DMTRG steward Rob Manson purchased the light blue Barlow Simca car in 2022 and has completed a rebuild of this rare motor vehicle. Its race debut was at Velocity Invitational at Sonoma in November 2023 and it has been out several times at Laguna Seca and Sonoma since, with Rob Manson or his brother-in-law Slim Pepperdene driving.
The Barlow Simca at the Pebble Beach Road Races on May 27, 1951… Barlow finished 1st in class and 5th overall.
There is no better way to find out about the Barlow Simca than to read the Preservationist of fall 2015, of which there are excerpts below… “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.
“Starting with a Simca “Huit” sport convertible Barlow removed the beautiful but ponderously heavy body. The frame was then widened to allow for a lower seating position. The engine was moved back six inches and the radiator moved forward by the same amount to obtain better weight distribution. To help reduce unsprung weight, Borrrani-Rudge light alloy wire wheels were fitted that also helped to cool the powerful Simca hydraulic brakes allowing more air to reach the finned aluminum drums. Finally a feather light aluminum shell fashioned by master body builder Emil Diedt and cycle style front fenders were fitted. While absent the typical compound curves found on many sports cars, the body painted a light sky blue had a graceful appearance that made ingenious use of the original Simca grille. The original Simca 1390cc engine underwent high performance tuning by ace engine mechanic Bill Pringle. Adopting standard hot rod builder technology, the aluminum cylinder head of the engine was milled, ported and relieved. Next the flywheel was lightened and stiffer valve springs were fitted. To top it off, two Weber carburetors were installed on an Abarth manifold and the cooling fan was removed. The result was a thirty percent increase in bhp and a compression ratio boosted to 9.25:1.
“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). The Simca Special was next entered in the two day racing event at the Carroll Speedway in Gardena, California. On July Saturday the 27th Barlow finished 2nd in the Trophy Dash and was winner of the S1.5 and the Match Race events on Sunday the 28th. Barlow next entered the car in the August 26th races at the SCCA Nationals in Elkhart Lake where he finished 1st in class and 13th overall.
“Barlow and the Simca Special went on to race at the Reno SCCA Nationals and in Palm Springs both in October ending the year at Torrey Pines in December taking 1st in class at every event and the SCCA Class Championship. The Simca Special was again in Elkhart Lake for the 1952 Kimberly Cup Race but by then time and competition caught up with the highly modified car and Barlow finished nearly three minutes behind the OSCA of Bill Spear and the Porsches of Karl Brocken and Johnny Von Neumann, all unmodified factory sports cars”.
Read more and see more images 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/
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.