Quantum 1 By: John E. Aibel

Brother Fred did it again. We were at Lime Rock for a vintage race, and Fred said he met a fellow who had a SAAB special for sale that he “ice raced”. It ran and came with some spare parts. The price was nominal, and it was eligible to race in our club. 

I arranged to pick the car up the following week. The seller advised that I should go through it before I put it on the track.

I did not know the history of this car at the time, but many of my club members knew how significant this car was. Researching the cars history brought me to the original builder, one Mr. Walter Kern. I had the privilege of speaking to Mr. Kern on the phone, but was never able to talk to him in person. 

Walter Kern in the Quantum 1

Mr. Kern was a nuclear physicist schooled at MIT. He was an amateur sports car racer. He had raced a Fiat powered Siata, and a Porsche in the New England area. Engine oiling problems resulting from the short race tracks in use caused loss of lubrication, and engine damage.

Seeking a cure for this problem he came upon the SAAB economy sedan being sold in the New England area at the time. These front wheel drive economy cars utilized a two stroke cycle engine. Since lubricating the engine was accomplished by adding oil to the fuel, it solved the problem of engine lubrication. 

In Europe SAABs were becoming recognized for their rally success.

Walter was able to enlist the use of an IBM computer, then the size of a room, from his friends at M.I.T. The chassis design was the first ever to be designed with aid of a computer. The resulting chassis was both very rigid and light. A chassis was built to the computer design using SAAB engine and running gear. 

The US representative for SAAB looked favorably on Walter’s design and provided him with some very special performance items not available to the public. The not yet released four speed transmission was one such item.  A minimum aluminum body was built to cover this car.

It was a very successful car right from the first race held on the Thompson race track in CT, taking a first in the 750 cc class, H modified, in SCCA classification. 

Unknown driver taking the checkered flag at Thompson

The Quantum went on to win many races, and won outright not just a class win. 

I am not sure of the history of the Quantum from the time Mr. Kern sold the car until I was able to buy it.

John Aibel wheeling the SAAB Quantum 1
PVGP 1995

The SAAB Quantum 1 at Lime Rock
John Aibel and daughter Candice 

Candice in the Quantum sizing it up!

I raced this car for years both at Lime Rock and the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. It was the most dependable race car you could imagine. It provided me the opportunity to have a first class seat at these vintage races. I watched beautiful supercharged Alfa Romeo 1750, Jaguar SS-100, Fiat Abarth Zagato Double Bubble coupes, in close high speed racing. The thrill of a life time. The only DNF (Did Not Finish) was when a long screw punctured a tire during a race in Pittsburgh.

I finally sold this great car to SAAB people who are still vintage racing this great car.

The One(s) That Got Away By: John E. Aibel

All collectors I am sure have had an opportunity to purchase a “gem” that would have become the center piece of their collection. This happened to me back in 1967.

In those days the New York Times newspaper was the standard by which all newspapers were compared. We always would get and read the Sunday addition. This kept us informed about books, plays, and the local high school sport scores.

It was the Sport section that I would read first. The Classified advertisements were located in this section. It was here that antique automobiles for sale were published.

I always liked the first series Corvettes, and would keep track of the asking prices for these cars. One Spring Sunday I saw an ad for a Jaguar SS-100 at the unbelievable price of one thousand dollars! I was on the phone immediately, getting direction to the Jag.

I arrived to find the Jaguar in the backyard of a normal home in Wayne, NJ. The owner was unloading the leaves from the cars cockpit.

The huge Lucas headlights were sitting in a cardboard box just taken out from the basement of the home. Obviously the car had been sitting out all winter long, and it looked it.

I fell in love with this car on first sight. The price was really cheap. The only problem was the recent birth of our second son, Kurt. I just did not have the thousand dollars needed to purchase it.
I just had to give up on this purchase. Fred told me that even if I had been able to buy the car I would not have had the money to restore it. He was right of course, but I still feel sorry I could not purchase that Jaguar.

One other near miss was a Cunningham C-3 convertible. Also found in the New York Times, this car was located in Connecticut. This was years after the Jaguar incident, and I was financially in better shape.

I drove up to see this beautiful car, one of about three ever made, again wanting to buy it. This time I was the third person on the list to buy the car, not the first! It sold but not to me.

I would love to hear from other collectors about the items they just missed to add or maybe were able to acquire that would prove to be near invaluable centerpieces of their collections.

And Finally, The Search Is Over, She is Mine By: John E. Aibel

The goal, realized!
John Aibel in the cockpit
of his childhood dream car!

Starting the Crosley Automobile Club was one of the best things I have ever done. We meet the most interesting and dedicated group of antique car collectors one could imagine. Bill Exline, the Bollmans, and numerous other wonderful persons all contributed their knowledge and expertise to keep this wonderful club running up to the present day.

About a year and a half after forming the club, I received an application from a fellow living in Lake Worth, FL, and listing the Le Mans Crosley as the car he owned. I immediately called Hal up, and sure enough he owned the car of my dreams. He found it in a junkyard in West Palm Beach which coincided with a lead I had been given. Hal was restoring the car at the time. 

Guess where the family was going to go on vacation?! Yes, Florida here we came. 

Hal lived way out west of town on a large piece of property that included his own private airstrip. He owned just about every exotic and weird vehicle you could imagine. He even owned a flying car! His tastes were much like my own. 

Hal and I would meet yearly after that first meeting, at the annual Hershey, PA auto show. I did my best to become his best friend. When he bought an Allstate car, I found original workshop manuals for him and gave them to him. 

The last time I met Hal at Hershey, I asked him how my Le Mans car was. He stunned me by telling me he had sold it to buy a small motor-home. Naturally, I asked him why he did not ask me first if I wanted to by the car. His answer was that he did not think I had the money! I was sick. Hal did tell me to whom he had sold the car to, but I was so sad that I lost my interest.

Many years went by and I found other interesting cars to buy and work on, but I still carried a torch for that little Crosley. 

Now my brother Fred never ever throws anything out. One gloomy winter day, I told him that I still yearned to own that Crosley. 

Fred said to me, “I have the phone number of the fellow who bought the Crosley.  Why don’t you call him up?” 

I did call Mr. Don Snyder and asked if he still owned the Crosley Le Mans car. He answered yes, the next question was would he sell it? Again the answer was yes! All he wanted was what he had paid for the car plus what interest he would have received at a bank. Doing the math it added up to such a high number for a Crosley that I almost said no thank you. Then it dawned on me that this was the one car I just had to own.

My first "baby" Erik was about to graduate from the Indiana State University and West Springfield, OH was on the way to Terre Haute, IN where I was taking the family to the graduation. We stopped and left off the trailer and a check with Don. On our way home we stopped and our new Crosley Le Mans car was loaded and ready for us to take it to its new home. I still could not believe I owned this wonderful car!

The enjoyment of owning and vintage racing this machine is a dream come true. Over the years I have attended events at the following tracks:  Pocono Raceway, Lime Rock Park, Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, and the movie shot at the Pine Brook Speedway. 

The car always performed very well and could run competitively with vintage race prepared MG-TDs and with many of the Pre-War sports cars of the 1930s.

John Aibel wheeling his prized
1951 Crosley Le Mans car
around the PVGP

Now the Crosley is sort of retired, and does the occasional car show in Southwest Florida. Someday, I hope, another generation of the family will again race the car as it was built to race.

1950 Sebring, Where it All Began By: John E. Aibel

Sebring, Florida was a small cow town located in the center of Florida, many miles from the touristy coastal towns of the state. It was a center for the cattle ranching industry. 

Hendrick Field
Sebring, FL

During World War II the government built a large training airport called Hendrick Field. After the war Alec Ulman was interested in holding an endurance sports car race in the United States. His idea was to run an event like the 24 hour Le Mans race in France.  He was able to accomplish his dream by converting the Sebring airport into a race circuit.

In March of 1950 the first Sebring race was held. The rules were based on a handicap that would even out the different size engines utilized by the racing sports cars. 

Small engine cars could complete a shorter distance than a large engine car and still win. The formula is based on the Index of Performance that was used in the 24 hour Le Mans race. However, instead of a 24 hour race, Sebring would be a six hour duration, in later years to be increased to 12 hours.

Prior to the start of the race Fritz Koster and Ralph Deshon had problems with the car they had entered to race. Vic Sharp, who was a spectator to the event, offered his stock Crosley Hot Shot to the team. Fritz and Ralph jumped at the chance. They removed the windshield and bumpers, installed a small plastic windscreen, and the preparations were complete.

That Crosley ran the full six hours without missing a beat and went on to win the race! Two enthusiasts who watched this race were so impressed by the Crosley’s performance they felt they could enter a Crosley in the 24 hour race in France and had a good chance to win the Index of Performance.

George Schrafft wrote a letter to the FIA stating they had a Crosley they wanted to enter in the Le Mans race, while Phil Stiles wrote a letter to Powel Crosley stating they had an entry to Le Mans and would Crosley supply them with a Hot Shot car? To the friends' amazement both letters were answered in the affirmative!

Crosley provided a Hot Shot chassis, and a very special engine directly from the research and development department. Pappy Dwyer of Indianapolis, IN built the actual car. Pappy was an accomplished Indy 500 constructor of race cars. This special car looked like an early Marmon Indy race car in miniature.

On completing the car George Schrafft drove out to Indianapolis in his Aston Martin. Stopping off to borrow Mr. Crosley’s boat trailer. George and Phil loaded the new race Crosley onto the boat trailer and headed east to the New York docks so the car could be transported to France. 

When they reached the Pennsylvania Turnpike they realized they had never driven the race car. They pulled over to the side of the road, unloaded the Crosley, took the license plates off the trailer and wired them onto the race car and off they went.

Arriving in France George and Phil found out in night practice that the stock headlights were not sufficient for high speed night racing. No big problem as the Marchal Company was only too happy to install their headlights onto the race car. Unfortunately, the small Crosley generator could not supply enough electricity to run the lights. Once again, Marchal to the rescue, with a larger generator that was installed.

This last item was to prove a fatal mistake. After racing for about four hours and leading in both class, and Index of Performance the generator bearing failed. Phil and George disconnected the generator which also drives the water pump and proceeded to reenter the race. Ultimately the battery lost all power and that ended the race for the Crosley.

Phil Stiles wrote of his race experience in an article for Road and Track magazine, which led to my quest to find this race car.  

Next….finding and buying this historic race car.

The Origins of the Crosley Club By: John E. Aibel

Now that Fred and I had our Super Sport Crosleys, the next direction was to find parts and literature for our cars. When Crosley ceased building automobiles in 1952 there were thousands of Crosleys still on the road, and many Crosley-based specially built cars on the race tracks of America.

John Aibel's actual 1952 Crosley Super Sport

Ed Herzog had forsight to buy the leftover stock of Crosley parts from the Crosley Automobile Company. He also became the Original Equipment Manufacturer status for Crosley. I remember visiting his shop on Long Island, NY and buying new old stock parts for our cars. As an OEM he could supply new transmissions, tune up items and even “jewelry” like the flying bird hood ornament. 

1951 Crosley Hot Shot Hood Ornament

Yes, this was Crosley Heaven for us. Fred was able to build his Super Sport using a large amount of new old stock parts, including the engine.

Not only did we buy parts from Service Motors, but talking to all the car people in our area, we found individuals who had hoards of Crosley parts. Finding and talking to these individuals and convincing them to sell their gems was great fun. On one trip to the Hershey, Pa. car and swap meet I found a fellow whose Dad was a Crosley dealer. It was not long before a deal was struck and off went Fred and I to the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Then we heard that Ed Spreen had Crosley parts he would part with.

Fred’s crawl space basement was soon full of Crosley parts. We had these parts for years and only in the last twenty years or so we sold them off to the current Service Motors company. I am sure there are many Crosleys running with the parts we kept for so many years.

Hunting for magazines featuring Crosleys kept us very busy. One particular magazine was the August Road & Track. This issue had a wonderful article written by Phil Stiles about the one off Crosley Hot Shot race car that he co-drove during the 1951 Le Mans 24 hour race in France.  I remember reading this article in 1958, but now rereading it in the sixties gave me a new idea. Why not try and find this car?

I figured that the car still existed, but how could I find it? A letter to Road & Track inquiring if anyone knew the location of this historic car was sent. To my surprise Road &Track published my letter in their Letters to the Editor section. 

I was overwhelmed by the response I got. Unfortunately, no one knew the location of the car. I decided that I would start a Crosley Club, and using the list of people who responded to my letter I wrote the first newsletter. 

I advertised in Hemmings Motor News and started to gain membership very rapidly. The year was 1969, and the Crosley Automobile Club was up and running!

  

Crosley Number 1

I last left off with my first sports car, a 492 Berkeley. After this love affair with English built cars it came time to finally find a US sports car. The only one for me had to be a Crosley.  

I must admit that brother Fred has had and still has an unduly huge influence on my lust for certain cars. Fred found a 1951 red Crosley Super Sport, so of course I had to have one as well. Naturally, Fred knew a fellow in Montclair, NJ who just happened to own a 1952 Crosley Super Sport in running condition. 

1952 Crosley Super Sport
NOT John's but close enough

Buying a person’s pride and joy is not a simple matter of paying his price. No, you have to convince him his baby is going to a good home. The seller Boris finally said yes, and I then owned my new love.

I learned a lot about the advanced design of this wonderful car, as well as the short comings of a car built to a very low price. The chassis of this car was flimsily constructed of very thin gauge steel. Luckily for me my neighbor knew how to weld. He came over and took care of the crack in the chassis.

I was able to get the seats upholstered in red vinyl. Our secretary’s husband was a good body and paint man. He came to my garage and the next thing I knew I had a good looking Crosley!

Fred heard of a vintage sports car club that ran track days at Lime Rock Park, CT. We attended one of these events, and learned that if we wanted to join we needed two club members to sponsor our applications. A very nice gentleman, Mr. Fred Herdeen, took time from racing his early Ferrari  to help us meet the requirement needed to join. With Mr. Herdeen’s help Fred and I were soon members of the Vintage Sports Car Club of America (VSCCA). In that era, mid-1960’s, vintage sports cars consisted of mostly pre-war Bugatti’s, HRG’s, and MG’s with a smattering of post-war Ferrari, Maserati, Siata, and OSCA.  Because the Crosley had such an important place in history as a racing sports car, they too were included in this august list of cars.

I was able to attend a couple of races put on by the VSCCA with my Crosley. I remember having my car at the Hershey antique swap meet, and then going up to Watkins Glen as a display for the Formula One races being held there. 

I actually managed about two laps around that wonderful course as a pre-race tour. All I could think of was all that Armco surrounding the track! My son Erik was able to get an autograph of Dan Gurney that day.

There would be several more Crosleys to enter my life, but this was my first one. More on these unusual cars next week.

A Short History of Crosley By: John E. Aibel

Before I write about the Crosley cars that I have owned I think it is important to know something about the man who built these incredible cars.

John Aibel in his prized Crosley Le Mans Car

 Powel and Lewis Crosley were pioneers in the automobile industry in this country. Since the early 1900s they wanted to build their own cars. Before this could be accomplished they had started by building and marketing Model T Ford accessories.

A young Powel Crosley before he became a millionaire

That led to building radios. In order to keep prices low on their radios, Powel came up with the idea to broadcast a very powerful signal. With a powerful signal his radio receivers could be made with less tubes and circuitry thus sold for less money. His station was so powerful that the government required him to operate at a lower power as he was overpowering other broadcasters' signals. The sales of Crosley radios took off in a big way making Crosley a major factor in communications.

1940s Crosley Radio

During World War II the Crosley radio broadcaster was used by the United States government to provide a radio signal to all of Europe.

Not satisfied being a major radio manufacturer, Crosley also manufactured refrigerators. The innovation of having shelves in the door was a big factor in the sales success they achieved in this field.

As a manufacturer located in Cincinnati, Ohio, Crosley had the plant and finances to finally get into the automobile business. In 1939 they introduced their first mass-produced vehicle. It was a very inexpensive vehicle powered by a two cylinder, 30 cubic inch engine of about 12 horsepower. The engine was manufactured by the Waukesha Company. This company was known for high quality large truck and stationary engine production. The car itself could accommodate four passengers and was available in a variety of body styles. A convertible, covered wagon mini truck, and eventually a steel coupe were built up until 1942.

During the war years Crosley built man unusual vehicles for the government. One vehicle was a mechanical dog. This tracked vehicle was used to pull dog sleds. The need of a Jeep-type vehicle of a very light weight led to the design of the CT-3 Pup.

Crosley Pup

The limited power provided by the Waukesha engine prevented large scale use of these vehicles. The need for more power was met by a Naval engineer assigned to the Crosley Company.  This engineer did his homework and developed a very advanced engine based on his research.

This engine was of 44 cubic inch displacement and featured a single overhead camshaft mono-block non-detachable cylinder head, and incorporated a five main bearing supported crankshaft. The engine provided 26 horsepower at 4000 rpm and would run at full power for 100 hours.

This engine would go on to power electric generators for decades. It was also the engine used for the line of cars Crosley built after the war. With improvements this engine would go on to power a light airplane as well as become a marine engine both inboard and outboard well into the 1970s.

We now have the basis to look at the Crosley cars that I have owned.