Research – Wally Edwards’ Special – can you help?

Our friend Mike Matune contacted us at the Del Monte Trophy Race Group to ask for help in identifying a 1950s American road race car. Please rack your brains and your files to be able to help him and us.

We now have the pleasure of being able to make available on this web site the two attachments which Mike has and which will help you in your search:

Article in Vintage Racecar magazine – download here

Spreadsheet of the Edwards’ Special activities – download here

 

Mike’s message:

Hi y’all,

Trust this finds you all well. I came across a question on an American road racing special of the 50s was hoping you could help. In this month’s “Vintage Racecar” magazine, Dr. Mark Brinker’s “Hidden Treasures” column talks about a 1950s Allard Special Mystery” chassis. I have attached a scan of the piece. Here is more on the chassis:

http://www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/ErichSchultz1.html

After a little investigation, the consensus feels that the chassis may be the Edwards Special built and campaigned by Waldrip C. “Wally Edwards of San Diego. As you can see from the article and the website, the car’s history is cloudy at best. Among the issues that cloud its lineage is the fact that car numbers for the events in which it ran don’t line up. We have summarized what we think we know about the Edwards Special in the attached spreadsheet. There is some thought that the first and last entries on the spreadsheet may not actually pertain to the car we are seeking, but we have left them on the list until we flush out everything we know.

Tracing the history is difficult because most information on an “Edwards Special” pertains to Sterling Edwards cars. There is copious amounts of information on those cars. We think the Schultz chassis was under a completely different car. I have three books on American road racing specials and none of them mention a Wally Edwards or his car.

Any other thoughts on this one? Please feel free to reach out with any comments or questions. Don’t hesitate to forward this note as you see fit.

Take care, Mike

M. M. “Mike” Matune, Jr.

6121 Mountain Springs Lane, Clifton, Virginia 20124. Email: mmatune@cox.net

Joel Driskill reports back… “I saw this car when this video was first put on YouTube and dismissed it as an Allard as it wasn’t uncommon to modify the bodies some. After reading this post my initial thought was def wrong. I’ll also go through my newly digitized video archive (thank you American Hot Rod Foundation) to see if I have any more film of this car. we’ll see.”

Article in Vintage Racecar magazine – download here

Spreadsheet of the Edwards’ Special activities – download here

Please send comments on the website to the acting distant webmaster Marcus Bicknell marcus@bicknell.com. The two photos here are linked from http://www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/ErichSchultz1.html with thanks.

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