28 March 2017 • Victory Lane

When asked what was the first American Sports Car, some will answer, the Corvette. Most define a sports car as a street-legal two-seater that can also be successfully raced. Introduced in 1953, Corvettes were certainly two-seaters and street-legal, but

they couldn’t be successfully raced until John Fitch transformed them in 1956. Briggs Cunningham and Sterling Edwards built all-American sports cars before that, but in such small numbers that they weren’t considered “production” by the SCCA or the FIA.

But even before that, Powell Crosley Jr. made small sports cars that were street-legal and raced, sometimes rather successfully. Crosley was an amazing personality and undoubtedly a genius. He invented and developed the first car radio, a portable freezer and a fax machine. He was perhaps

better known for developing and marketing push-button car radios and early electric refrigerators. Before WWII, he established the world’s most powerful radio broadcast station. During the war, it broadcast the “Voice of America.” Crosley even entered the Indy 500

in 1939, but broke his arm while trying to crank-start his car, so didn’t start.

Crosely started mass-producing automobiles in 1939 and continued through 1942 when he converted his factory to making mini-jeeps for the U.S. Navy. Car production resumed in 1946 and continued through 1952. In 1948, some 29,000 were made, but after that , production dwind led . Very smal l , Cros leys w e r e t h e f i r s t American compacts after WWII. (Before

the war, the American Austin and its successor, the American Bantam, were compacts.)

Crosley sports cars were introduced in 1950. The first was the Hot Shot followed by the Super Sports. The two models are basically very similar. The most apparent difference is that the Hot Shot doesn’t have doors while the Super

Sports does. The reason was racing. In order to qualify as a sports car, some sanctioning organizations (SCCA in the U.S.) required two functioning doors.

The Super Sports is a very small and ultra-light vehicle. Its heart is an almost indestructible and remarkable engine. Originally, the power plant was called the CoBra. It was developed by the U.S. Navy to provide auxiliary power on ships. CoBra engines were built from steel and copper pressings brazed together in an oven. This method of manufacture, however, proved to be too expensive, so it was replaced by one of cast iron. Called the “CIBA,” (Cast-Iron Block Assembly) it proved to be cheaper to make and was also stronger.

Crosley

America’s First Production Sports Car– story by Art Evans

On August 21, 1949, there was an “American Grand Prix” held on Linden Airport in New Jersey. It was not sanctioned by the SCCA or the AAA. Art Babin entered a Hot Shot, but failed to finish.

Sam Collier’s brother, Miles, congratulates Bob Deshon for winning the Index of Performance at the 1950 Sebring.

Crosley Hot Shot.

Victory Lane • March 2017 29www.victorylane.com

By almost any standard, the engine is tiny. Its four cylinders displace only 721cc. It has a single overhead camshaft that acts directly on the valves through barrel-type followers. The crankshaft runs on five main bearings that allow the engine to safely rev up to 7500 rpm. Pistons, manifolds, the sump and bell housing are all made of aluminum. With a 10:1 compression ratio, it turns out 26.5 bhp. Power is distributed to the rear wheels through a non-synchro-mesh three-speed gearbox.

Production of Crosley sports cars ceased in 1952 after a total of 2,498 units were built; 1,746 were the Super Sports model. When the Super Sports was introduced, it was priced at $925. By 1952, it had risen to $1,029. Even then, these were astonishingly low prices. An MG sold for $1,850.

Manufacture of the engine, however, continued for decades. Even European makers—Moretti, Bandini and Siata—used the engine in some of their models. It was also a favorite of America-specials constructors’ for Class H Modified racing. A supercharger put the car into the next higher

class, roughly doubling the horsepower. A number of aftermarket manufacturers made high-performance products that could power a Super Sports to 100 mph and cut the zero to sixty time in half.

With parts like the top, bumpers and hub caps installed (removed for racing), the Super Sports weighs only a little over 1,100 pounds. Its wheelbase is 85 inches and the overall length, 11½ feet. The tread, both front and rear, is 40 inches. The weight distribution is exactly 50:50.

The chassis is a simple ladder-type. The front end is a beam axle suspended

on semi-elliptic springs while the solid rear axle is on coil springs. There are telescopic shock absorbers on each wheel. The wheels are only 12 inches in diameter.

T h e S u p e r S p o r t s impressed a well-known automotive journalist of the time, Tom McCahill, who wrote in Road & Track, “With a 10 to 1 compression engine that enables it to out jump an MG, this little mechanical

roller skate is a great American sports car. It holds the road like glue and corners actually like a baby Ferrari.”

The Super Sports set the international autosports world on its ear when it won the Index of Performance at the first Sebring race in 1950 with Fritz Koster and Ralph Deshon driving. Sebring came about because Alec Ulmann, one of the original SCCA members, was looking for storage space. While visiting Hendircks Field near Sebring, he noticed that it might be ideal for a road circuit layout. To make a long story short, he organized the first modern-day endurance race, a six-hour event held on December 31. Sanctioned by the SCCA, it was billed as “The Sam Collier Memorial Grand

Prix of Endurance. (Sam Collier had been killed at Watkins Glen two months previously.) More than 30 entered including

Briggs Cunningham in an Aston Martin and John Fitch in an XK120. Deshon had intended to enter his MGTC, but when he found out about the Index of Performance, he borrowed the Crosley. He and co-driver Koster ran the entire race in high gear without shifting. The little car traveled 288.3 miles in the six hours. The second-place Ferrari traveled 1,995 miles, but its displacement was 1950cc while the Crosley’s was only 721. Sebring, of course, went on to became one of America’s major racing events. Ulmann organized the first 12-hour in 1952.

George Schrafft and Phil Stiles drove a Crosley in the 1951 24-Hours of Le Mans. The stock gas tank was so small, they had to fit an additional tank on the passenger side in front

The Crosley Super Sports at the 1950 Sebring with Bob Deshon at the wheel.

The crew at the 1950 Sebring signaled Fritz Koster by writing on a leather suitcase.

Crosley Super Sports Car.

30 March 2017 • Victory Lane

of the seat because Le Mans rules required a set distance before refueling was allowed. Their car was clocked at 98.79 mph on the Mulsanne Straight. While leading their class by a wide margin, the voltage regulator failed causing the generator to burn out. Eventually they lost power and withdrew.

George Sanderson entered a Crosley Super Sports in the first twelve-hour race at Sebring in 1952. His mechanic, George Jasberg, drove the car to Florida from New York. Jasberg recalls that the car needed some work before the race. The good news was they found a hangar to work in; the bad news was the hanger didn’t have any electricity. George had planned to drive the twelve hours solo. The Cunningham Siata (with a Crosley engine) broke, so Briggs told George he would spell him. The race

started at noon, but by the time it was dark, the generator in the Crosley went out. A fix was effected after an almost three hour pit stop. Sanderson went out again and covered 73 laps, finishing in dead last, but finishing.

Crosleys were a favorite among a few early fifties-era small-bore racing enthusiasts with

many winning their SCCA class (H). At the June 25, 1950 road race at the former Navy Blimp Base in Santa Ana, California, three were a clean sweep in their class. Road & Track staffer, Henry Manney I I I , d r o v e a s u p e r c h a r g e d Crosley to third overall in the very first race ever held at Pebble Beach on November 5, 1950. Manney continued to race the car, but overturned at Palm Springs on April Fools Day in 1951. Of only 13 finishers in the main event, two were Crosleys. Bill Devin was 10th overall and first in

class in his fiberglass-bodied Crosley Special.Cannonball Baker set a record run in a

Crosley that, unlike his previous speed runs, set a record for mileage. He drove from the Crosley factory in Cincinnati to Los Angeles

and back through Louisiana, Florida and New York, covering 6,517 miles averaging over 50 miles per gallon.

Production of Crosleys dwindled to only 300 a month in 1951. The next year, Crosley sold out to General Tire and Rubber. After 1952, production came to a final halt.

There is an active Crosley Automobile Club (www.crosleyautoclub.com). The organization has a yearly convention. I have heard that a number of Crosley Super Sports have been and are currently vintage raced. (Randy, maybe you have some photos and/or info.)

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TIME FOR FUN

Art Babin drove a supercharged Crosley Hot Shot at the Heart Trophy Race at Westhampton, N.Y, on May 7, 1950. The event was sanctioned by the AAA, not the SCCA, so the doorless Hot Shot was accepted.

The Deshon/Koster Crosley Super Sports was prepared the night before the 1950 Sebring event. Tom Cole is holding a can of oil while Erwin Goldschmidt looks on.

The Deshon/Koster Crosley Super Sports racing at night at Sebring in 1950.