Rob Manson writes me today with 4 extraordinary photos from the October 3,4 1953 Long Beach Road Races in California. This event was another “one-off” promotion as Southern California’s pioneer road racers (the “Fabulous Fifties”) sought dependable, re-usable venues in which to exercise their vehicles and skills in a renascent sport; these were held on the Reeves Field located at the Roosevelt Navy Dockyards on Terminal Island. Several of these cars are racing with us still today at the Rolex Monterey Historic Reunion at Laguna Seca and the Velocity Invitational.
# 55 Parkinson Jaguar Special driven by Chuck Daigh (first row)
# 36 Kurtis 500S Dodge driven by Roy Wylie (3rd row)
# 50 Miles R1 MG Special driven by Ken Miles
# 55 Parkinson Jaguar Special driven by Chuck Daigh
#112 Pickford Jaguar Special (far side) driven by Bill Pickford;
#84 Kurtis 500S DeSoto driven by Bill Murphy
#36 Kurtis 500S Dodge (2nd row) driven by Roy Wylie
Bill Murphy (center) Engine is either a DeSoto or a Dodge with a homemade 3 Stromberg carburettor intake manifold and magneto.
You can see more images and the complete list of cars and drivers at http://0398ca9.netsolhost.com/covti1053.htm and https://0398ca9.netsolhost.com/covti1053b.htm.
Can you identify any more cars and drivers? Do please let us know at marcus@bicknell.com
| Top makes by numbers: | Kurtis Kraft (3), Allard (3) |
| Top engines by numbers: | Cadillac (3) |
| Top car types by numbers: | Allard J2X (2) |
| Driver nationalities: | USA (8) |
| Oldest known drivers: | Ken Miles (35), Chuck Daigh (30) |
| Youngest known drivers: | Chuck Daigh (30), Ken Miles (35) |
Posted by Marcus Bicknell for Rob Manson of the Del Monte Trophy Race Group. Thank you for the brilliant memories. Below are some more pricelss images from other sources, especially Car Life Magazine
