Hollywood Motor Rodeo stunt car team.
This small batch of photographs turned up in mid-2010. They all appear to have been taken at a meeting for daredevil stunt-car drivers, although the venue is hardly bursting with spectators so perhaps it was a practice day? A number of cars are present. The first photograph shows a pair of American motors, emblazoned with signwriting for the "Trans-World Auto Daredevils" and, on the front doors, "Hollywood Motor Rodeo".
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At first glance I assumed that this was an American team, photographed somewhere in the US, but it appears not. Despite the two liveried cars being of American origin, and both being LHD, the venue is in the UK. Just visible in the background is a British Bedford PC van, and further in the distance, a small 1930's car - possibly a Series 1 Morris 8. The two cars in the foreground also have British registrations. Final confirmation is given by the signwriting just visible on the nearest car's bootlid - Goodyear Tubeless Tyres (not Tires), and the presence of a Mk1 Ford Zodiac to the right, registration 169 CPU (from Essex, post-March 1955).
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Trans-World Auto Daredevils.
The second photgraph shows one of the Trans-World Auto Daredevils' cars in better detail. A Bedford CA van, with Goodyear livery, can just be seen on the left. Was this event in some way sponsored by a Ford dealer? It would explain the presence of the Mk1 Ford in these photographs. Over to the right, in the distance, are two vintage motor-cars, crudely daubed with paint advertising "English's For Ford". These look like a pair of old b*ngers that would be sacrificed during a "show".
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The third photo in this set shows the Mk1 Zodiac in more detail, also sporting advertising for the motor "rodeo". Closer inspection of the photo shows a block behind the rear wheel, and a jack underneath the driver's sill. There's a chap underneath the front of the Ford, and the whitewall tyre on the offside front wheel looks decidedly grubby. Another, very poor, photograph that I've not reproduced here, just about reveals a motorcycle jumping a line of parked Zodiacs as part of the display.
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A car is rolled.
The next sequence of three photographs shows a car in the process of being rolled over. First the car is shown as its offside wheels leave the launch ramp, tipping the car into the first of what must have been several rolls. Just visible in the far distance are various new Fords lined up on show, again suggesting the involvement of a Ford agency, probably English's (?). Photo number two shows the car as it comes back down, and is followed by a final shot of this car's destruction as the marshalls roll it back onto its wheels. Another car in the livery of Hollywood Motor Rodeo can be seen to the right.
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Venue anyone?.
Does anyone recognise the venue? The final photograph in this set shows the entry turnstiles, not in themselves particularly interesting but it may help identify the location of these photographs.
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The Hollywood Motor Rodeo team.
Searching around brings up a few references to this stunt car display team. It was formed by a racer of stock cars, namely Gerry Scalli. He was a leading light in stock car driving in the early 1950's, and his day job was as a used car dealer. The Motor Rodeo toured around, appearing at various locations across the UK. Harringay Stadium, a regular stock car racing venue at the time, welcomed the Rodeo in May 1955. Scalli later moved into the promotion of stock car events, seeing them as a more profitable activity, and the Hollywood Motor Rodeo display was put out to pasture.
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Return to Page 12 in the vintage & classic car motoring gallery.
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