Investigating family racing history

I am trying to piece together the pieces of a puzzle. In the early 60's, my dad had a race car. Then love, marriage and a little one - me! - entered the picture and the race car was history. The main piece of my puzzle is a half dozen or so trophys from 1960 to 1963. (I was born in Dec. 63) The trophies are from Cumberland, Marlboro and Dunkirk, NY. I did a little digging last night and discovered that in May of 62, my dad raced at The Cumberland Sports Car Races. His car is listed as a Fiat powered Isis-Osca and he raced in Formula Junior. He was DNF in that race and farther down the finishing positions is a Roger Penske, who was DNS.

I would love to find out as much as I can about his car, the races it was entered in, any available history. I would like to know if the car is still in existance somewhere. My dad died years ago and so is not available for information. He never talked much about this aspect of his love of cars when he was alive, so all I have to work with is fragments.

Any help, knowledge, direction would be greatly appreciated.

I don't have any history to share with you but I am an active vintage racer (AH 100-6) and I would suggest you contact the magazines that cater to the vintage racing world like "Victory Lane" or "Vintage Motorsport". It seems fairly regulary I see a 'letter to the editor' from someone like you who is trying to piece together the history of a car or driver from the era - take out a subscription to these and you may be amazed at the responses, and who knows if we are lucky you might get bitten by the 'bug' too!

Good luck and post your findings.

Dave Phillips

Peter--

A quick google search under "Isis Osca Formula Junior" came up with this site:

https://www.formula2.net/FJ60_DriversW_Ex.htm

You didn't give your father's name, though I did not see any drivers named "Hays" but there are several Isis-Fiat's and Osca-Fiat's listed. I know there is a lot of online information, including pictures, about racing at Cumberland.

Google and persistence usually pay off for me--good luck.

Peter--

Here's a link to the Cumberland site:

www.nationalroadrally.com

There are photos and brief descriptions of the historic races by year.

It looks as though the Isis was a de Tomaso project, basically a copy of a Cooper with Fiat power, and later, Osca engines. Only eight made?

Steve, that then explains why the cup is engraved DeTomaso OSCA..... Where did you find that information?

My dad's name was Howard Hays (often spelled Hayes). He was from Pittsburgh, PA. I did find one program that lists his name, spelled Hayes.

I did a Google search on variations of Isis, Osca, Fiat and Formula Junior... Just followed the links.

It seems that early Isis chassis had the Fiat engines, later one the Osca units. I found piccies, even.

Getting close here. His car would have been one of these. Histories stated on certain cars do not mention his name, so it must be one of those without history or pictures attached.

https://www.qv500.com/detomasoregistryindexmonoposto.php

This could be the car: https://www.qv500.com/detomasoregistryfj00081959.php

Just came across this on eBay. Very good explanation of Formula Junior and how it came to be. A nice piece of information to add to what I know. And the car is a nice piece as well!!

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Truc...p3756.m14.l1318

This link to the Barcboys site has a lot of old historic stuff and might be of help!!

Hehe, we used to race against an old Stanguellini like that with a Lotus F Junior (I started pit-crewing the year you were born and there is a good chance I may have actually watched your dad race either at Cumberland or Marlboro since I attended quite a few races there back then!!)

https://www.barcboys.com/SecondPage2.htm

Man..

forty years ago, at an EMRA race, a guy raced one of theses..

said they were a dime a dozen..

if I had $600.00 it was mine...

Lets not talk about opportunities lost...


r

Well, there is an update to this thread. I have been in digital communication with someone who MAY have the remains of my father's car. We've traded emails and he left me a message this evening. I plan on calling him tomorrow. My brother remembers the car, particularly that the nose was blue with a white number. I will share what I find out after I have talked with him. Interesting how things happen......

Peter:

Good luck...it would be great just to know what happened to the car.
Another source of info might be our own John C. and his "Coldplugs" website:

https://www.coldplugs.com/

bobmga62 said:

Man..

forty years ago, at an EMRA race, a guy raced one of theses..

Click to expand...

Hey! I ran some EMRA races back then! In fact, I have an "old cars" webpage that shows some of the old EMRA cars in action back then (they're mixed in with a bunch of other cars.... autocross, etc.)
The old EMRA pictures are from me, Dave Zipkin and Billy Gitzow. You can find them ~HERE~

Nial--

What a great collection of stuff--evidence of a totally misspent youth. And Linda seems like such a sensible person!

I enjoyed reading the bit about crank-starting the Triumph. My first ever car was a TR3A but there was no crank so if battery or starter failed I would simply get it rolling, hop in and pop the clutch. Conversely if either master or slave cylinder leaked to the point of the clutch being inoperative I would simply start in gear and match-revs/double-clutch up and down till the next stop light, etc. Only when both starting system and clutch went out was it time to fix anything!

Well....ladies and gentlemen....it does in fact seem that the car in question is in fact the DeTomaso Isis Osca (or is that Isis Osca DeTomaso) that my father raced back in '61-'62 time period. The current owner is sending me pics which I will post here when I get them. The car has solid Pittsburgh roots and can be traced back to the late 60's, early seventies when it was owned by a gentleman named Myron Yoho. It is possible Myron is the person who bought it from my father or there may be another owner in between. I am fairly certain my father sold the car some time between March and December of '63 because the newly married pregnant wife said so! Anyone familiar with the name Myron Yoho? We're trying to fill the gap between my dad and Myron. The fact that the car spent nearly it's entire life in Pittsburgh and the very limited number of these cars to begin with plus the fact that some evidence indicates it was a Fiat powered car almost undeniably point to this being my dad's car. At some point the car was converted to run in different SCCA classes, the last one seemingly Formula Atlantic or America? Which one does the "FA" on the nose refer to? At some point the original Fiat engine was replaced with a Chevy V8! There has been a lot of modification over the years. The current owner and I really want to fill in the missing pieces. I may have asked this before and if so, forgive me - any DeTomaso guru's here on BCF? Anyone know who the leading "experts" on these cars are? Both of us have many many questions we'd like to get answers to. As Sherlock Holmes is often quoted to have said - "Quick, BCFers! The game is afoot!"

Silverghost said:

At some point the car was converted to run in different SCCA classes, the last one seemingly Formula Atlantic or America? Which one does the "FA" on the nose refer to? At some point the original Fiat engine was replaced with a Chevy V8!

Click to expand...

With a Chevy V-8 it was probably a Formula A?

Here is an update, I've bolded items of interest:
Currently the car is listed on eBay (item Z270461785793) as follows:

THE AUCTION IS FOR THE <span style="font-weight: bold">CAR AND <span style="text-decoration: underline">TRAILER</span> MINUS ENGINE AND TRANSAXLE</span>. ONCE AGAIN <span style="font-weight: bold">THE ENGINE AND TRANSMISSION/AXLE IS NOT INCLUDED </span>WITH THE CAR FOR THIS AUCTTION
We have some new information about this car. We have been informed that this is a late 1950 or 1960 De Tomaso Formula Junior. It is very very rare. There were less than ten built. We have been informed that this car was original owned by a gentleman by the name of Edward Hugas. He was a dealer for De Tomaso out of the Pittsburgh Pa. area. We are told the car was sold to a <span style="font-weight: bold">Bill Mckelvy (a friend of my Dad who I know he raced with)</span>who raced it and later sold it to a <span style="font-weight: bold">William Henderson (my best grade school friend was Bruce Henderson)</span>. We think it was then sold to a William Henderson and then possibly to a <span style="font-weight: bold">Howard Hays (my Dad)</span>. It then was modified into a Formula Atlantic FA car and raced by a Myron Yoho. It has the SCCA stamping on the roll bar.The number stamped on the roll bar is #039034. The car has remained in the Pittsburgh and W.NY region all the time.The car has not been off the trailer in many years until recently when we took the pictures years. The car could be either back to an original formula Junior or to a Formula Atlantic, FA, F5000 or equivalent. If your interested in a very unique piece of racing history. Some people have questioned it being a real De Tomaso, so we have pictured a chassis from another De Tomaso FJ. If you look you a can tell it is the exact same except for some added reinforcement tubes and some other modifiactions to convert it to a Formula Atlantic racecar but the main chassis is the same. We also purchased parts from the garage where the car was stored. I have included them in the auction. I realize many if not all are not from this car. I hope that some of you will spot some original parts for the car. So, Please veiw all the pictures carefully.I am hoping this car sells to someone who will restore it to its originality. You can reach me at 716-435-5020. Thank you
NOTE: This car is being sold AS IS and WHERE IS - <span style="font-weight: bold">WITHOUT ENGINE AND GEARBOX/TRANSAXLE. <span style="text-decoration: underline">The trailer is not road worthy </span></span>and i <span style="text-decoration: underline"><span style="font-weight: bold">do not recommend using it to transport the car</span></span>. We do have several names and numbers that can help you authenticate the car. This vehicle is also available for local sale therefore I reserve the right to end this auction at any time.

I am not sure anyone has posted Cliff Reuter's site which has many of the event entry list from that period

https://www.maseratiexperts.com/SCCA%20results%20test%20page.htm

This has the Dunkirk entry list at the top and list your father's name.
https://www.maseratiexperts.com/SCCA%20results%201962.htm


I think Pete Hylton with the SCCA might still research drivers for a fee if you wanted to find details. You need to be fairly specific about the years etc. The more details probably the better results. (After 64'/65' records get fuzzy since the Regions started keeping their own records)


Steve