The Two Midget Racers in the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Nancy DeWitt, Historian, Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, Fairbanks, Alaska: "I am doing some research on our 1935 Wetteroth-Offenshauser midget racer, which was driven by Bob Swanson. Do you know definitively what Swanson drove in the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup"?
Nancy, two of the most unusual cars in the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup Race were midget racers; the #51 Hogan Midget Special and the #53 Junior Offenhauser Special driven by Louis Tomei. Many of the race publications have confused the two cars. Here's some documentation.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Comments
From Robert R:
“Midgets at Vanderbilt…sir, you are a fountain of terrific knowledge.”
The Bob Swanson Vanderbilt car had a Midget Offenhauser engine bur was a purpose built car for the race with a longer wheelbase than standard midgets. After WWII it had a DO HAL engine installed and was raced as a sprint car. Later a Hudson six was installed and it raced on the Dry Lakes. In the 1950’s a Ford flathead was installed. The front end was converted to a cross spring. I spoke to the second to last guy that drove it, he said it finally crashed badly. I’d pay dearly for the remains if they are still out there somewhere . Bob Swanson