The legendary J2X was a limited production competition roadster, with only 83 produced between 1951 and 1954. Approximately 60 still exist today. Allard Motor Company never produced its own engines, rather it successfully integrated existing American V-8 power plants into its cars to great effect. Some factory Allard J2Xs were equipped with a Ford-Mercury flathead, or more commonly, the 331 cu. in. Cadillac / Chrysler 331 Hemi Firepower that made its racing success legendary. At the rear, the J2X’s sported a unique deDion differential, and an innovative independent suspension, well ahead of its time.

The Allard’s racing notoriety came at the hands of individuals who are now legends in their own rights – Sydney Allard, Zora Arkus Duntov (Corvette pioneer), General Curtis LeMay (Commander of the Strategic Air Command), Carroll Shelby (entire 1953 season) and Steve McQueen.

Chassis #3211 was one of only five cars issued with an Oldsmobile 371 CI engine and was purchased from the factory by Gines Arimany, for a Guatemalan General who raced the car in street races in Central America for several years. It came to the USA and was restored in 1977, taking prize winnings at Pebble Beach Concours, as well as 5 consecutive class wins at the Monterey Historics throughout the 1980s! The historically eligible car then participated in the 1987 Mille Miglia race in Italy with John Gorsline and Brian Redman driving. More recently, the car has participated in many famous rallies stateside such as the Colorado Grand.

The Allard J2X was often called “THE BRUTE” and was the car to beat in the early days of sports car racing in the US. The Allard Formula of European chassis engineering with American power has become a classic combination leading the way to such notable cars as the AC 427 Cobra, the Sunbeam Tiger, and even the Pantera.

“The Red Lobster”
IMSA GTP was an American sports car racing series organized by John Bishop, and his International Motor Sports Association from 1981 to 1992. It was a follow up series to the successful IMSA GT Series of the late 70’s that featured such automotive icons as the Porsche 911RSR, the 935 Turbo, and the Chevy Corvette. The GTP cars were of course prototype cars fashioned to go up against the FIA Group C cars of Le Mans, and the World Endurance Championship, but without the fuel restrictions. Many such cars actually competed in both series, and were driven by such legends as Derek Bell, Hurley Haywood, Al Holbert, and Brian Redman.

March Engineering, a British Chassis manufacturer began building race cars in 1969, and has won races in every race series from Formula Ford, to Indy, to Can Am, and to F1. March built four of the 83G (1983 model) to IMSA GTP  specifications. None other than noted designer and aerodynamicist, Adrian Newey (of Red Bull F1 Team fame) designed this true “ground effects” car. Three of the GTP cars were bought by Al Holbert, who raced two cars with the  Chevrolet V8.

Chassis #3 was originally raced by Holbert with a 366 Chevrolet small block. It ran in red and whiter livery with CRC Chemicals / Red Roof Inn sponsorship. In four races in 1983 IMSA he earned a 2nd at Riverside, and 1st in Miami, Mid Ohio and Laguna Seca. Holbert sold the car to David Cowart and Kemper Miller, who were sponsored by Red Lobster. They were stockbroker / racer ‘privateers’ and up against the cubic money of much more well endowed sponsorships and factory teams. With that in mind, their results were remarkable: In ’83 they were on the podium at Brainerd IMSA, Sears Point, Mosport and scored a 4th at the Daytona finale. In 1984 they were 2nd at Laguna Seca, Mosport and  Michigan, 3rd at Riverside, 4th at Road Atlanta, 6th at Sears Point and Lime Rock. Cowart noted that “the car was brutal to drive with such stiff springs and high g-force cornering capabilities, that I was glad to hand the car over after a 20
minute stint”.

In the world of early GTP cars, the March 83G in this livery and sponsorship was arguably one of the best known cars of its day due to the distinctive graphics that suited the shape of the car; so much so, that IMSA leased the car from  Miller, as a promotional demonstration car for media events!

The car has been featured numerous times in Vintage Motorsports Magazine cover features.

For more information about the build and the car, feel free to give us a ring.

A good time was had by all.

What we’re building

Since it first turned a wheel in anger, the Chevrolet Corvette has remained America’s true sports car,  and was destined to become an undisputed icon of American Road Racing. For more than 5 decades, this car has delivered its drivers to the Winners Circle more often than any other American design. With that pedigree, it is only fitting that the Corvette was chosen by RaceKraft&Design as the ideal platform to develop an adapted race car for the mobility impaired driver.

Craig Rehabilitation Hospital in Englewood, Colorado, is a world leader in spinal cord injury rehabilitation hospital and research center.  Patients come from all over the world benefit from the progressive research and rehabilitative techniques at Craig Hospital to gain restored mobility and function.  As the “driving force” at Craig Hospital, neurosurgeon Dr. Scott Falci makes much of this small miracle possible by pushing forward the science and practice of mobility restoration  from neurologic injury. All Craig patients are inevitably faced with one of the greatest challenges of their lives, each going through the  personal journey of self-questioning, eventual reinvigoration and empowerment. It is with this in mind that Dr Scott Falci, cofounder of Falci Adaptive Motorsports reached out to RaceKraft & Design to demonstrate the true power of the Human Spirit, and what it can accomplish when confronted with adversity.

Enter Mike Bauer, an SCCA racer with an inextinguishable passion for motorsports who was injured in a fateful motorcycle accident several years ago, and is now paraplegic. He has been a patient of Craig Hospital now for many years and views the return to motorsports as the penultimate goal of his neurologic recovery. The indelible spirit of Mr. Bauer has served as an inspiration to the constructors of RaceKraft & Design to conceive, design, and build a C5 series Corvette with hand controls and special ingress/egress capabilities for the mobility impaired driver. Our goal is to provide Falci Motorsports with a fully race ready Corvette that Mr. Bauer can use to demonstrate the capabilities of a mobility impaired driver, bringing this ferocious beast to the very edge of its performance envelope. At the same time, the car can provide a lucky passenger with the thrill of their life, and can accommodate a mobility impaired passenger as well.

The process of designing and building such a unique vehicle has been anything but straightforward. Unique control systems for throttle, braking , and gear selection, for a street vehicle have been adapted to the demanding environment of road racing. Compared to a “traditional build”, the challenges of building a mobility impaired machine are many, and the project marches on with continued engineering challenges. We look forward to this car hitting the race circuits of North America in many different exhibition capacities. . . Follow the adventure along with us!

In the shop

The 914/6 was short lived with only 3360 examples produced between 1970 and 1972. All featured the 2.0 liter flat-six engine. It was raced using different engine configurations. This included the ‘T’ specification, which was basically a stock 911 engine. Another popular configuration was to use a converted Carrera 6 engine.

In 1970 Porsche entered a 914/6 GT in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It finished 6th overall and won its class.

911RSR-2010

Description: 1974/5 Porsche RSR “IMSA GTU” Replica with fresh 2.8 Liter engine, developed and built by RaceKraft & Design. I have owned the car since 1993 competing in PCA Club and Vintage racing. The car had numerous victories and podium finishes. Detailed specifications and additional photos are available upon request.
Class: HSR C6 “IMSA GTU” and PCA 4R
Weight: approximately 2000 lbs.

Engine:

Transmission/Transaxle:
G-50 5 speed with Tilton with twin disc clutch and WEVO flywheel limited slip and 8:31 ring and pinion. Custom built 935-style shifter

Fuel Cell:
17 gal Fuel Safe with internal baffle and surge tank with twin Holley racing pumps and Canton Mecca canister type

Oil System:
19 quart aluminum tank with baffles relocated to front trunk and hood B&B cooler with Canton Mecca filtration and hard lines.

Chassis:
Full cage tied into the front and rear pick-up points. Front has raised spindles, 935 Camber Plates; lower tubular A-arms mounted in heim joints. Rear has aluminum trailing arms with adjustable 935-style camber boxes and spring plates. Fully adjustable anti-roll bars. Bilstein RSR custom-valved coilovers.

Brakes:
993 Turbo 4 piston front and rear with 13.5 vented and cross-drilled rotors and twin AP master cylinders with remote reservoirs. Tilton brake bias dash adjustable and RSR-style pedal assembly

Wheels:
Fuchs 3 piece modular wheels 10×16 front and 12×16 rear

Bodywork:
Porsche RSR 3.0L bodywork with removable front and rear “clips”and IROC 55” wide tail.

1969 McLaren M10 Formula 5000

For 1965, the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) created three new single-seater formulae: Formula A, for 3-litre racing engines, Formula B (later better known as Formula Atlantic) for 1.6-litre production-based (‘stock block’) engines and Formula C for 1.1-litre engines. The capacities chosen matched the forthcoming 1966 Formula 1 (3-litres), the planned 1967 Formula 2 (1.6-litres) and the long-established Formula Junior (1.1-litres). For 1968, the SCCA opened up Formula A to stock block engines of up to five litres, thus allowing in the 302ci Chevrolet engine that had been introduced for the SCCA’s Trans-Am series. Major racing car constructors now built cars for the 5-litre rules, notably Eagle, winners in 1968 and 1969; McLaren, winners with the M10B in 1970 and 1971; Chevron whose B24 model won the British and Tasman series in 1973/74 and Lola, dominant from 1974 to 1976 with the classic T332.

Previous Owners of Chassis #300-12: Bob Esseks(1970), Will Painter (1971-1973), Glen Brown (1973-1975), Jan Label (1975-1985), Chuck Haines (1985-1986), Lou Pavesi (1986-1988), Wes McNay (1988-2004), Kirt Bennett (2004-2006), Dan Lipetz (2006-2008), George Frey (2008 to present).

McLaren M10-A chassis #300-12 in 1969

Racing History of Chassis #300-12:
Imported to the USA by Lothar Motschenbacher from Trojan and was sold to Bob Essex in July 1969. This was one of two M10As brought into the United States that year. This car was piloted by Sam Posey at Road America that year while waiting for his own M10A. Bob Essex drove the car to the Northeastern Divisional Championship in 1970. The car continued in the hands of east coast racer Bob Esseks from September 1970 onwards as replacement for Esseks’ other McLaren M10A chassis 300-9 which Esseks damaged at Mid Ohio in September 1970. Esseks finished second in this car at the 1970 SCCA runoffs. The car was sold by Esseks to Will Painter who ran the car in several F5000 races during the 1971 season. Merle Brennan raced the car in numerous events, including F5000 races before selling to Glen Brown in late 1973. Glen Brown raced the car mainly in the Pacific Northwest for two years before selling to Jan Label in November 1975. Jan Label raced the car for several years, winning divisional championships in 1976 and 1977. He then stored the car until selling it to Chuck Haines in September 1985. Lou Pavesi and his son ran the car in multiple vintage events before selling to Wes McNay in December 1988. Wes McNay documented the car’s history and commissioned a rebuild of the tub by Bahner. The original bulkheads and roll bar were used in the rebuild. McNay sold the car to Kirt Bennett, who subsequently completed the restoration of the car for Dan Lipetz in late 2006. George Frey of RaceKraft & Design bought car in 2008, installed a regulation engine as well as modified the suspension and engine oiling system. This car is now powered by a 580-horsepower 302CI Chevrolet ‘small block’ V-8, and with its monocoque body weighing only 1,500 pounds, it is capable of reaching over 200 MPH on a straight. The car now races in vintage events in Colorado and other U.S. venues.