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VerValen Special

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aeronca65t

aeronca65t

Great Pumpkin
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Cliff Reuter had asked me about the Ermini that I saw at the 2006 Pittsburgh Vintage.
But this year, the car and its owners (Bob ande Gaye) were nowhere to be found. So I didn't get any good info on it other than the stuff I put ~HERE~ last year.

But anyway, I *did* see another, similar-looking car. The owner told me it was "the Van Valen Special", a one-off H-Prod car built in Maryland in the 50s. Like all the old H-Prod cars, it had a 750cc engine...in this case, a Crosley.

When I told the owner that I thought it looked like Bob's Ermini, he told me that there is a theory that the original mold for the fiberglass body on the Van Valen was "pulled" from an Ermini. He also knew Bob and Gaye and was worried about their lack of attendance (mostly due to Bob's health, apparently). I'm hoping I see them at the Summit Point VRG Vintage event in August.

Anywway, here's the Van Valen Special.

vrg-bvrun-07-vanvalen-1.jpg


vrg-bvrun-07-vanvalen-2.jpg
 
Re: Van Valen Special

Now, I like that!
 
Re: Van Valen Special

Hi Nial,
please emial me full size pics of the Van Valen
Special (are we sure it's not a Devin body?) and
more pictures of Bob's Ermini when you get a
chance, PLEASE!!

-cliff reuter
 
Re: Van Valen Special

This is what I see when I click on your link, Nial:

mccabe_vrg06_ermini.JPG
 
Re: Van Valen Special

Neat car! Looks like a Devlin body though.
 
Re: Van Valen Special

OK, here is the group-shot of American One-Offs that was assembled at PVGP.
The guys in the picture are the owners. The guy in the tux was heading off to a PVGP charity dinner as soon as the picture was taken.

The front car (#840)is a LaBoa. Built in eastern US, it has a Corvair engine and Porsche trans. It looks like a Lotus 23 to me. The day before the event, the transmission failed on it and a they got a young race mechanic to pull it out and fix it. As it turns out, he's a former engineering student of mine, working his way through grad school as a race mechanic (he's two courses away from an MSME). Later, they took the LaBoa out for practice and it cracked a magnesium wheel, so it was parked for the weekend. We towed it to this picture spot with a 948 Mini-Moke.

The red car on the right (#756)is the Van Valen Special. The car ran well but was super slow. With it's 750cc engine, an MGTD would blow it away....probably even a TC.

The green car facing the photo is a front-engine V8 Devin. The intake "stacks" give it a lot of character. Pretty fast and ran well.

Anyone guess what the aluminum car is in the rear? Here's a hint: it's Triumph based.

Sorry for the big picture...I'll try to fix it.

vrg-bvrun-07-45.jpg
 
Re: Van Valen Special

I think we'll need to see more of that car to
venture a guess!

You can make a 750cc car VERY fast with the right
bits. My Fathers's 750 DOHC Bandini engines produce around
75 hp which will make the 750 lb. car go over 115 mph
as recored in Green Valley TX in the early 60's.

That Devin has one of the BIG bodies. The smallest "Monza"
bodies were tiny and as a matter of fact look very similar to the Van Halen special...
 
Re: Van Valen Special

hmmmmm...where do people find those things?
 
Re: Van Valen Special

Cliff:

Is the yellow car (58) a Devin? It sure looks like the Van Valen to me too.

The twin-cam "red head" is very cool. I realize that some 750s can make real power and can be quite fast, but the I guess the Van Valen was pretty mildly set up. I will send better pictures to you soon.

Anyway, on to the funny looking aluminum race car...
This is the famous TR-3 based "Peyote" (because you'd have to be "on drugs to drive it").
There is a modern fiberglass kit version called the Ambro (it may still be available).

Current Peyote owner, Bill Babcock could easily afford to have it restored to better than new. But he has left it imperfect and with all it's original "patina" as he and his wife tow it around the US in an "aluminum tour" with an Airstream transporter. Bill drives the tow truck and she follows in a new Bentley (you can see it next to the Airstream).

For more, see: https://allaluminumtour.com/

He was just heading out to a "Black Tie and Tail Pipes" PVGP charity event when this picture was taken.

vrg-bvrun-07-44.jpg


vrg-bvrun-07-70.jpg



vrg-bvrun-07-69.jpg
 
Re: Van Valen Special

Interesting photos in this thread - look at the contrast in body construction approaches. One (Bandini) is all compound curves and shows a mastery of stretching metal, and the other (Peyote) is all "ruled surfaces" - bent in one direction - and has almost no compound curves.

It'd be interesting to know which is better aerodynamically - could be a surprise.
 
Re: Van Valen Special

While we are on the subject, a couple of years ago I was at a used bookstore and there was a book on "building" car bodies. It was British in origin and if I remember correctly talked about tube chassis etc. It certainly came with templates for body shapes. Of course I didn't buy it and have been kicking myself since. Does this ring a bell for anyone? I'd love to find the title and try again.

thanks
 
Re: Van Valen Special

Yes the yellow car, the Clearly Special, has a Devin
Monza body. Here is a vintage photo of it:

clear%201.jpg


Here is a rear view of Bandini #358 DOHC which shows
some more compound curves:

Bandini%20rear%20small.jpg


-cliff
 
Re: Van Valen Special

WOW!! That body's sexier than Ann Margaret in Chu Lai in 1968!!
 
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