Al Blixt Auto Racing History: V8-60: The Little Engine That Could

The Ford V8-60 engine holds a special place in the history midget auto racing. Known as the "poor man's offy', the V8-60 offered a reliable power plant for cash-strapped young men with a passion to race. Ironically, the small size that made it ideal for midgets doomed the V8-60 as a passenger car engine and it was discontinued after only a few years. Still, V8-60s were in competition from 1937 until the 1950's. Read on to learn more about this "little engine that could".

There was a time before and shortly after WWII when otherwise sane Americans were caught up in a new kind of auto racing known as the Midgets. In the 1930’s and 1940’s these small cars, modeled after their larger cousins at Indianapolis, raced on tracks in football and baseball stadiums, at county fairs, on quarter-mile ovals specially build for them, even on rough tracks carved out of cornfields by road graders. In California, the Northeast, Chicago,Detroit, Texas and Oklahoma, there were for nearly two decades midget races seven nights a week and twice on Saturdays and Sundays. They were a fad that gripped the nation in the depths of the Depression and held it until television offered alternative entertainment. (Photo by Al Blixt, at left: Harry Hart & Wally Zale, wheel to wheel at Motor City Speedway, Detroit, 1941)

Racing historian Gordon White aptly describes the appeal of the midgets in his book, Offenhauser, “At their best, the midgets were gleaming little cars that raced under the lights on tracks small enough that they were almost in the laps of the spectators. They snarled and roared in a wheel-to-wheel brand of racing more closely competitive that that usually seen anywhere else, even at Indianapolis.” (Pictured here is Cliff MIller at Detroit about 1938 in a very pretty midget powered by a V8-60, photo by Al Blixt.)

The first midgets were homemade by adventurous young men who were long on innovation but short on cash. In the early days of midget racing, dozens of different engines were used. Only a few American passenger car engines would meet the displacement limits of 100 to 140 cubic inches set by most racing groups. In 1934, most midgets were powered by engines from outboard boats or motorcycles. The photo above shows an early midget #2 powered by an outboard engine and driven by Cletus (Cowboy) O'Rourke at the VFW Speedway (later Motor City Speedway) in 1935. Photo by Al (Ace) Blixt

Race crowds up to 18,000 paid 50 cents each at the bottom of the Depression to see the midget races weekly. As a money-making show, the earliest midgets had one drawback: most of them were built by backyard mechanics using cast-off junkyard engines that would frequently snort, stall or catch fire, slowing the proceedings. Los Angeles promoter Earl Gilmore had one of the best midget tracks anywhere, became fed up with the balky little cars. At his request, master engine builders Fred Offenhauser and Leo Goosen created a powerful four-cylinder, 98-cubic-inch purpose built midget racing engine based on a design that used half of the famous Miller racing engine that had dominated the Indianapolis 500 for a decade. “Offys” quickly became dominant in midget racing, first on the west coast and then across the country. For a while, they had no competition.

The first Offy-powered car, called the "MIghty Midget" was a sensation in 1934 shown here with Curly Mills who my dad called one of the great drivers he ever saw. Curly won 16 feature races in 1934. Note, this is a contemporary clipping from about 1935. Mills died Christmas Eve 1936 of injuries received in a midget race in New York City four months earlier.

By the winter of 1935, midgets were racing indoors in the Chicago Armory, the Michigan State Fair Coliseum and in New York City with press coverage in the New York Times.

Pictured left are Wally Zale in the foreground and Art Hartsfeld in competition at the 1/5 mile indoor track at the Michigan State Fair Coliseum. Photo by Al (Ace) Blixt.

For several years, Offys had no competition and swept race after race. For many racers, the state of the art Offenhauser engine was financially prohibitive and while several alternatives existed, such as the Evinrude Elto, few were competitive. This photo shows Ray Stauffer in an outboard-powered car in 1938. Outboards were powerful and very, very loud. This water-cooled 59.4-cubic-inch 2-cycle rotary valve opposed 4-cylinder engine could put out 85 H.P. at 8,500 r.p.m. on a mixture of 82% methanol, 10% toluene (or Benzol), and 8% castor oil. Unless run at very high rpm, however, the engines tended to foul. Thus,a few caution flag laps run at slow speeds could seriously handicap the outboard. Also, their smoky exhaust made them very unpopular at indoor events. Still, the best drivers, like Stauffer, managed to be competitive through sheer skill and guts. Photo by Al (Ace) Blixt

In 1937, good news arrived from Ford Motor Company in the form of a new 136 cubic inch, 60 horsepower V8 engine. Designed as a more economical alternative to the larger 85 horsepower flathead V8, the V8-60 also represented the first production-based engine to seriously challenge the Offy’s supremacy. Here was a nearly ideal power plant—one that would dominate non-Offy midget racing for many years. They could be hopped up with special cams, heads and dual carburetors and they powered the majority of midgets through the late 1940’s. It worst fault was overheating because of restricted exhaust passages out of the engine. As a result, the Fords were called “teakettles” and blew hoses regularly, sometimes terribly scalding their drivers. Still, they were fast enough to give the Offys a run for their money.

Ford came out with the small V8 in 1937 to provide a more fuel efficient and less expensive option to the regular 85hp equipped cars and light commercial vehicles. Ford also built the 60hp engine for the European market with some modifications. The small engines were not well received by the car-buying public used to the performance of its bigger brother. The 1937 Ford Coupe at left certainly seems to be built for speed. 1940 was the final year for the 60hp since the new 90hp six cylinder engine would debut for 1941.

Al (Ace) Blixt shown here at left with fellow photographer Duke Pierce atop a hard-working V8-60 midget on a sunny 1938 Sunday in Toledo. The V8-60 was easy to spot because of the distinctive 17-bolt arrangement on the heads. Note the white pants, ties and two-tone shoes. The 30's certainly had class.

After World War II, midget racing took another turn with the introduction if the revolutionary Kurtis Kraft Midget chassis.Reflecting WWII aircraft technology, the tubular frame Kurtis Kraft and many advantages over the heavier conventional rail frame chassis. Thankfully, the simple, elegant, and effective Midget chassis produced by the legendary Kurtis and his Kurtis-Kraft operation could readily accommodate the width of the V8-60. Importantly, Kurtis offered his Midget cars in both complete and kit form, depending upon customer preference and finances. This combination was particularly effective in the west-coast United Racing Association (URA) “Blue” Circuit, which was reserved for non-Offenhauser-powered cars.

Today, restored Kurtis Kraft V8-60s are still commanding impressive prices. This 1947 example recently sold at auction for $38,500. Here is what the auction notice said, "We are pleased to offer this Kurtis-Kraft V8-60 Midget car, equipped with dual Stromberg “81” carburetors, mounted on an Edelbrock intake manifold, with Eddie Meyers cylinder heads. Restored by Chuck Porter, the car was subsequently owned by Kenny Parks, who in turn sold the car to Joe MacPherson for inclusion in the Joe’s Garage collection, where it has remained ever since, beautifully presented and period correct throughout." (Photo credit www.rmauctions.com)

The dominance of the Offenhauser brought a division in the midget ranks between the haves and the have nots. There were many owners who could not afford an Offy, and at the peak of midget popularity there were two circuits operating in some areas, one for Offy’s and one for V8-60s and other stock block engines.

On a few nights, with a little help from adding nitro methane to the fuel, the best V8-60 drivers could best the top Offy drivers, much to the delight of the crowd. The bitterness between Offys and the Fords might be traced to the short tracks and sprint length of most midget races. It was a closer, more personal kind of racing, and pure aggressiveness, acceleration, and guts were more important than at other levels of competition. Whatever the reason, the midget crowd had the longest, loudest arguments in racing.

This story copyright Al Blixt, 2010. For more about the V8-60 and the Offys, read Offenhauser by Gordon White and The Mighty Midgets by Jack C. Fox

Comments

As a spectator at Gilmore Statium in the 40's I loved those 60's. Later racing on my own at Bonneville (300+)I still wanted a 60. I'm 81 now. Drive a '27T, and would love to have a late model 60 in it. Love 'em.

Posted by: Ken Walkey | August 10, 2012 at 06:09 PM

Thanks, Al, for your informative and well-documented history. There's not a lot on the web re: midgets that's not either incomplete or inaccurate. I'm trying to put together a history of my dad's connection to midget racing for my siblings. He was a 'stooge' as a kid at Gilmore Stadium and went with the Gilmore gang to Indy in the thirties two or three times. I have a picture of him in a Gilmore Special midget (no date). Dad drove a pick-up push truck in the fifties at races at the Josephine County Fairgrounds outside Grants Pass, OR. I remember watching Bob Christie win in #23 a V-8 60 powered beauty. I'm trying to get more info on racing there, but not having much luck. You know anything?
Thanks, Jim Watt

Posted by: Jim Watt | August 05, 2012 at 02:24 PM

That V8 sounds like a great little engine. I remember my father having one back in the day.

Posted by: auto repair willoughby oh | August 02, 2011 at 08:56 AM