Back in the good old days, many sports car folks had the idea of sticking a bigger motor in a Crosley Hot Shot to get a little more oomph out of Powell Crosley's racing roller skate.
No less a luminary than
John Fitch cut his teeth in a re-chassised Hot Shot that was promptly dubbed '
The Fitch Bitch.'
I doubt that the owner of
this particular Crosley roadster set any records, or even competed in any races in the car. Having spent way too much time underneath a Hot Shot I'm pretty certain that this motor upgrade - looks like it's out of an XK120 Jag - would fold that frame up like it was made of tinfoil before it got into third gear.
H/T to Arizona Crosley nut John McKnight who sent me a link to these photos on the very cool
Motor Life blog. We'll probably never know what happened to the car, but these photos are a fascinating glimpse into the days when Crosleys were just old cars to be fooled with. California plates mean that this was likely a rust-free car, probably only 10 or 15 years old when it was repurposed. I'd love to know what happened to that body in the garage!
Very nice!
ReplyDeleteOver by the Danville, IL airport there used to be a shed full of Crosleys, including a Hotshot with a flathead V8 (probably a 60) with a multi carb setup. This was in the '80 and early '90s, and they were obviously neglected. Wonder what happened to them?
ReplyDeleteHello! I have for sale Waukesha engine company which was mounted on the first model Crosley. The engine in working condition. If You are interested, email me compfull@ gmail.com I'll send you the photos and video.
ReplyDelete