1969 Bobsy Formula Ford - Race Ready Fresh Restoration

[Robert J. Alder]

Car has been sold. Going to a good home in California.



1969 Bobsy “Little Caesars” Formula Ford

I’ve decided to sell my 1969 Bobsy Formula Ford. It was a fun rescue of a very interesting car with a great backstory. I now own five vintage race cars, two Sports Racers and three Formula Fords. So it makes sense to cull the herd to make room for another project. (The dreaded too-much-time-on-my-hands syndrome strikes again.)

This FF is one of only four Bobsy Formula Fords built and one of only two known to still exist. It was built in Ohio by the prolific race car builder, Jerry Mong’s Elite Fab and Machine Ltd. He built the numerous Bobsy Sports Racers, Vanguard/Vega Formula Vees, and even several Formula Atlantic cars. But Jerry quickly realized that there were just too many builders of the new Formula Ford series. So, he decided to stick to building his very successful Sports Racers and Formula Vees.

The car is now a very fresh total ground-up restoration, tested, debugged, and truly “race ready.” The car has no issues, all minor little refinements were found and fixed, fresh rubber is on the car, and recent track experience demonstrates it to be a competitive vintage Formula Ford --- no handling or mechanical issues.

How I came to have this car: This Bobsy FF project came to my attention in early 2018. As the keeper of the Bobsy Registry, I felt obliged to call the seller to find out about the car’s history. But being of weak mind, too much time on my hands, and a strong interest in Jerry Mong’s nice work, I caved and decided to purchase the project and do a full restoration which it needed because it was a total basket case.

The Bobsy FF project was finished up in the spring of 2019. It wasn’t raced much during 2019 because my other race cars were being used. I finally got around to racing it seriously a few times during 2020, most recently last October. It performed flawlessly and competitively.

It is a neat car with a great backstory. You’ll be the only one on your block to have one unless Roger Pujol (California) is your neighbor. (He owns the only other known Bobsy FF.)

Several websites reveal about everything there is to know about this car. From my main website, www.TeamTerrificRacing.com there are links to www.BobsyRegistry.com and from there a page on that Registry website is devoted to the two existing Bobsy FFs. On that page the complete history of this car’s ownership since new is detailed. Then there is a photo site with 90+ detailed pictures and narrative about car’s restoration.

$22,000 (Firm, but reasonable offers will be entertained. Ha, try to figure that out! Just sounded better than o.b.o.)

Feel free to call with questions.

Bob Alder - Denver
r.alder@earthlink.net
303-981-6364

[Robert J. Alder]

Because this car is one of only two known to exist, the question of parts availability has been asked. Perhaps I’m being Pollyannaish, but it’s not a lot different than other vintage Formula Fords.

The bad news:
It’s doubtful that there are molds for new body work if needed. However, it is just fiberglass, easily repairable or even reproducible if totally knackered. This isn’t much different than most all vintage FFs. Ditto the frame. It is just a simple tube frame and like most vintage FFs, they can be, and are, routinely repaired by any good fabricator. (If you need a whole new frame you’ve probably got much bigger problems.) But a whole new frame, if needed, can be fabricated probably about as cheaply as a new frame which are available for a few of the vintage FFs. A-Arms front and rear are the same thing. Easily fabricated by any decent fabricator. Trailing arms? Heck even I can (and did for this car) make those new from scratch.

The good news:
The BIG issue with most vintage FFs availability of uprights. This car’s front upright assemblies are stock Open GT bits. Yup, the uprights, rotors, brake calipers, and tie rod ends are stock pieces. “Wait” you ask. “Where the hell can you get that stuff?” Believe it or not, OpelGTSource.com is a supplier dedicated to Opel GT parts. Who knew? Fact is, all those front upright parts are available brand new, off the shelf, and very reasonably priced. Probably easier to source than some of the ubiquitous Triumph front upright bits seen on many vintage FFs. And way easier to find and way cheaper than, say, the Lola 200 series fabricated front uprights. Go shopping for those suckers. Just sayin’.

As to the rear uprights, they are the same upright used on the many Bobsy sports racers produced over the years. In fact, recently there was a Bobsy sport racer owner who had a run of new rear uprights cast for the Bobsy community. They are still available to buy if you are paranoid about having a pair on hand.

Master and slave cylinders etc. are, of course, all standard Girling, Wilwood stuff.

Yes, the car is one of only two known to exist. But parts availability for this car isn’t an issue any bigger than about any vintage FF.

[bob darcey]

And way easier to find and way cheaper than, say, the Lola 200 series fabricated front uprights. Go shopping for those suckers. Just sayin’.

Absolutely, which is why I'm hoarding the two and a half that I have.

[Robert J. Alder]

Shameless bump.

Racing season about to start. Time to get into a Formula Ford as you've long promised yourself.

Note the tricky pricing language "$22,000 (Firm, but reasonable offers will be entertained. Ha, try to figure that out! Just sounded better than o.b.o.)"

[Robert J. Alder]

Car has been sold. Going to a good home in California.