1920s or 30s Race car identity

[harleridr]

Hi Guys

I am new to this site, but old going racing. My first race was at Langhorne, Pa. in 1957 and haven't looked back. I have a pic of a Marathon Oil racer taken at an airfield / racetrackin the S.A. area. The car was driven by my buddie's father, and we are trying to get so information about the car, engine, etc. It appears to be sponsered by Marathon Oil. Any info would be a great help.

Thanks

[txtom]

If you can post the driver's name, I have some contacts who might be able to help.

 

Not sure about an airfield track, except for a local Army helicopter field that held drag races years past, but not as far back as your pic.

[rpfan]

unbelievable, someone has stumped TX TOM.

[NickHolt]

Welcome harleridr.

 

Finally, someone as old as Tom and me. LOL.. I also went to my first stock car race in 1957 (Lebanon Valley - a half-mile dirt track and drag strip in upstate New York) and drove my first race car (what was called a jalopy) on dirt at Ellsworth Falls Speedway in Maine a couple of years later as a high school kid.

 

Tom - I'm thinking that car looks like what I heard used to run out at the old Alamo Downs track back about that time.. Maybe?

 

Nick

[PAPA]

That looks like an old Fronty-Ford from the mid 20's or 30's. And yes they did race horses and cars at the old Alamo Downs. Wish we had more info on this driver and car. Now Im going to be up half the night researching this.

[harleridr]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for looking. I have a little more in on this pic. The driver's name is George E. Alexander, the track/airfield's name was Wilburn or Winburn Field out on the Pleasenton Highway, back then that was out of the S.A. city limits.

Thanks Again

[PAPA]

After doing some searching I found that there was a Wilcut Airfield (later known as Bexar Co. Airport) just south of SA. It was opened around 38-43 and closed around 50-54 It was a 2200' unpaved runway. Im trying to find out more on it. Ill let you know what I find.

[txtom]

Wilcut Airport was directly south of the interchange of I-35, and Hwy 16; you pass the site going to Hwy 16 Raceway(SAS) from 35.

It was established as an airport in 1938.

 

There are remains of an airport adjacent to Pleasanton Road where it intersects Maermon Road, or something like that. It is a short distance south of Loop 410, and on the east side of Pleasanton Road.

While I do not have access to my stuff right now, I will get you more info this evening.

 

The pic of the car is taken after 1930. Marathon Oil was branded as a company in 1930.

And, as Papa stated, it appears to be a Frontenac Ford, a little bit bigger car.

More tonight.

[NickHolt]

Tom - would this be it?

 

[NickHolt]

Tom - the airport your are describing would be Horizon Airport. It's a tiny dirt runway. I've actually flown in and out of that airport with a friend in a Cessna 175 about 20 years ago. He was a missionary to some remote part of S. America and he was showing me how he had to "slip" some air to clear the tree tops when he landed down there. Fun riding with him as long as you didn't think about it and just went along for the ride.

 

Horizon is right next to "A Place to Shoot." I think the airport is still in use. Mostly old tail draggers last time I was by there maybe 20 years ago! Seems like yesterday.

 

The intersection would actually be Pleasanton Road and Mauermann Road.

 

Nick

[PAPA]

Nick

The site I went to to find Wilcut states that it is 29.33N 98.55W. I went to those coordinates and found myself in the middle of Medina Lake. Hopefully Tom can give us a better idea of where it really is.

[PAPA]

Nick

A lot of Ultra-lites and home builts fly out of there. Mr Long from Longs Machine Shop has is bird there.

[PAPA]

Here is a link to see a Fronty.

http://www.modelt.ca/speed-fs.html

[NickHolt]

OK. I found the Wilcut Airport (Later, Bexar County Airport) It is completely gone now. Not a trace. A small housing development sits on top of it.

 

It was located just Southeast of the I-35 / Highway 16 South interchange. Of course, in those days there was no I-35.

 

I have attached two historical aerial photos of the area, the first taken in 1955 and the second taken in 1973.

 

The remains of the Wilcut airport (by 1955 it's the Bexar County Airport) can be seen as an X in the lower right of the first photo. The end of the Kelly AFB runway is seen in the upper left of the photo to give you some perspective of where this is located.

 

 

The exact same shot taken in 1973 shows the airport to be completely gone.

 

And if there ever was a race track located at the Wilcut Airport it is not showing up in the 1955 aerial shot.

 

 

And the aerial shots all show that the oval I posted earlier this afternoon cannot be the one because it does not show up in the 1955 aerial but it does show up in the 1973 aerial. So that track couldn't be it since it wasn't ever around in 1955, 25 years after our target date.

 

I dug up most of this after visiting a site that talked about abandoned and little known airports. Very interesting site. Check it out if you've got some time to kill.

http://members.tripod.com/airfields_freema...onioW.htm#bexar

 

Nick

[PAPA]

harleridr

Can you give us anymore info? Where was Mr Alexander from. Any time lines would be great. Any more pics? And please post some stuff about yourself. We LOVE racing history on here. If you have any old pics or clippings from your racing days we would really love to see them. And stories.....

thanks

[txtom]

Nick, your pic in post #9 was a failed 1 1/2 mile venture in the early 70's. It is close to the Watson/Soerset Road intersection.

 

Here is what I think about the original pic, and where it might be located.

 

Based on the size of the car, it is in the size class of cars like the Fronty Ford. Not enough picture to verify the make of this car, but I am basing my thought on the size of the driver relative to the car. This car would have been at home on bigger tracks, and it is too big to compete with the smaller racers that preceded the Midget class of cars in the mid 30's.

 

Now, in San Antonio in the late 20/early 30 time frame, there was really only 1 active track. It was the FIRST San Antonio Speedway, and it was a 2 mile dirt oval located between Pleasanton Road and South Flores, and South of Military Drive. It was sanctioned in the 20's by the AAA, and the AAA promoted the big cars, of which harleridr's picture depicts.

 

Next, as for the Winburn Airfield name, it was a renaming of Stinson Field in the 1920's to Winburn Field in honor of William D. Winburn, a young San Antonio Light city hall reporter who died in an ill conceived publicity flight in 1927. That name seems not to have been widely used, and the name was officially changed to Stinson Municipal Airport in 1936.

Stinson Field is within 3 blocks of the location of the 2 mile track. The track ran east/west, and Stinson is just east of the location.

I do not know how long the track operated, I have seen history to about 1927.

 

Also, after further research, my original source about marathon was a bit misleading, and Marathon Oil would have been around in the 20's.

 

So....I believe that this pic was taken at the original 2 mile San Antonio Speedway in the late 1920's.

 

I have to give credit to a great friend, Drew Williams, for help with the info above concerning the track, and I also researched some aviation history I have to clarify the Stinson/Winburn relationship.

 

Nick

The site I went to to find Wilcut states that it is 29.33N 98.55W. I went to those coordinates and found myself in the middle of Medina Lake. Hopefully Tom can give us a better idea of where it really is.

 

 

The correct coordinates should be 29.20.00N and 98.32.45W.

My reference is a copy of the U.S Army and Navy Directory of Airfields, dated November 9, 1944.

[PAPA]

OK..most likely thats where this Driver/Car was raced. Now we need to find out about the car. I was going by the size of the tires when I stated it looked to be mid 20's to 30's. I looked at a lot of similar looking cars in the 20's, 30's and 40's. Another thing that Im wondering about is where Mr Alexander lived at the time. harleridr says he started racing in 1957 up north. Did this car and Mr Alexander also live up north? That would have been a very long trip back in that time period. Was he just a driver or did he own this car? I really wish we had a clearer shot of that motor. Everytime I try to look at it I get a differant image in my little brain. There are so many unknowns. I really hope more info turns up on this. Its really interesting.

[harleridr]

Hi Again Guys,

It seems George Ed Alexander lived on Petaluma St. in S.A. guessing around the 100 to 300 block. Hope this helps a little.

Thanks again

Fred

[PAPA]

Thats my old stomping grounds as a kid. Thanks harleridr

[PAPA]

Fred

Do you have any idea of the year or anything else?

[txtom]

Thats my old stomping grounds as a kid. Thanks harleridr

 

Petaluma is walking distance to the site of the 2 mile oval.

 

Harley, Based on where you stated Mr. Alexander lived, I gotta a possible lead I will chase.

Also, in about 2 weeks, I will be visiting a friend here in San Antonio who might know something about that car.

 

Will let you know what I dig up.

[PAPA]

I would like to know more about some of the other people he raced back then. Im sure he wasnt out there by himself.

[Hrodder]

Leaving San Antonio going South on Plesanton Rd or South Flores either one even before Military Dr. existed Ware Blvd. was the last street before you got to the meadow or pasture where the racing complex was located. The first street bordering the South End of the pasture was Petaluma St. My parents bought a home in the 1st block of Ware Blvd. off of Plesanton Road in 1948. Of course the race venture was long gone but the road around the perameter of the property was still there. We rode horses and hunted rabbits there as kids. The property was well over 500 or 600 acres way down on the east end of the property along South Flores was a Dairy in the 1930's. The race track had Long Straight Aways going east and west and short chutes going North and South evidently the short chute running parallel to Plesanton Road was the front straight away of a 1/4 mile dirt oval. I have seen photography from there but don't own any. I have no idea how many races were run there. I don't think it was ever a horse race track. The entire acerage is now and has been from 1948 the Bell-Aire Subdivision. Stinson field was and is 2 blocks east of this property And by the way Nick, if you want to verify any of this information, call Uncle Bill McCall.

 

Hope this clears things up for you Harley Rider, if possible find out more because there is very little history known about this race track.

[harleridr]

Hi Hrodder,

My buddy George Alexander is the driver's son. That is the only photo he has. George is in his eighties and was raised by his aunt and uncle, Frank and Lulu Mae Talbot. who also lived on Petaluma St..

Thanks Again for all the help.

Fred

[txtom]

harleridr,

 

Well, after asking around, and some research, This is what I have come up with.

 

The car was called the "Wells-Brooks Special", and and looks to have a Model T Fronty engine, SOHC. It was owned by M. T. Wells and M. L. Brooks, from around the Abilene Texas area.

Not much else is known about it, but it apparently won at San Antonio's two-mile track on January 2 in 1927, driven that time by a guy named by Eddy Neve.

 

If I find anything else, I'll let ya know.

 

Tom