Description
1959 LaDawri Daytona “Brunning Special”
General Information
1959/61 LaDawri Daytona Vintage Race Car. This historic race car was originally built in 1959 but later named 1961 in Colorado. The car was built by Ralph Brunning of Colorado Springs, CO in 1959 to compete in road races and hill climbs in the area. Mr. Brunning was known for his success in winning the modified stock class at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb a record eight times. This car may have been used by Mr. Brunning for one or more of his victories in the Pikes Peak class. LaDawri was one of the largest manufacturers of fiberglass bodies in the late 50s and early 60s (http://www.forgottenfiberglass.com/). The current engine is a 427 Ford side-oiler built and prepared by Valley Head Service (old line Southern California racing engine builder). Speedwell Engineering built and installed a custom – vintage legal braking system for disc brakes, rear drum brakes. The transmission is a Ford 4-speed top loader also rebuilt by a racing transmission shop. The rear is a Ford 9 inch modular with heavy duty bearings and TrueLock locker. The axles are 31 spline. It has an extensive array of new Auto Meter gauges, Halon fire protection system, Accu-sump pre-oiler, and 20 gallon Fuel Safe fuel cell. The wheels are 15″ American Mags with Goodyear racing tires. The engine has been placed back in the frame to achieve a 45/55% balance, allowing the car to corner hard without understeer. The car is currently set up and racing with the VARA but also has 3 other race organization logbooks. The car can be made street legal with the addition of the 3" exhaust and 3" Flow Master mufflers. This is a very important vintage race car that was part of a private collection of vintage race cars and Pebble Beach winners in Malibu, CA. The car shows nicely as a race prepared vintage race car, but has the expected paint chips and scratches from it its an active campaign car. The new bike has only had 2 simple break-in sessions and is now ready for serious racing. There are early publications, photographs and documentation of the car dating back to the 60s.
The car has many historical photos, files, logbooks, US title, custom and European VAT documents.
Update: Car has been completely restored.
Has a new engine, new carburetor, new clutch, new exhaust, restored drivetrain, all new bushings, brake booster and new brakes.
