See Homepage. | This page: A look back at some of the information I've tracked down since 1995. |
Tracing the history of the 1940 Dodge lorry.
Part 1, on this page, will cover the research I've done so far into it's post-war motor racing history. The military research will feature in a separate article due shortly. | |||
Part 1. The Dodge's motor racing past. | |||
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By complete coincidence, the following year I was to meet the Alfa's owner in person at a historic race meeting, giving us chance to have a chat about the car, the transporter, and my plans to restore the latter back to how it would have been when Poore used it. | |||
Former team mechanic Bill Lawes.It turns out that he did much of the work required to convert the Dodge from its military role, to its new one as a racing car transporter. He fitted the winch behind the driver's cab, made up the long ramps (sadly missing), and later on built the hinged awning frame and canvas cover, fitted to one side of the truck's rear body. Prior to the Dodge coming along, Poore and Lawes had made do with an elderly Ford V8, but the weight of the trailer and Alfa was proving to be too much of a strain on the old Ford. A year or two later I was fortunate enough to meet Bill in person. In his letter, Bill relates one or two hair-raising stories relating to the Dodge. Late one night, returning from the Prescott hillclimb, they ran off the road and "tried to climb a tree .... I repaired the bent front axle on the spot utilising an ancient blacksmith's forge in the next village". He also commented on what the Dodge was like to travel in on race weekends: "There was a vibration period around 55mph but it got through that, the old girl would sail upto 70mph. This was important when travelling between meetings and running short of time. I had an impressive list of speeding convictions". I later learnt that the Dodge was only ever run on tradeplates. This allowed them to run without a governor on the carburettor - at the time lorries were restricted to 30mph - which explains how they could wind the Dodge up to such heady speeds. The fact that one of the truck's tanks contained nitro methanol race fuel may have helped too I suspect. | |||
C&SC magazine feature turns up another ex-Poore mechanic.As a result of this exposure, I received a call from a chap who lived in Totton, near the New Forest in Hampshire. Sten, or 'Tammy' Aberg as he was usually known, had been Poore's occasional Second Mechanic, working underneath Bill Lawes in the preparation of the Alfa and of all the other team's effects. I remember him telling me that one of his first jobs was to rebuild the Alfa's 3.8 litre straight-eight engine following a rebuild. In fact our first telephone conversation went on for quite some time, and I picked up all manner of useful information regarding the Dodge. I asked him why the lorry has French Marchal headlamps fitted to it. Apparently the original 6v lamps were less than useless, so they were junked and replaced with a smart set of Marchals, not unlike those seen on pre-war Type 35 Bugattis. There was also a large ex-Bentley lamp fitted up front, complete with wire mesh cover. This lamp has long since vanished but I'd like to replace it if possible. From time to time, the Dodge was also employed to carry a different racing car, usually if two different races were to be contested at the same meeting. When this happened, the Alfa would go in the trailer, and the newer car safely stowed away in the transporter. So in addition to the 8C-35, the Dodge has also carried a Connaught and DB3 (possibly a DB3S) Aston Martin in its time. Other nuggets of information gleaned from our conversation included the fact that Tammy's father was chauffeur to Poore's mother. Poore lived at Rownhams in Southampton, a site now taken over by motorway services on the M27. During the war Poore had worked in the Ministry of Aircraft Production, ending the war as a Wing Commander with the RAF. During the 50s, Poore was one of the founders of Autosport magazine although he kept this quiet at the time. Tammy also let on that Poore's widow still lived in London, and this piece of information led me to have a couple of telephone conversations with her over the next few years, again adding to the file of information I'd been building up. | |||
Goodwood Festival of Speed 1997.While staying at Tammy's, he showed me his rare copy of a book written about R.D. Poore's motor racing activities in the early 1970s. Written by Michael Lindsay, the booklet is titled Flying a Rampant Horse, a reference to the Pegasus logo that featured on both car and transporter, shared too with Ken Hutchinson and his P3 Alfa, who with Poore formed the Hutchinson-Poore Racing Organisation. I've since been able to buy a copy of this fascinating 14 page booklet. | |||
The photos above show i) Tammy re-united with the Alfa ii) RJ sat in the Alfa, with the then-owner alongside iii) Alfa taking to the hillclimb | |||
To our complete surprise, the restored Alfa was one of the cars attending the event. We had no idea that the car would be there. I was amazed to see the car, after having read so much about it, and Tammy was extremely pleased too as he'd not seen it for 20+ years. It also gave me chance to have a long chat with the then-owner of the car, he having commissioned the car's restoration. He was interested to find out the latest news regarding the Dodge rebuild, after having learnt of my restoration plans early in 1996, and was pleased to hear that the Dodge and trailer were safely stored away, out of the elements. Paul Grist, the car's restorer, was also present and able to pass on some info about the car and the restoration. More details about the Alfa can be here, on the 8C-35 page. | |||
More magazine mentions.In addition to the magazines already mentioned, the Dodge has also appeared in the following publications, again in a bid to find out more about it. In 1999 I sent some information off to Classic Car Mart, and the old 'bus was featured in a 1999 edition of their magazine. A few years later, in 2004 to be exact, someone I know who had a number of vehicles stored in a Cheshire farm building alongside the Dodge, wrote an interesting 2-part article about the farm, and the unusual vehicles that were stored there. Many were public service vehicles, buses & coaches etc, but there were also some other interesting commercials, including the Dodge, which he kindly featured. In 2006, Practical Classics magazine ran a feature on car enthusiasts who might be classed as 'hoarders', owning as they did a variety of older vehicles. The Dodge, along with a couple of my cars, featured in this magazine. | |||
Several years ago I was approached via the website by a German researcher, who was working for someone preparing a book on old and new racing car transporters. They had seen the photos of the Dodge, and seemed keen to feature it. I sent some photos over, and thought little more of it, until in 2005 I heard that the German-language book 'Renntransporter' (racing car transporter) had been published. It took some finding, and I finally tracked down a copy on Amazon Germany. If you're interested in old transporters, its worth looking out a copy (authors Matthias Braun and Alexander Franc Storz, ISBN-13: 978-3-613-02539-4, ISBN-10: 3-613-02539-6). | |||
Online research. | |||
It was also in 2003 that I published a website featuring Dodge trucks of the 1939-1947 era. There were two aims - one, to spread the word about 'Job Rated' civilian-type Dodges, and secondly, to put the word out among Dodge 'people' about my old lorry, in the hope that this might turn up some leads regarding spare parts, literature, photographs and so on. It has also featured here on oldclassiccar for several years, with the same objectives in mind. | |||
Finding parts.
Trawling around autojumbles has turned up a few service items, engine gaskets mainly, but by far the most useful resource has been the internet. Ebay has been a major help in sourcing replacement parts. Most bits as expected have come from the USA, with a new-old-stock steering wheel (the original had been hacksawed off!!) being sourced in Australia. Needless to say the search is ongoing, so if you know of any parts available to suit the 331 cu in straight six engine, please get in touch. I'm also looking for one or two 20 inch 10 stud Budd wheel rims. | |||
Thanks.Over the last few years I've pestered lots and lots of people, some involved with old military Dodges, some who deal in historic motor racing memorabilia, others who write for the classic car magazines or who are automotive historians, and others who have simply been in contact with Poore, or his vehicles, at some point in their lives. A number of people have also offered specialist advice about certain parts of the rebuild. These people include Bill Lawes, Tammy Aberg, Doug Nye, Simon Taylor, Michael Ware, Mrs P. Poore (Dennis Poore's widow), Paul Campbell, Gordon McMillan, Stephen Hull, John Falder, Eric Bannerman, Simon Lewis, Spencer Elton, Lionel Smith-Gordon (Poore's Grandson), Sandra Smith-Gordon (Poore's daughter), Tom Wheatcroft, Roger Lund, plus David Beckett and Christine Thomas from the Griffin Trust, to name just a few. | |||
Some of the Dodge information I've uncovered is featured on this page, with further photos of the Alfa over here. The latest instalments of the restoration process can be found on this page. As more things come to light, I'll update this page. | |||
Return to the main Dodge transporter restoration page here. |
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