Written by independent automotive journalist Steve Magnante
Specially built for action at Bonneville Speed Week, this 1957 Indy Roadster Re-creation was constructed with help from A.J. Watson himself. The race car will be featured at the 2019 Scottsdale Auction, selling at No Reserve.
David Johnston is like many of us – he loves cars of every description. For Barrett-Jackson’s 2019 Scottsdale Auction, he is proving the point by consigning seven cars from very different parts of the car collecting world, all with No Reserve, so they’ll be going home with the highest bidder.
First up is a 1957 A.J. Watson Indy roadster re-creation that’s been specially built for action at Bonneville Speed Week, where it claimed a world record of 181.47 mph in 2012. Best of all, construction of this straight-line record-setter was done with help from A.J. Watson himself. Here it’s worth noting that Watson burst onto the Indy scene quite suddenly when his first car put Pat Flaherty in the winner’s circle at the 1956 Indy 500.
A.J. Watson’s recipe for Indy success evolved out of pioneering work done by Frank Kurtis during the immediate post-WWII era. While prewar Indy cars still mostly retained hefty ladder-frame construction, Kurtis embraced aircraft construction techniques by substituting lightweight tubular steel and monocoque construction. The Kurtis dynasty was formidable until Watson’s mid-50s reinterpretation.
Watson’s spin on the Kurtis recipe was to position the Offy engine bolt upright, rather than using Kurtis’ 36-degree tilt to the right. Then, he moved the entire engine, transmission, driveshaft and differential feed point 3 inches farther to the left of center (12 inches instead of Kurtis’ 9 inches). Next, Watson reduced the track width 5 inches (the space between the tires, not the Brickyard’s fabled surface), and finally he positioned the entire body – from the radiator opening to the bullet-shaped tail cone – 1.5 inches to the left of the centerline of the track width.
These changes had the effect of shifting a still greater percent of the car’s static weight to the inside tires while giving Watson-built cars a unique offset appearance – with more space between the tires and body on the right-hand side of the car than the left. Watson’s run of success ended in 1965 when Colin Chapman’s rear-engine Lotus-Fords made front-engine racers obsolete once and for all.
In the case of this 1957 Watson replica, the flavor and mood of a 1957 Indy champ car has been captured thanks to use of Watson chassis and body plans and blueprints – but for use on the vast Bonneville Salt Flats. Conjured in A.J. Watson’s Indiana shop in 2012, it features a chromoly tube frame with a 100-inch wheelbase and SCTA-certified funny car-style roll cage. External panels pay tribute to its Indy forebearers with full A.J. Watson body panels and a 1959 Watson shark-spec nose.
Power comes from a 270ci DOHC Offy that’s one of 160 ever made and said to be the only one still in active race competition. Inhaling through Hilborn direct-port mechanical fuel injection, dyno tests have shown it makes 425 horsepower and 550 ft/lbs of torque. A Winters Phoenix transmission sends power to the Winters rear axle through an enclosed driveshaft. Braking is handled by Wilwood rear discs and a DJ parachute. Ready to race at Bonneville – or any suitable closed course – this modern record-setter pays tribute to the final days of the Indy roadster.
Other goodies from the Johnston collection include some American and European cars with great design and engineering heritage. Finished in Coral and Shadow Gray is a 1955 Chevrolet Nomad. One of 8,386 built in this exclusive model’s first year of production, this one is number 76 of the first 100 cars built early in the production run. And while six-cylinder power was standard in the Nomad, this example has the 265 Power Pack V8 with 180 horsepower and the optional Powerglide automatic transmission.
From Ford come three equally desirable ʼ50s show boats, including a 1955 Crown Victoria Skyliner. Only offered for three model years (1954-56), the Skyliner featured a tinted plexiglass roof panel insert, an industry first for U.S. automakers. For those hot summer days, Ford thoughtfully equipped every Skyliner with a thick sun screen that quickly unfurled to blot out the sun at will. Power comes from Ford’s M-code 272 with 182 horsepower, backed by a Ford-O-Matic 3-speed automatic transmission.
Another interesting Ford from the collection is a Peacock Blue 1956 Thunderbird. In its second year on sale, Ford responded to customer complaints about limited trunk space with a classically styled “Continental mount” spare tire located behind the rear bumper, a feature unique to all 15,631 of Thunderbirds made in 1956. This example also includes the optional 4-way power seat, power windows, Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission and the desirable fiberglass hardtop – with porthole windows added for 1956.
A final Ford from the collection is a 1959 Galaxie Skyliner. Picking up where the 1954-56 clear-roof Skyliner left off, here the fully-articulated steel roof does double duty as a weatherproof hardtop or – with the push of a switch – an open-air convertible. Adding $389 to the base price of a fabric-top Galaxie convertible ($3,346 vs $2,957), the Skyliner was popular enough to account for over 45,000 units in 1959 alone. Powered by Ford’s 332 big block and Cruise-O-Matic transmission, aftermarket rear fender skirts and external spare tire mount have been added for an extra touch of class.
European collector cars also belong in any well-rounded American collection, and this collection presents two items from far ends of the overseas spectrum. On the sports luxury side, the 1973 Jaguar XKE Series III roadster packs the desirable 5.3-liter V12 engine beneath its immaculate Old English White bodywork and, better yet, the seldom-seen 4-speed manual transmission is present. Given its posh theme, most V12s were mated to automatic transmissions for effortless cruising. But when backed by a stick shift and clutch pedal, the Series III driving experience is truly magnified.
And while many Series III V12s were built with pressed-steel wheels bearing bright trim rings and center caps, this one was ordered with the extra-cost wire wheels. Due to federal safety regulations imposed after the 1966 model year, the double-bladed spinners seen on earlier Jags give way to cam-ear center caps. But fear not, they’re true knock-offs and the lead hammer is still present in the trunk compartment … er, boot.
At the humbler end of the European car spectrum is a 1959 BMW Isetta 300. Though badged as a BMW and built in Germany, the Isetta’s roots are Italian; its actual parent the Iso Works, makers of domestic refrigerators. But when licensed to German auto giant BMW to fill the need for inexpensive, practical transportation, BMW acquired licensing and assembly rights in Germany. The good thing about German-spec Isettas is their 4-stroke engines; far quieter and less smoky than the 2-cycle engines used in Italian models.
This example has 14,000 miles and was an export model, which explains its left-hand steering position. Initially sold to a British customer, it was relocated to Canada before the matching-numbers unit was treated to a full restoration. An artifact of the post-WWII European reconstruction effort, the Isetta demonstrates how humanity ultimately prevails over insanity.
For a look at these and other vehicles on the 2019 Scottsdale Preview Docket, click HERE.