Many of the first "official" post-war SCCA events were held at Thompson Speedway. As early as July 1945 SCCA members came together at Thompson with cars as varied as a Type 51 Grand Prix Bugatti, a Mercer Raceabout Series 4, a Hudson Complex, and a Bugatti T57 Atalante coupe. The field was rounded out with some unlikely race cars, including a Rolls-Royce Phantom 1 Ascot Phaeton, a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, an Austin Seven, and a Cord sedan. Not surprisingly, George Weaver's Type 51 Bugatti was the fastest car at the meet.
George Weaver's 1931 Type 51 Bugatti at Thompson, 1949
(Photo from Sandy Leith)
Three more SCCA events took place at Thompson in 1947 and 1948 -- with an odd collection of race cars and sports cars, competing in timed events, match races, and pursuit races. The entries skewed toward large-bore, prewar cars, coupled with a growing number of MG TCs.
In October 1948, George Weaver dusted off a prewar ARCA race car that he purchased in 1947 from its original driver/mechanic, Lemuel Ladd. (Weaver had assisted Ladd in the car's construction in 1935.) Originally known as the Reuter Special -- then the Ladd Special -- the car came to be known as the "Old Gray Mare" under Weaver's ownership. Despite its inauspicious beginnings in the mid-1930s as an American car built from junkyard parts, the OGM proved unbeatable in the SCCA's Thompson events. The OGM finished first in pretty much every 1/2 or 1/4 mile sprint race held at Thompson in 1948 and 1949.
Old Gray Mare at Thompson, 1948
From left: Hal Stetson, unidentified onlooker with a hat and cigar,
John Lothrop, Bill Leith, Betty Bradford
From left: Hal Stetson, unidentified onlooker with a hat and cigar,
John Lothrop, Bill Leith, Betty Bradford
(Photo from Sandy Leith)
The SCCA guys were no dummies, and they quickly realized that there needed to be some competition to keep entries and interest alive -- so in June 1949 they returned to the prewar ARCA practice of running separate classes for cars with different displacement, to make sure the Old Gray Mare didn't win everything. (For perspective, the Old Gray Mare won races with George Weaver driving, with Hal Stetson at the wheel, with Bill Leith driving, with Joseph Bradford in the driver's seat -- and even taking the first "ladies' race" with Betty Bradford at the wheel.)
So...the new class was for cars under 1500cc, creating a place for all those MGs. The MGs ruled the smaller classes to the end of the 40s, but it wasn't long before even smaller cars came out to play. In April 1951, Abbot Lahti of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire built a sports/race car called the Croslahti out of a 1947 Crosley sedan with a modified Crosley engine. He started with a COBRA engine, but wisely switched to a CIBA engine for his Croslahti B. Its claim to fame was an unofficial under-30 second run of the half-mile at Thompson -- besting runs made by "Cad-Allards and many other sports jobs with many times the displacement." (Sports Cars In Competition, 1952)
Abbot Lahti in his "Croslahti B Special."
(Sports Cars In Competition)
In July 1951 Hal Stetson, one of the many drivers of the Old Gray Mare, brought his Crosley Special to Thompson, winning the 1/4 mile and race in Class 7. By April of 1952 there were five Crosley-powered entries in Class 7 (three specials, and two production cars). Later that year the Crosleys (along with Siata 300BC 750 Spyders) were running in Class 8.
Hal Stetson in his Crosley, the "PBS Special."
(Photo taken at Mt. Equinox)
(Photo taken at Mt. Equinox)
In 1953 the SCCA recognized the HM class, and the flood gates opened. Crosley specials, Bandinis, Giaurs, Siatas, and the occasional Nardi all started running in HM.
Who do we have to blame for all the resulting H-Modified madness (leading up to DS/R)?
...the Old Gray Mare.
