Track-Suited: The V-8/60 Goes Racing

摘要

Often barely up to the task of motivating the big American Fords in which it was found, the little V-8/60 engine had a surprisingly sporting side. It turned out to be admirably suited to the smallest proper racing cars the U.S. had to offer. These were the midgets, dating from the early Depression years and well into their stride by 1933. These little open-wheel machines could race anywhere from fairgrounds and stadiums to quarter- and even eighth-mile tracks. "At their best," wrote historian Gordon Eliot White, "the midgets were gleaming little cars that raced under the lights on tracks small enough that they were almost in the laps of the spectators. They snarled and roared in a wheel-to-wheel brand of racing. Pure aggressiveness, acceleration and guts were more important than at others levels of competition. The midget crowd had the loudest, longest arguments in racing." Tracks and racing groups limited midget engine displacement to 100 and 140 cubic inches, smaller than most American power units. Road-car engines were chopped in half or sleeved and destroked to meet specifications. Smaller boat and tractor engines were useful, as were motorcycle engines.