“Growing up in the late 40’s and early 50’s we dreamed of custom “Hot Rods”…. modified 32 Ford roadsters with performance enhancement from Holley, Edelbrock, Iskenderian and others. Foreign sports cars were beginning to make their presence know, but for us, an American hot rod was the dream and California was the place where it was all happening.”
California was also the home of the man whose vision and ingenuity would merge hot rod technology with the emerging foreign sports car racing craze. His name was Roger Barlow, a mechanically minded Minnesota farm boy who had moved to southern California and was now the owner International Motors. Barlow once wrote that while hot rods had many virtues including low cost and excellent acceleration, control and superior road handling was not among them. He preferred that his “street rod” as he called it, come from Jaguar or Porsche.
He also recognized that as competition intensified in the fast growing sports car road racing arena, more and more cars (often called Specials) were being modified to enhance performance. After sizing up the competition, Barlow concluded that the highly competitive 1500cc class was vulnerable and decided to build a “Special” sports car designed specifically for competition in the class; an adaptation of hot rod building technology to a modern sports car. His vision became known as the Barlow Simca 8 Special.
The Barlow Simca Special made its first race appearance at the 2nd Annual Palm Springs Road Races on January 4, 1951 where it failed to finish due to a transmission failure. From there it was entered in the Pebble Beach Cup race at the Pebble Beach Road Races on May 27, 1951 where Barlow finished 1st in class and 5th overall (image left).
Read more at https://historicracecircuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Preservationist-vol-28.pdf
“March 22, 1952, Palm Springs California. I was there cheering Roger on — wearing my specially-made Simca T-shirt that had amused Barlow when I came to his dealership earlier that same year. This is the first of the two Roger Barlow Simcas, seen here with mechanic Bill Pringle behind the wheel. Pringle raced this car in the event, while Barlow himself drove the new Simca special, #62, with right hand drive. Pringle finished second and Barlow fifth in the main event. Al Coppel won the class in his MG special. ”
https://velocetoday.com/palm-springs-march-22-1952-in-color/
With thanks to Rob Manson of the DMTRG and John Streets, creator of the Streets Manning Special which races with us, for the heads-up. Who can tell us where the Barlow Special is now? And can the Barlow Special come out to race with us?
Update August 2023 from Marcus: DMTRG steward Rob Manson purchased the car in 2022 and has completed a rebuild of this rare motor vehicle. Race debut: Velocity Invitational at Sonoma in November 2023.
Since 2016, the Del Monte Trophy Race Group has established its place as a large, representative group of great early 1950’s sports cars with a strong community of enthusiastic drivers that we can look forward to racing with. The Del Monte Trophy Race Group web site, www.DMTRG.com, is intended as a Registry and a reference source to be used by anyone interested in our cars and the folks who race them.