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Old amateur photos
from a Milwaukee area
eBay seller

A mixed bag at about a dollar apiece

Actually a mixed baker's dozen, including several duplicates. There were apparently nine original negatives and four extra prints.

That is all the information I had when I posted these on 11-04-01 and sent a message to the Racing History newsgroup. As of this 11-09-01 update there've been responses from "CooP" and "moleary" and Michael T. Lynch, to each of whom I am grateful. You can read the messages (and many others, all on interesting subjects) on the group site; I've transferred the information, as I understand it, to these pages.


Click: the photo for a Medium-size (???x500) version
"S" for Standard-size (600x???)
"C"
for Cropped BIG size (792x???)

It's Indy, 1940 !

01  Thumbnail: photo 01     02  Thumbnail: photo 02      

     S        C      S        C      

From a grandstand seat, looking at Turn Four as the field comes around for the green flag.

The photographer moved down to the fence and captured . . .  

Who? There's a number "16" on the side ahead of the driver's compartment, "CooP" agrees if it were a race number it would be Frank Brisko. He qualified the Elgin Piston Pin/Frank Brisko Stevens/Brisko 8th at 122.716 mph. Finished 9th, 193 laps, won $1,863; however . . .

I guessed it looked like a Maserati, but I'm advised by Michael T. Lynch that the photo-02 car is not one of the four like and one unique Maseratis at Indy in 1940. The similar cars were numbers 1, 22, 29, and 49. The other, looking only remotely like the car in 02, was number 39, Henry Banks in the Hollis A. Chessman Maserati V8Ri. Michael said the drilled-out rear suspension arm on the car in 02 is inconsistent with that Maserati.

Banks did not qualify, "Did not complete run," but relieved Chet Miller in the number 34 Alfa Romeo that finished 17th. Banks was one of five drivers who saw relief duty that year, and his number 39 one of sixteen listed cars that did not qualify. Both groups included Rene Dreyfus, whose number 22 Lucy O'Reiley Schell Maserati he had driven to "second alternate" in qualifying; he relieved Rene LeBeque in the number 49 Maserati. Information from "Johnson's Indy 500" pages.

I have a Brumm model of the 1940 winning number 1 Wilbur Shaw Maserati, and another of a number 2 Maserati purported to be from 1950. They are both dark red with large numerals in white. I can't reconcile the car and number with the 1950 information I have.

Mike O' identifies the mystery car in photo 02 as the number 32 Sampson, driven by Bob Swanson. Mike said perusal of the Indy 500 Chronicle showed it's likely the lettering says "Sampson '16' Special," the numerals referring to the Sampson engine's 16 cylinders. Records show Swanson qualified it at 124.882 mph, started 20th and finished 6th, 196 laps completed, earning $2,463.

 
03  Thumbnail: photo 03       04  Thumbnail: photo 04
     S        CS        C      

The photographer liked car number 25: there were several extra copies of these two photos. Mike O' says " . . . car #25 is Emil Andres." Qualified 22nd in the Belanger-Folz Stevens/Offy at 122.963 mph. Finished 12th, 192 laps, won $758.

I'd guessed number 25 was the winner, or at least a leader. Maybe it was an attractive car, or the one nobody wanted pictures of, and what I have here is a pile of discards from someone's vintage trash. Works for me.

The person who printed these photos did not make the paper or the frames square.

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