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Bob Temple’s photo of the John Cuccio Alfa 2300, S/N 2111029, taken at the Studebaker Proving Grounds,
South Bend Indiana on June 23rd 1951.
As we mentioned last week, over the next few weeks VeloceToday will present photographs by Bob Temple, coming to us via the collection of Vintage Motorphoto’s Dale LaFollette.
Photography by Bob Temple courtesy Dale LaFollette
Story by Pete Vack
Recently, old friend Dale LaFollette sent me a group of scanned negatives, but he wasn’t sure of the locations, year, or event. Nor was I. Enter equally old mutual friend Jim Sitz. I knew Jim because he would fact-check my articles for R&T, AQ and Forza back in the last century. Dale and I sent the photos to Jim for identification. The event was so rare – an early SCCA regional in the Midwest – that even today there is no trace of it anywhere in magazines or the Internet (well maybe Motor Trend, says Jim). But, Jim doesn’t rely on the Internet. No. Jim Sitz has everything on index cards – a card filing system from the pre-computer era.
The SCCA Regional at the Studebaker Proving Grounds, South Bend
Winner of the South Bend SCCA regional event was Hal Ullrich in an Allard J2 Ford; Mike Wahl in Jaguar 120 was second and another 120 3rd with Paul Googleman was 3rd. A second race was won by Jim Simpson in Jim Kimberly Healey Silverstone. Can you spot it? That’s how Sitz figured out the date and location of this event.
And therefore Jim Sitz was the only one who could identify the time, place, and some of the cars. The key was the Healey Silverstone. And though his eyes are old and tired, Jim spotted the Healey in a lineup of Jags on the grid. Jim knew that the Healey was driven by Jim Simpson (the OSCA guy) in 1951 and in his card file under Simpson was a South Bend Indiana Regional Race at the Studebaker Proving Grounds, where Jim had won the first race. The date was June 23rd 1951 and it was the second of two or three events held at the Studebaker test track. Go ahead, see what you can find online about the 1951 South Bend Regional.
One-off Alfa 2500
I also noted a rare Alfa in the photos and remembered that on May 4th, Paul Wilson had emailed me about a potential article about the stunningly American-inspired Alfa 2500 owned by a friend of his. Fortunately he sent along a photo of the car. Could it be the same one, I thought? A quick comparison revealed a 99% certainty that the car is the exact same one.
The Alfa was also seen in the pages of Michael Frostick’s Pinin Farina, Master Coachbuilder, with the strange caption, “…built for Mrs. Cuccioli, a rich lady.” (page 85)
Enter John Cuccio
The plot thickens. There was another Alfa at the event, a stripped down 2300. Sitz said it probably was the John Cuccio car, which makes sense as Cuccio at the time was, like Bob Temple, working for Loewy at Studebaker. We hit the books again and found that Simon Moore had nailed this in his three volume set, The Legendary 2.3. He in turn had found a complete description of the Cuccio Alfa 2300, s/n 2111029, in an early copy of the SCCA Sports Car magazine. Cuccio was involved with a number of prewar Alfas.
Mystery owner
As Cuccio was obviously an Alfa enthusiast of the 33rd degree, one wonders then, if perhaps Frostick had the caption to the PF 2500 wrong? Could rich lady Mrs. “Cuccioli” be in fact Mrs. Cuccio?
Perhaps readers can help.
Scroll down and enjoy, for there are more interesting stories and connections in the captions of the Temple photos.
We don’t know who owned this rare Farina bodied Alfa 2500, but seeing it sure rang a bell…
As we had recently also been sent this photo of the same car at Pebble Beach by Paul Wilson. Today’s owner is Chris Ohrstrom.
The Cuccio Alfa and engine. The grille and radiator shell were designed and fabricated by Cuccio.
Another view of the Cuccio Alfa 2300. According to Moore, this was a Scuderia Ferrari car with a short wheelbase chassis and Zagato body.
Men in suits. Not too happy but we don’t know why not. Perhaps is it the strange looking car we see in the foreground.
Styled after the Bluebird no doubt. Perhaps. But this car is an American special, built in 1935 by Ben Harris of Champagne Illinois. It has front wheel drive, a V-8 engine made from two Austin 750 cc four cylinder blocks, had four wheel hydraulic brakes and 12 inch wheels with independent suspension. Again, Jim Sitz recognized it and referred us to Road & Track, March, 1953 where details can be found.
MGTCs were all the rage. This one has special wire wheels and, unusual for the era, white sidewall tires, which were generally deemed unacceptable by sports car enthusiasts.
Two views of a Porsche cabriolet,
most likely from the Hoffman dealership in Chicago. Hoffman would later suggest the Porsche Speedster.
Another view of the Porsche and an MG mechanic in the background.
Paul Farago was second in the second race, in his lovely FIAT special. His car can be seen somewhat down the line up. Farago was from Detroit and also attended the Press on Regardless and Watkins Glen events.
Presumably the Simca 8 of Turco; not verified yet. Turco would place 3rd in the second race.
An unidentified Rolls-Royce gets through the water test. We think.
But a Cord may have gotten water logged.
South Bend was a hotbed of foreign car activity, as was Detroit.
Alexander Custome Ford was an example of local customizing that was inspired by the ‘clean look’ of Italian cars.
Alexander Custome Ford in color.
And an unidentified 540K Mercedes.
Next up, the Press on Regardless
What a great collection!
These rare and marvelous photos are just another reason
why we should support–and subscribe– to ” veloce today”.
They really do take me…Back to the Fifties.!
gratefully
Jim Sitz
G.P. Oregon
That Alfa Romeo 6c 2500 was published in Road & Track, their May 1948
issue, (2nd one they published when founder Bill Brehaut moved the journal
from Long Island, New York to Burbank, California)
Those early copies contained exciting material on cars like the
new Cisitalia, the exciting Talbot Lago coupe by Figoni et Falaschi, etc
Jim sitz
Great cars and great pictures. Car built by Ben Harris is the best. Alfa 2500 is also very interesting.
Some familiar names making great comments and shooting great photos from the “good old days” of R&T. Were any of these photos Motta-fied? lol
The man knew how to handle a camera. So nice to see period shots from the pits/paddock, so many Coats and Ties. And a special “Thank You” to Dale LaFollette for bringing these back to life.
Historically yours, Allen
Thank you Allen, and always good to hear from you! We will pass this to Dale…
Pete
What tremendous photos ! Even in b&w they really make you feel like you are there in person. Thanks
Mr. Ohrstrom commissioned me to make a research about the first period of the Alfa 6C2500. The first owner was Mrs. Giuliana Tortoli (married Cuccioli in Milan). This is the only car designed by Pietro Frua for Pinin Farina. The car joined to the “Premieres journées d’ elegance” in Lausanne (CH) in October 1946, some days later Battista Farina took the car and drove it to the Paris motor show, where he parked the car in front of the Salòn. A week later Mrs. Tortoli joined to the XI Turin elegance concours where she was awarded with the “Best open car in concours” prize, assigned by the Turin Automobile Club. In March 1947 the car joined to the XXIX Montecarlo elegance concours where it won the Grand Prix d’honneur in its category. The US period started in 1950.
I hope I was helpful.
There’s more to those TC whitewalls than fashion. The wheels look more like 16″ than stock 19″, and their sticky footprint would have been much bigger. Also, as Max Balchowsky found, whitewall tires sometimes had a softer compound than blackwalls. So, in theory, the cornering grip of this car would have been dramatically better than stock. How the primitive suspension would deal with this is an open question. But going to smaller-diameter, wider wheels was a common modification done to TCs that were raced.
I guess #49 is the Healey Silverstone. The wheels give it away.