An impromptu “reunion” of a trio of American road race specials took place at the recent second running of the Chateau Impney Hillclimb in the United Kingdom. The three cars in question all contested the old Pebble Beach Road Races of the 1950s in California, so to have them all together in one place at the same time, some 60 years later, is remarkable.
The three cars are (from left to right above): Rob Manson’s 1952 Streets Manning Special with its Mercury Flathead V8 engine; Ernie Nagamatsu’s 1959 Old Yeller II with Buick V8 big block “Nailhead;” and Simon Taylor’s 1950 HWM Stovebolt Special with its small-block Chevrolet V8.
Thanks for mentioning some of the great ‘junk yard dogs’ that contributed so much to America’s early post-war racing scene. Some years ago, I was with Jim Herlinger when he took the Baldwin Special to New Zealand for their “Festival of Speed”. By far the most popular car for the 3 race series.
More future coverage will be most appreciated; along with more photos.
In fact only one of these cars contested Pebble Beach, the HWM Chevy. The “Manning Spl” is not Chuck Manning’s car, but a car that was built to his plans (published in Road & Track). Old Yaller II was not built until a few years after the last race at Pebble Beach, which was 1956.