The Unicorn Must Be Out There Somewhere

The "Unicorn," a Crosley-powered HMOD that was built in 1952 sold on Bring-a-Trailer back in 2008. From the description it was an interesting car -- with a history of running in the inaugural races at Laguna Seca and at Pebble Beach. 

In 2008 it was described as a basket case. It would be interesting to know where it is today. It's been described on several sites:

Crosleykook Blogspot

Vintage Race Car

Sports Racer Net

Stefan Vapaa Takes Home the Puckett Cup

 After a brief (eight year) hiatus, the Puckett Cup was awarded in 2021. 

A standing-room-only audience (yes...a couple of people were standing) watched as Stefan Vapaa took the honors and went home with the cup. The decision to award the cup to Stefan was unanimous. He clearly satisfied all the qualities that make for a Puckett Cup recipient; "on-track performance, presentation, and attitude/interest in H-Mod racing."

The Puckett Cup was awarded at the prestigious Mossbacks Bar & Grill in Put-in-Bay, Ohio on a damp evening prior to the running of the Put-in-Bay Sports Car Races. (The races were originally scheduled for September 22-23, 2021 -- but were pushed back to the 23rd and 24th because of the rain.)

Four HMODs were registered for the races at Put-in-Bay, but Kurt Marquardt was unable to compete when his Saab-powered Jabro MkIII suffered a rear-end lockup during tours of the original road course. While Stefan's Saab-powered Quantum Two seemed a shoe-in to take away HMOD honors, an electrical gremlin took his car out of the running -- allowing the two remaining entries (both Crosley-powered) to take the first (Kevin Clemens' Jabro MkI) and second (Richard Campbell's Voigt Special) positions.

Stefan Vapaa (Quantum Two)

Kevin Clemens (Jabro MkI)

Richard Campbell (Voigt Crosley HM Special)

Kurt Marquardt (Jabro MkIII)

(Photos by Bill Stoler)

A Pair of Crosley-Powered HMODs at Put-in-Bay

 Despite the rain (lots and lots of rain), the 2021 Put-in-Bay Road Race Reunion was a big success. The events, from the car show and tour of the original road course on Tuesday, to the races on Thursday and Friday, were well attended. And the organizers did a great job of setting things up -- then changing them on the fly when the weather was less than cooperative.

Five HMODs attended the events -- four to race, and a fifth to show. 

More descriptions and photos will be in later posts -- but the video above shows a couple of the Crosley-powered HMODs on the airport course on Thursday. The first car is a Jabro MkI, and the second is the Voigt/Crosley Special.

Voigt Crosley LRC Returns to Ohio

 

Four small-bore racers are expected to be stand-outs at this year’s Put-in-Bay Sports Car Races. They are H-Modifieds, meeting the SCCA specifications for this class (500-750cc engines, two seats, room for a spare wheel, and a door). H-Mods were a popular racing class in the 50s and 60s, often drawing 12-15 cars to events. (Put-in-Bay hosted an all-HMOD race in 1956, and in later years the event typically drew 8-12 HMODs.) Many of the entries, like the car pictured above, were designed and built by individual enthusiasts who saw the H-Mod class as their way into racing.
 
The Voigt Crosley LRC was built in the late 50s/early 60s by Eugene Voigt of Defiance Ohio. While its design incorporates many of the elements of the Jabros described in earlier postings, it is a true "one-off" race car. The car's engine, drivetrain, and suspension are all Crosley – but the frame is built-up tubing, and the body is a combination of fiberglass and aluminum. Gene spent a couple of years working on the car – with a break when he briefly moved from Ohio to Florida, then back again. It's unclear whether the car was ever raced, but the photo below (taken by Rick Yocum) shows Jim Ehlinger piloting the car in a gymkhana (we call them autocrosses now) in the mid 60s. It was probably an event sponsored by the Fort Defiance Sports Car Club. 

The car was sold in the early 1970s and dropped out of sight. Somewhere along the way it was acquired by Ray Heppenstall, an accomplished race car driver and designer. It changed hands a few more times, until it was restored for vintage racing and made its track debut in 2012. The Voigt Crosley LRC has since raced at Lime Rock Park, the Hershey Hillclimb, and Thompson Speedway. Put-in-Bay will be the car's first opportunity to race in its home state of Ohio...a long time since Gene Voigt first sat in the car in his backyard in Defiance.

Oh...as for the LRC. That stands for "Little Red Car."

Quantum Two: The Second Battle of Lake Erie

Some cars have to be seen, and others lead to auditory sensory overload. For those of you who speak “Boston,” this two-stroke, Saab-powered, H-Mod is wicked loud! And it’s wicked fast!

 
Over 150 cars are expected at this year's Put-in-Bay Sports Car Races. Everything from Jaguars to a Berkeley. To make your life simpler, we'll be sharing information on some cars that you won't want to miss. Why are they not to be missed you ask...? Because they are some of the smallest among the small-bore racers. The HMODs.

Not surprisingly, there was a Quantum One before the Quantum Two. Both (and the three cars that followed the Quantum Two) were designed by Walter Kern, an engineer who trained as a nuclear physicist at MIT. Kern took high science into the design of his race cars – working in his spare time with Al Conrod of Itek Corporation and Jack Soumala of the MIT Instruments Lab on an IBM computer to design a chassis with neutral steering. Designed as a pure racer, the Quantum Two wears only the most basic aluminum bodywork, and is powered by a water-cooled, three-cylinder Saab two-stroke engine. (Yes…that’s what you hear.) The Saab components came from Bob Wehman (who was General Manager of Service and Spare Parts for Saab Motors, Inc.) and Ralph Millet who was President of Saab Motors. Russell Blank of Eugene Engineering Corp. built the chassis. The suspension was believed to be a standard Saab setup.

Crosley-powered Jabro Mk. I

Over 150 cars are expected at this year's Put-in-Bay Sports Car Races. Everything from Jaguars to a Berkeley. To make your life simpler, we'll be sharing information on some cars that you won't want to miss. Why are they not to be missed you ask...? Because they are some of the smallest among the small-bore racers. The HMODs. And yes...that Berkeley too.

Jabros (like the Mk.I pictured above) were the brainchild of James Broadwell. Taking advantage of the success of the H-Modified class, and recognizing a need in the market, Broadwell turned an interest in cars and racing into a cottage industry. He designed and built a small racer -- using Crosley running gear -- and named it the Jabro (JAmes BROadwell) Junior. From this first creation he went on to design the Jabro Mk.I and Mk.II in 1957. The more streamlined Jabro Mk.III and IV were developed and marketed later -- often being described as looking like mini Maserati Birdcages. Broadwell offered complete cars, bodies, frames, components, or simply plans to prospective racers. While it's not known how many Jabros were built, enough still exist to warrant the creation of a Jabro Owner's Registry.

The Best Things Come in Small Packages

 Among the approximately 150 cars expected at this year’s Put-in-Bay Sports Car Races are five mini-racers. Four are H-Modifieds, meeting the SCCA specifications for this class (500-750cc engines, two seats, room for a spare wheel, and a door), and the fifth is a Berkeley, a car whose 492cc engine would allow it to run as an I-Modified, an even smaller racing class.

 
The car featured is a Jabro Mk III. James Broadwell built several versions of Jabros in St. Louis, MO. Customers could choose anything from plans to a finished car. The versions, Mk I, Mk II, and Mk III were popular among H-Mod racers, but it’s unclear just how many cars were built. The Mk III (pictured above) is often described as a “mini Birdcage Maserati,” with a lightweight mini-tube space frame with a fiberglass body. Cars were built with a variety of engines, from Crosley to Saab. The green and white #99 car that will be at Put-in-Bay is powered by a 2-stroke, 3-cylinder Saab engine – and has the sound and speed to prove it.