Description
1936 HAL Sprint Car.
A Piece of American racing history.
This fantastic and rare sprint racer was built for racing on the popular circuits, so often held on the County and State fair horse-tracks and the few purpose-built circuits that had started to emerge around America by the mid-nineteen thirties.
Whilst sprint racing had its beginnings in the years following the First World War, by the 1930s and 1940s the Model T based cars had evolved into more refined racing cars. With a plentiful supply of Ford parts available, many cars were built with the popular Model A and B engines utilising tuning parts from the plethora of suppliers who were manufacturing speed-components. As the development of these cars continued apace, so did the engines, with the ultimate evolution being the Special racing engines developed by Miller and Offenhauser, not to mention the smaller shops who offered competitive alternatives; one such manufacturer was Harold (HAL) Hosterman, who supplied twin-cam conversions for the Ford engines, and later constructed a handful of his ‘Full HAL’ engines as is fitted to the car offered here, these ‘Full HAL’ engines were a serious competitor to the Offenhauser, producing fantastic horsepower!
Constructed in the late 1930s, the car offered was originally known as the ‘Russ Schied Riley 4 port Special’ and was successfully and regularly raced by Earl Johns of Camden New Jersey; this daring driver walked off with many successful wins— referred to by one newspaper article as “The New Jersey Fireball”! Johns often blasted his way to victory on the rough circuits whilst racing these ‘Big Cars’, despite his shoe-string budget. Sadly, on the 31st of August 1947 at Thompson-Speedway, Earl’s luck ran out. Whilst driving another car, John’s crashed heavily, throwing him fatally onto the track.
The car was believed to have been discovered in a dilapidated state in the late 1970s , and has subsequently been rebuilt and restored; it is now fitted with the incredibly rare twin-cam HAL engine, running on methanol. It was used in 2009, at the Historic Championship Indy Track showcase. According to the history file that accompanies the car, it was owned by Gordon Menzie of Vesco fame, which, no doubt, led to the ‘Vesco’ livery it now wears, but retaining the race number 17 that it wore when raced by Earl Johns.
Accompanying the car, is an album of photographs, as discovered and in period, along with many race results and information on Earl Johns, and photographs of the HAL engine before restoration.
Not to be confused with the smaller ‘Midget racers’, these ‘Big cars’ encapsulate a daring period of American racing when power and glory took precedent over safety, and the imagination of drivers and engineers was unleashed on the oval circuits, strewn across America. The Sprint car offered is a link to those days, and is as ideal for VHRA Pendine sands as it is for a Museum, showcasing both the design of the cars and that of the engineering skill that is shown so notably by its fantastic twin-cam HAL engine.
