Quail 2010: 1950s Racing Stunners

By Marty Padgett

Marty Padgett

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Quail 2010: 1950s Racing Stunners

This year's Quail motorsports gathering underscored the "motorsports" half of the equation, with a display of rare race cars that avoided the destruction you might expect to happen to lightweight, fragile classics like these two exceptional cars.

The 1955 Kurtis 500SX above has a unique heritage. Now owned by Californian Tom Shaughnessy, it first went from the Kurtis race shop to a boat manufacturer in the Los Angeles area. Later rebodied as a race car dubbed the Alligator, it ran in the SCCA and won the C modified class in 1965. The placard accompanying the car to The Quail advertised the car for sale for $1500, and details its Kurtis-Kraft Indy-car front axle, Edelbrock manifold, and Muncie four-speed transmission. "This car is hairy and historical!" it reads--and the car looks every bit of both, with its heavily worn body and fantastically dulled white paint.

Below, this 1953 Jaguar C-Type hails from Mexico--if it's not evident from the decals and props displayed with it on the Quail's lawn. Parked next to the Kurtis, this more pristine Jag wore its pilots' names on the passenger door--Paco Ibarra and Nickey Pinal--and came equipped for the strong Carmel Valley sun with a pair of sequined sombreros that fit perfectly with the sounds coming from a mariachi band, a charming hallmark of the Quail gathering.