The words Sensible and Ivan not heard together that often and it’s just one reason we love him… I haven’t heard the phrase ‘that’s why it’s in the piss’ for ages 😂👍
When I was a little boy my father would take me to the dirt track in Haubstadt, Indiana and we would watch the midget and super-modified races. I remember the fragrance of castor oil wafting through the bleachers. They used it as a lubricant admixture, much like motorcycle engines. During the intermissions between races my dad would pick me up and I could look down and see the brass Offenhauser I.D. tag on the cam cover.There should be a serial number on there. These frames and engines were all built in California but for some reason there were many of them in this part of the country. About 100 miles northeast of here near the back entrance of Turkey Run State Park, one can find the tattered remnants of the wooden-covered grandstands of the old Jungle Park Race Track where many Indianapolis racers got started in this part of the country. There is nothing left of the track itself. It was once covered in cinders and considered one of the more dangerous tracks in this part of the country. There is an historical plaque there identifying the structure. I loved the shot of Suzie in the Caruso-Bugatti! If either of you ever travel to the United States I would love to meet you.
Thanks for doing this series. I grew up in dirt track country in eastern PA and saw those machines race as a kid in the 1950's and '60's. I saw Ivan had a Caruso car and saw the Kurtis in the background so many times and wondered what Ivan's connection was. This video answered a lot of questions for me. Harry A. Miller Company is still active in Troy, Michigan. They have preserved most of the original fabrication drawings from Leo Goosen and Harry Miller's efforts on Offy engines and Miller cars. As I understand it they can make original parts for restoring the old midgets and "big" sprint cars which is part of their business today. I hope Ivan can get that car onto a proper dirt track and have a go.
Ivan, you really do fit you title of Shed racing, you understand 'poor mans racing', the idea of building and running your own cars, and what a nice day to be mucking around, 'you lucky people', Peter.
Midget and other classes of small open wheel cars are still very popular in some areas of the States, Pennsylvania and Ohio on the East Coast are two examples. They are raced on a packed clay oval track. They are very fast and have a reputation for being relatively dangerous for the drivers. The modern cars are equipped with a full cage, even so fatalities do occasionally occur. Not for the faint of heart !!
I'll watch anything you put up about that fierce old thing. You could do nothing but Kurtis Offy content 'til the end of time and I'd never get bored. 303-40s American dirt track is a whole different world than any other kind of motorsport. I can't get enough of it
The olde bugger just cracks me up. Bottomless enthusiasm. The first thing he will be doing is doughnuts. Cant wait for the next eppisode. Thanks for the visual ride. Bw from the Forest of Blackness, Mike.
What an AWESOME video. I'm an Australian Sprint Car racer, now living (and racing) in the Midwest, USA. Its amazing to think that modern Midgets and Sprint Cars haven't changed much to this day. Yes, today's engines develop much more power, suspensions are refined and way more tunable, drive lines have a little more fineness, but the overall concept remains the same. Solid live rear axle, rear spur gear quick change, beam axle front end, king pin front spindles, torque tube and ball. Its all the same stuff used today on cars that are lapping 1/4 mile tracks in 11 seconds and doing 160 mph on mile dirt tracks. Such a simple, yet pure form of racing. I absolutely love your channel. Keep up the GREAT work.
Ivan, speaking earnestly, “Well, this is a very serious racing car.” Susie, speaking matter of factly with no hint of irony, “I think it’s ideal for an 84 year old man.” Shed Racing dialogue is priceless!
I am not sure if Ivan reads these comments but I love that he has a KK Offy in the UK. I am not sure how much he knows about that particular car but I have one of George Middletons "Pizza Hut of St Louis" cars restored and had the pleasure of meeting George , Larry Griffiths (his chief mechanic) and Roger West , (the driver pictured in the video in the 1970 caged car). I believe the car Ivan has is a 1947 Kurtis Kraft chassis #223, the fiberglass nose, whilst not original, is a period correct modification sold by Charlie Peck (ie a "Peck" nose). The caged car shown with Roger West driving is however a completely different later Pizza Hut car bought new in late 1969 and is a 4bar Edmunds car with a space frame chassis which is the car I have restored in Australia. To add to the confusion there is a third car (where abouts unknown) painted in identical Pizza Hut colours built by Indy car legend AJ Watson. Hope you have fun with your midget, I have 5 and still drive them (on dirt) at 92 years old If you do see this Ivan please reach out.
Wonderful information in another Great video. I loved watching 'Dirt track Sprint Races' as a young man,and I miss them on TV. My brothers had Slot Cars shaped like that,but the 'Indy Racers' was what they pretended at.(Most viewers are probably too young to remember slot-cars 4-ish inches long with braided steel for brushes.)
Similar midgets [speedcars in Australia & NZ} competed in Formula Libre and F1 races back in the late 1950s. Roger Ward won a FL race at Lime Rock in one and contested the 1959 US GP at Sebring Florida.
Have a Chat with Alan Cartwright, of The Lazy Car Dealer fame on TV, Ivan or Suzie. He can get access to a banger track for you to try the midgets out on. We still race midgets here in NZ....😊
Hi from Hervey Bay Queensland, my family were involved in the speedway in the early days in Sydney and Westmead. My dad had one of Jack Brabhams first midgets and was helping a mate who had a BRM powered midget until he rolled and snapped it in two. The BRM engine was eventually sold to a group in the UK who have plans to put it back into the original chassis that they have.
Thanks again Shed Team as always! I loved the midget stories as well as the story about the Alfa P3. It would be wonderful if someone could collect all of Ivan's stories in the same way that Duncan Hamilton did for his book. Or even if Ivan recounted events sitting in front of his bookcase. Ivan's grassroots racing experience spans several important periods of racing history. Suzie can you get him to share more stories on the channel?
I really enjoy your program, your driving and your philosophy, being from n e Scotland saw Jim Clark’s first race at Crimond and have been enamored by everything automotive since, my dad owned a fwd ex brooklands Alvis , I was in the auto business in Fortlauderdale in the seventies and Bill Dzus was a very nice customer of mine, bemoning how hard the family’s business was at the time! Keep up the good work laddie?
Ivan does it again. I can't do anything when i know there is a video to watch. Give me 2 days before the next one, i must finish the shower room first. Wonderful.
Loved these Midget races as a Kid. That's what it was called back then in the 60's & 70's here in the U.S. Most time's it's more fun to watch because all the Driver's on the track wanted to win. In the bigger car's with larger sponsors they're just happy to keep the sponsored car running the hole race. The lower the budget the better IMO. 😎👌
Now we have outlaw cars similar to these with 700hp v8 on methanol, basically a engine bolted to 4wheels , with a saddle and fuel tank! Absolute monsters!
I've been into cars since i was 6 years old im 67 now but i have been following cars especially old classics a friend of mine was saying to me about shed racing ... i said straight away you are talking about Ivan Dutton he daid how do you khow ? i said you are not a petrol head in the uk with out knowing about Ivan!! that midget racer with an Offenhauser 4 running on ethanol or methanol will be fierce. Offenhauser's dominated the Indy 500 for years then along came Jim Clark an ford an lotus!!! please look after Ivan he is a national treasure .
I love Speedway. I have spent a lot of time around Midgets and a lot of time around and racing Sprintcars. Sprintcars are the bigger brothers of Speedcars/ Midgets.
Dash plates for cars built prior to 1948 were red , cars built after 1948 had a black tag , you should also find a chassis number stamped on the frame located between the two pieces of tubing that form the cowl hoop.
Oh this is brilliant. If you do take the engine apart, please make sure you video the bits with care and detail. Bugatti,Miller,Offenhauser all together. Look at that twin overhead cam engine. The original genre of what came to be called midgets would have been county fair racers. Model T engines,Model A,whatever parts available in the area when a man decided he wanted to go racing. There must have been some really screwy setups. And Pizza Hut from 1970 or so. Bet this car had some stories. If it could only talk.... No doubt could say the same thing with a lot of the old iron Ivan works on.
Miller was more of an idea man. The real designer of the Miller/Offenhauser was Miller's draftsman/designer...Leo Goosen. Miller would say, "we need a supercharger", but Goosen was the one to design it and Offenhauser machined it....yet Miller gets all the credit.
Hi Ivan . I used to live in Australia in the 1960s and went to the Brisbane speedway every Saturday night and the highlight of the night was the Midgets or as they called them Speedcars . Some had Holden engines amongst others but if you had money they bought the American Offy. It was carnage at times open top with no roll cage . The Offys were that fast they had to have a handicap . I believe the cyl head and block are cast as one I am puzzled to know how they get the valves in and out plus how do they lap the valves in . Regards Phil
If you can, check out 'The Big Wheel' starring Mickey Rooney from about 1949, cheesey storyline as you would expect from an old B&W movie of that era, but some good clips of actual racing footage, also some quick workshop shots showing flathead V8s and DOHC Offy engines.
Ivan's got some great cars. But a Frank Kurtiss midget?, Wow. Got to get the later race chair outa there, and some original style R&P upholstery. No "A" parts on Kurtiss Kraft cars! Brakes should be Airheart. Love to see it going,,,Love,,Dubs
I’m wondering if you can’t secure the rear axle on stands with the wheels clear of the ground and borrow one of those set ups the motorcycle racers use to spin rear wheel and get them started. At least then you can hv a good look and listen to the engine running before you attempt to drive it.
Great car! your li’l flathead pick up with a push bar would be pretty period.. or in true “American Style” push bar on the 308 Ferrari.. oh and a set of Steer horns to finish off the look ..haha…
I can't believe Ivan has only 23K subscribers. This is the best channel on RUclips.
You can believe that mate. I don't know anyone who has done as much as he.
The words Sensible and Ivan not heard together that often and it’s just one reason we love him…
I haven’t heard the phrase ‘that’s why it’s in the piss’ for ages 😂👍
I can't wait to see Ivan tooling around in it around his property. You can see his excitement every time he talks about it. Love the channel.
When I was a little boy my father would take me to the dirt track in Haubstadt, Indiana and we would watch the midget and super-modified races. I remember the fragrance of castor oil wafting through the bleachers. They used it as a lubricant admixture, much like motorcycle engines. During the intermissions between races my dad would pick me up and I could look down and see the brass Offenhauser I.D. tag on the cam cover.There should be a serial number on there. These frames and engines were all built in California but for some reason there were many of them in this part of the country. About 100 miles northeast of here near the back entrance of Turkey Run State Park, one can find the tattered remnants of the wooden-covered grandstands of the old Jungle Park Race Track where many Indianapolis racers got started in this part of the country. There is nothing left of the track itself. It was once covered in cinders and considered one of the more dangerous tracks in this part of the country. There is an historical plaque there identifying the structure. I loved the shot of Suzie in the Caruso-Bugatti! If either of you ever travel to the United States I would love to meet you.
Thanks for doing this series. I grew up in dirt track country in eastern PA and saw those machines race as a kid in the 1950's and '60's. I saw Ivan had a Caruso car and saw the Kurtis in the background so many times and wondered what Ivan's connection was. This video answered a lot of questions for me. Harry A. Miller Company is still active in Troy, Michigan. They have preserved most of the original fabrication drawings from Leo Goosen and Harry Miller's efforts on Offy engines and Miller cars. As I understand it they can make original parts for restoring the old midgets and "big" sprint cars which is part of their business today. I hope Ivan can get that car onto a proper dirt track and have a go.
Thanks to Susie with the Ice Cream, Ivan breaking into his rendition of the old Wall's Cornetto song was something to behold.😂
Ivan, you really do fit you title of Shed racing, you understand 'poor mans racing', the idea of building and running your own cars, and what a nice day to be mucking around, 'you lucky people', Peter.
Blimey! That"pug" launched a bit quick , without many revs😂
Midget and other classes of small open wheel cars are still very popular in some areas of the States, Pennsylvania and Ohio on the East Coast are two examples. They are raced on a packed clay oval track. They are very fast and have a reputation for being relatively dangerous for the drivers. The modern cars are equipped with a full cage, even so fatalities do occasionally occur.
Not for the faint of heart !!
I'll watch anything you put up about that fierce old thing. You could do nothing but Kurtis Offy content 'til the end of time and I'd never get bored.
303-40s American dirt track is a whole different world than any other kind of motorsport. I can't get enough of it
Brilliant as always!
What a title...
I have yet to watch the full video, but i already know that it would be a good one!
Love it Ivan, a proper white knuckle ride!
I think you will find midget racing is very popular in NZ.
The greatest 2 wheel dirt track moto racer of all time... Ivan Major
Barry Briggs - When the red, red Robins ....
Ivan Mauger
Can't wait to see Ivan driving the midget. Very entertaining and informative, love the videos.
Your accelerator pedal was made here in my city.. Cedar Rapids Iowa... it's a small world. Cheers from a shed in Cedar Rapids.
Bloody Brilliant, Thanks most enjoyable.
The olde bugger just cracks me up. Bottomless enthusiasm. The first thing he will be doing is doughnuts. Cant wait for the next eppisode. Thanks for the visual ride. Bw from the Forest of Blackness, Mike.
What an AWESOME video. I'm an Australian Sprint Car racer, now living (and racing) in the Midwest, USA. Its amazing to think that modern Midgets and Sprint Cars haven't changed much to this day. Yes, today's engines develop much more power, suspensions are refined and way more tunable, drive lines have a little more fineness, but the overall concept remains the same. Solid live rear axle, rear spur gear quick change, beam axle front end, king pin front spindles, torque tube and ball. Its all the same stuff used today on cars that are lapping 1/4 mile tracks in 11 seconds and doing 160 mph on mile dirt tracks. Such a simple, yet pure form of racing. I absolutely love your channel. Keep up the GREAT work.
As a Yank open wheel guy, I love that, for everything he's owned and driven, Ivan says of the KK: "Because, this is a REAL racing car..."
Thanks Ivan, I love Offy midgets. Can’t wait for the next episode. Cheers.
that is a fantic chopper- another one of my 'loves' ; )) in the most interesting workshop that I can imagine : )
Fantastic!
Love seeing this stuff!!
MOARRRRRR!!!!!
Ivan Dutton is the best entertainment on RUclips!
The work experience Zac is doing a great job, good to see him thinking about what to do next!
My old mate back in California his dad built midgets mate drove them Offy engined monsters 👍 his name was Jack Balch .
Used to watch midget racing in Kirby and New Brighton UK in the 70's, it was one of these that threw up a stone and hit me in the family jewels 😮😮😮😮😮
Ivan, speaking earnestly, “Well, this is a very serious racing car.” Susie, speaking matter of factly with no hint of irony, “I think it’s ideal for an 84 year old man.” Shed Racing dialogue is priceless!
Great episode, and super to meet up with you again at Prescott again!
Wonderful content Shed Racing, for me it's just like I'm there hanging out with mates looking at and hearing interesting stuff.
I am not sure if Ivan reads these comments but I love that he has a KK Offy in the UK. I am not sure how much he knows about that particular car but I have one of George Middletons "Pizza Hut of St Louis" cars restored and had the pleasure of meeting George , Larry Griffiths (his chief mechanic) and Roger West , (the driver pictured in the video in the 1970 caged car). I believe the car Ivan has is a 1947 Kurtis Kraft chassis #223, the fiberglass nose, whilst not original, is a period correct modification sold by Charlie Peck (ie a "Peck" nose). The caged car shown with Roger West driving is however a completely different later Pizza Hut car bought new in late 1969 and is a 4bar Edmunds car with a space frame chassis which is the car I have restored in Australia. To add to the confusion there is a third car (where abouts unknown) painted in identical Pizza Hut colours built by Indy car legend AJ Watson. Hope you have fun with your midget, I have 5 and still drive them (on dirt) at 92 years old If you do see this Ivan please reach out.
Yes, i'd love to talk further - my email is at the top of my channel - please do contact me through that and we can talk further
Fantastic as always😮😮😊thanks Ivan
Love today's content, thanks
WOW , cant wait to see the next video , thank you
Wonderful information in another Great video. I loved watching 'Dirt track Sprint Races' as a young man,and I miss them on TV. My brothers had Slot Cars shaped like that,but the 'Indy Racers' was what they pretended at.(Most viewers are probably too young to remember slot-cars 4-ish inches long with braided steel for brushes.)
Another great video, keep em coming.
Similar midgets [speedcars in Australia & NZ} competed in Formula Libre and F1 races back in the late 1950s. Roger Ward won a FL race at Lime Rock in one and contested the 1959 US GP at Sebring Florida.
Have a Chat with Alan Cartwright, of The Lazy Car Dealer fame on TV, Ivan or Suzie. He can get access to a banger track for you to try the midgets out on. We still race midgets here in NZ....😊
These Midget racers are fabulous, but I can’t help thinking that we need a video on the Fantic Chopper too !
🇮🇹 🏍
I used to go to the EKKA speedway in Brisbane in the e4arly 1950s and can remember Bob Two Gun Tattersal cleaning up the aussies in his offy
Hi from Hervey Bay Queensland, my family were involved in the speedway in the early days in Sydney and Westmead. My dad had one of Jack Brabhams first midgets and was helping a mate who had a BRM powered midget until he rolled and snapped it in two. The BRM engine was eventually sold to a group in the UK who have plans to put it back into the original chassis that they have.
Thanks again Shed Team as always! I loved the midget stories as well as the story about the Alfa P3. It would be wonderful if someone could collect all of Ivan's stories in the same way that Duncan Hamilton did for his book. Or even if Ivan recounted events sitting in front of his bookcase. Ivan's grassroots racing experience spans several important periods of racing history. Suzie can you get him to share more stories on the channel?
I hope if i reach Ivan's age, i have the energy and enthusiasm he has, coz i dont now, and im 64 !
I really enjoy your program, your driving and your philosophy, being from n e Scotland saw Jim Clark’s first race at Crimond and have been enamored by everything automotive since, my dad owned a fwd ex brooklands Alvis , I was in the auto business in Fortlauderdale in the seventies and Bill Dzus was a very nice customer of mine, bemoning how hard the family’s business was at the time! Keep up the good work laddie?
Ooooh, this is going to be good!
Ivan does it again. I can't do anything when i know there is a video to watch. Give me 2 days before the next one, i must finish the shower room first.
Wonderful.
excellent
Klasse, I like this old man!
I reckon that 'blipping the throttle' had its origins in WW1 fighter planes. When they needed to scrub-off a bit of airspeed to land.
I adore midget racers, there used to be a couple in the Donington collection.
Im not a big fan of 4 cylinder engines but i do love Offys.
Offys were perhaps the greatest racing engine of all time
Great video, looking forward to seeing Ivan driving the Offy.
Please can we have a two wheeler video some time? I love the Fabric chopper
Loved these Midget races as a Kid. That's what it was called back then in the 60's & 70's here in the U.S. Most time's it's more fun to watch because all the Driver's on the track wanted to win. In the bigger car's with larger sponsors they're just happy to keep the sponsored car running the hole race. The lower the budget the better IMO. 😎👌
Fabulous!
Ivan the Magician always conjures up a new car out of his hat 😀 🏁🏁🏁🏁🏁
Now we have outlaw cars similar to these with 700hp v8 on methanol, basically a engine bolted to 4wheels , with a saddle and fuel tank! Absolute monsters!
I'm about 5'4" & it looks just right to me !
My partner and I have restored 8 or 10 midgets , a few sprint cars, a dirt champ car, and just recently a 3/4 midget with a Crossly engine
“Hicksville” I don’t believe it , there is such a place !
You mentioned Zephyr Hills race track, I’m a Brit living near there, so I’m going to check this out.
I've been into cars since i was 6 years old im 67 now but i have been following cars especially old classics a friend of mine was saying to me about shed racing ... i said straight away you are talking about Ivan Dutton he daid how do you khow ? i said you are not a petrol head in the uk with out knowing about Ivan!! that midget racer with an Offenhauser 4 running on ethanol or methanol will be fierce. Offenhauser's dominated the Indy 500 for years then along came Jim Clark an ford an lotus!!! please look after Ivan he is a national treasure .
I love Speedway. I have spent a lot of time around Midgets and a lot of time around and racing Sprintcars. Sprintcars are the bigger brothers of Speedcars/ Midgets.
Dash plates for cars built prior to 1948 were red , cars built after 1948 had a black tag , you should also find a chassis number stamped on the frame located between the two pieces of tubing that form the cowl hoop.
Offy midget engine 150HP?, Hell Ivan they make a lot more than that!!!! Love,,Dubs
Vetture bellissime! Il commentatore somiglia a Sir Stirling Moss. ❤ Molto interessante!
I just noticed the Fantic Chopper in the background but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.
It looks like it's the 125. Maybe Zack's?
No it’s Ivan’s ! And yes a 125
Poor John, didnt get an icecream.. 😄
Oh this is brilliant. If you do take the engine apart, please make sure you video the bits with care and detail. Bugatti,Miller,Offenhauser all together. Look at that twin overhead cam engine.
The original genre of what came to be called midgets would have been county fair racers. Model T engines,Model A,whatever parts available in the area when a man decided he wanted to go racing. There must have been some really screwy setups.
And Pizza Hut from 1970 or so.
Bet this car had some stories. If it could only talk....
No doubt could say the same thing with a lot of the old iron Ivan works on.
Miller was more of an idea man. The real designer of the Miller/Offenhauser was Miller's draftsman/designer...Leo Goosen. Miller would say, "we need a supercharger", but Goosen was the one to design it and Offenhauser machined it....yet Miller gets all the credit.
I remember reading in Ken Purdys "Kings of the Road" of Kurtis Kraft chassis and Meyer Drake engines, were they big time?
It's a small world, I live close to the town of Pullayap in Washington state. where that car raced. Go figure it would end up in the U.K.
Hi Ivan . I used to live in Australia in the 1960s and went to the Brisbane speedway every Saturday night and the highlight of the night was the Midgets or as they called them Speedcars . Some had Holden engines amongst others but if you had money they bought the American Offy. It was carnage at times open top with no roll cage . The Offys were that fast they had to have a handicap . I believe the cyl head and block are cast as one I am puzzled to know how they get the valves in and out plus how do they lap the valves in . Regards Phil
If you can, check out 'The Big Wheel' starring Mickey Rooney from about 1949, cheesey storyline as you would expect from an old B&W movie of that era, but some good clips of actual racing footage, also some quick workshop shots showing flathead V8s and DOHC Offy engines.
26:00. Absolute nutter. Wonderful.
Ivan's got some great cars. But a Frank Kurtiss midget?, Wow. Got to get the later race chair outa there, and some original style R&P upholstery. No "A" parts on Kurtiss Kraft cars! Brakes should be Airheart. Love to see it going,,,Love,,Dubs
It is a small world. At one time that car was from the town I live in in Washington State U.S.A.
I’m wondering if you can’t secure the rear axle on stands with the wheels clear of the ground and borrow one of those set ups the motorcycle racers use to spin rear wheel and get them started. At least then you can hv a good look and listen to the engine running before you attempt to drive it.
Ivan.
Are they early magnesium Halibrand wheels?
A friend of mine has a tin side V8 60 under a bench.
Great car! your li’l flathead pick up with a push bar would be pretty period.. or in true “American Style” push bar on the 308 Ferrari.. oh and a set of Steer horns to finish off the look ..haha…
Hey, that's a Fantic Chopper in the background.
Haha I didn't want to comment, but what was that monstrosity of a 2-stroke chopper? I've never seen anything so silly.
Ivan, do you know anyone looking for a Napier Lion valve cover?
Should be fun😊!
Ain't those hubs on the wrong sides?
They are DZUS FASTENERS
26:55 faster than a tesla i think damn
👍🇦🇺
Fit a clutch and pub trip it....
Ted
nothing cheap about racing those these days
suzi looking lovely, with the cornetoes,, time for the wet tee shirt