Front upright material history

[Brian]

I was reading in an old book about the early days of Formula Ford, and I came across a listing of regulations that implied that the front uprights ("hub carriers") had to be ferrous. Rear hub carriers could be non-ferrous. I was wondering if such a rule ever actually existed, or if front uprights could always be aluminium as they are now.

Thanks, Brian

[dangrace]

The original importer (Dutchess Auto Co, Millerton,NY) listed in their Sports Car ad ,April 1968 17 rules.
No. 17 "Suspension and Running Gear-free provided that all parts are of steel except
springs, hub adaptors, rear hub carriers and bearing bushes the materials of wich are free.
Dan

[Brian]

I looked up the Monoposto rules, and they ask for steel front uprights as well. So that part's answered. Any thoughts on the timing of the rule change?

Brian

[Larry]

The joy of the early FFs was that they cost comparatively little. This was accomplished by using as many off-the-shelf parts as possible. The steering rack was Triumph, as were the front spindles (I believe). There was no suitable rear upright, so it was easier and cheaper to make a casting than to fabricate them by the dozen. Even the gearbox on the original cars (Lotus 51) was a Renault unit, and the steering rack used the original tie rod ends instead of rod ends. Standard steel wheels were also a requirement.

The Renault gearbox proved marginal at best (Hey, it's from France, so what did you expect?), and was soon replaced with a more expensive Hewland unit. Steering racks got narrower, and Jack Knight provided most of them (again at a price higher than the Triumph units). So we had price creep starting at the early days, which now means that a new, complete car/engine runs--about $50K? (Spares not included.)

I still remember the first Lotus 61 I ever saw, and thinking "My God, what a beauty!" Nelson's Ledges, 1969. It was for sale for $3,000, which was far more than I could afford, but I could still dream...

Larry Oliver

[Comp89]

I always beleive that the birth of the Swift Db1 in 1984 was a bit responsible for evolution of more fancy-expensive stuff.

[Mark Davison]

In 1973 Lola came out with a beautiful new FF, the Lola T-340. It was an all-new car with a Mk9 gearbox, inboard rear brakes, Bilstein shocks, side radiators and a tall intake snorkle on the rear engine cover. The frame utilized a fabricated sheet steel upper chassis rail that later became known as the "fifth spring". The T-340 had aluminum front uprights instead of the more common Triumph forged parts, making it illegal for club racing in the U.S.
The Lola (and Hewland) U.S. importer and distributor was Carl Haas in Chicago. In addition to being the Lola distributor, Haas was on the SCCA board. The rules were soon quickly adjusted to allow alloy front uprights as long as the weight of the upright and hub could match that of the more common forged steel parts. The Lola was then legal for SCCA competition. Hope this helps!