Post by 1961redlegs on Dec 30, 2016 14:32:41 GMT -5
I completed today my replica of George Robson's 1946 Indianapolis 500 winner.
With the close of the Second World War the U.S. government lifted its ban on auto racing. Between 1942-1945, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway sat and decayed as track owner Eddie Rickenbacker focused his attention on the war effort and his other entities.
Towards the end of 1944, three-time winner Wilbur Shaw, who worked for Firestone at that point, conducted a tire test at the track and was dismayed at what he saw. Hearing later that Rickenbacker looked to sell the track, possibly to interests who'd turn the property into a housing development, he sought out someone, anyone who'd partner with him to buy the Speedway.
After an exhaustive search he found Tony Hulman, a Terre Haute businessman who had fond memories of going to the early 500s. He agreed to buy the track and in late 1945 Hulman took ownership of IMS, with Wilbur Shaw as the track's president.
The first task was to get the track in condition to run a race in May, 1946. In a flurry of work, a refurbished track greeted entrants and spectators in May.
The cars that contended for the 500 that year also had the same troubles in getting ready as the Speedway. These cars were almost all of prewar provenance and had sat quietly waiting the conclusion of hostilities and needed work to get in condition for competition. However, on race day, a full field took the green flag.
George Robson started 15th in one of Joel Thorne's six cylinder Sparks (built in 1938) and took the lead on lap 93. He held the lead the remainder of the afternoon, winning by 34 seconds over second place Jimmy Jackson.
Robson was born in England but moved to Canada and later Southern California, where he began racing. His win in the 1946 race proved to be his only win in a major race and unfortunately he wouldn't survive the year as he died in a crash at Atlanta's Lakewood Speedway.
The car is the recently released kit by Gary Doucette and it went together pretty well. The errors almost entirely being of the user variety. I wish I did the exhaust a little better, but otherwise I love how it turned out! The decals are a mixture of Michael's and kit decals (I dorked up the kit numbers). It's painted Tamiya TS-15 blue per what Gary stated was his belief on the car's color. All in all a fun build!
With the close of the Second World War the U.S. government lifted its ban on auto racing. Between 1942-1945, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway sat and decayed as track owner Eddie Rickenbacker focused his attention on the war effort and his other entities.
Towards the end of 1944, three-time winner Wilbur Shaw, who worked for Firestone at that point, conducted a tire test at the track and was dismayed at what he saw. Hearing later that Rickenbacker looked to sell the track, possibly to interests who'd turn the property into a housing development, he sought out someone, anyone who'd partner with him to buy the Speedway.
After an exhaustive search he found Tony Hulman, a Terre Haute businessman who had fond memories of going to the early 500s. He agreed to buy the track and in late 1945 Hulman took ownership of IMS, with Wilbur Shaw as the track's president.
The first task was to get the track in condition to run a race in May, 1946. In a flurry of work, a refurbished track greeted entrants and spectators in May.
The cars that contended for the 500 that year also had the same troubles in getting ready as the Speedway. These cars were almost all of prewar provenance and had sat quietly waiting the conclusion of hostilities and needed work to get in condition for competition. However, on race day, a full field took the green flag.
George Robson started 15th in one of Joel Thorne's six cylinder Sparks (built in 1938) and took the lead on lap 93. He held the lead the remainder of the afternoon, winning by 34 seconds over second place Jimmy Jackson.
Robson was born in England but moved to Canada and later Southern California, where he began racing. His win in the 1946 race proved to be his only win in a major race and unfortunately he wouldn't survive the year as he died in a crash at Atlanta's Lakewood Speedway.
The car is the recently released kit by Gary Doucette and it went together pretty well. The errors almost entirely being of the user variety. I wish I did the exhaust a little better, but otherwise I love how it turned out! The decals are a mixture of Michael's and kit decals (I dorked up the kit numbers). It's painted Tamiya TS-15 blue per what Gary stated was his belief on the car's color. All in all a fun build!
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