Thursday, June 12, 2008

HOT ROD Crosley (with a 295 cu. in. Mercury engine)


At Bonneville you sometimes have to squint to figure out what kind of car was used to make some of the Salt Speedsters. And based on this Crosley Sedan that ran in the 1952 Bonneville Nationals, this has been the case for a number of years.

This sleek Crosley (imagine that..."sleek" and "Crosley" in the same sentence), featured on the cover of the January 1953 issue of HOT ROD Magazine was built by Dick Hubbard and Al Palamides of Oakland, California. The nose and belly pan were hand-formed aluminum, while the body came from a Crosley sedan -- chopped and lowered three inches.

The team went to Bonneville with three engines -- one Ford and two Mercs. The 217 cu. in. Ford took them to a record average of 131.96 in the "B" Competition Sedan Class, while one of the Mercs took second place in the "C" Class with an average speed of 149.93.

Look for more about fast Crosleys in an upcoming posting.

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