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Kansas City Club Car
Built and raced by Brian Wheeler, Raytown, MO
The Kansas City area was the home of a very active group of mite car builders and racers during the late 1940s and 50s. Members of the Kansas City mite car club designed their own cars, fabricated the patterns, cast the bodies in either magnesium or aluminum, and then provided the rough castings to other members of the club to finish.
The car shown in the photos is one of the club's earlier efforts.
This car is powered by an early 1949 model McCoy 19 race car engine. The over-sized 1 1/2 to 1 ratio pinion and axle gears were selected because of their mass, which negated the need for a separate flywheel. The rear wheels are from a Thimble Drome Champion with the optional
2 1/4 inch diameter semi-pneumatic competition tires.
The front wheels and tires began life as 2 inch diameter solid rubber
Heli-Arc model airplane wheels. The original brass bushing which served as a bearing was bored out and replaced with a roller bearing which was held in place by two 1 1/4 inch diameter aluminum discs, one on either side of the Heli-Arc wheel. The result was an inexpensive streamlined front wheel and knife-edge tire before ball bearing wheels and knife edge tires from Pac-A-Lite, Hornet Motors, and C-R Products became widely available.
The car has a cast aluminum body and pan with a fairly short wheelbase. As a result, the engine placement was near the car's center of mass. The front axle pivots on an axle mount cast into the pan. The uniform weight distribution, in combination with the floating front axle, contributed to a well-balanced car which tracked smoothly.
The finished car shown in the photos was originally owned by a member of the Kansas City club, Brian Wheeler of Raytown, MO. The other photo shows several unfinished sets of castings for the car which were produced by the Kansas City club.
