the many that Bruce Nicolson has made. I know of most from about 1982 and on, but some of the first were from about 76 or so. Harrison also made home builts. And the small fry's like Eldredege, Schmidt. Kugler, Latta, Anderson, Holmum, and many many more. Like I said a Noble quest. Steve

[racingfan1]

Ok Smitty , I can kick off your campaign and since Steve responded I will post a couple pictures of his creation .

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I've got a million of them Smitty, and by the way, you know me by now. I'm not Mr. Baldwin...I'm Wayne. I've got other photos I have to scan and print for the next couple of weeks, but I like your idea. There was a thread several years ago you might check out about the most unusual motor. Go to search and type in something about most unusual or most unique motor or my favorite motor, or something like that and you will see a bunch of different motors.

[Mike Schmidt]

Wayne: When your searching for motor photo's, please look extra hard for the following ones:

Bob Rhodes ZAK Konig 500/700

Bill Fales 6 Looper

Jerry Waldman any looper

Jim Hallum Anzani

Rossi's early 250 motor form Lakeland in 1993 (Boat #66 )

Michael

[Powerabout]

whats is that, a rotary valve Merc?