Re: Snapey's 1935 Racing Biposto

Posted by Matt snape On 2011/2/22 6:07:35

Thank you Mal - you saved me from typing that again. Work is progressing with the Willys head, and given that we have developed what we believe to be about as good an upper chamber / head relief shape that we can, we are now looking at applying this to the Packard head. By machining the heads from solid billet aluminium alloy in 2 pieces we can create very high quality heads to very tight tolerances without the ever present issues that always seem to arise with castings - especially in small batches. We will also be able to adapt the design to the senior engines if there is some interest. Of course these heads may not be suitable for concourse cars as they will not appear exactly the same as the original and will feature cooling fins in the top surface of the head and other modifications.

Also tonight I received my new copy of "Fuerza Libre 1919-1942" by Guillermo Sanchez, a book on the cars and history of motor racing in Argentina during this period under similar rules to the European Formula Libre (which in the US was called the 'Junk Formula'). This formula was widely adopted in Argentina during this period and extremely popular with both designers and spectators with longer distance, multi stage road races seeming to be the preference. Argentina was a very sussessful and affluent country during this period and this was reflected in their racing. Much of their technical skills and knowhow came from Italian engineers and designers that emigrated to Argentina, but the machinery that was available for them to play with came from all over the world, including the USA. There are a number of pages in the book devoted to American marques - from Crysler to Duessenburg - including 3 or 4 Twin6 / V12 Packard based specials. An excellent book (written in both Spanish and English) for anyone interested in motor racing during this period and even though I have only just started reading I already highly recommend it.

Also after emailing the author, Guillermo, I have almost settled on a monicker for the biposto special. Cars of this type raced in Argentina up until the late 1930s were referred to locally 'baquets'. The road race in which these cars may have competed might also be known as 'carrera rutera' - a term which I also find very appealing. So for now I will be referring to the bipostos body style as baquet, despite the fact that this word had different meanings in different parts of the world.

Anyway, I have a book to read so I will rejoin you all again in the near future when we have a closer look at the possibly 'baquet bound' 282 engine now residing in the shed.