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Chassis:
Having served its purpose, this Tipo B was sold at the end of the 1935 to Spanish Count Jose de Villapadierna. He raced the car several times before running foul of the law. The Marquis subsequently sold the car to England in 1938. Shortly thereafter, chassis 50007 was acquired by American Frank Griswold. He fielded the car in the 1939 Indy 500 for Lou Tomei. He did well to pilot the eight-year old design to a 15th place finish.
The car was then fitted with aerodynamic fairings over the exposed suspension parts and a new cowling over the grille by local coach-builder Derham. It returned to Indy the following year with Al Miller behind the wheel. The changes made the car 2mph faster but this time it did not reach the finish due to a mechanical failure. In the following months, it was campaigned at several road races, including the New York World's Fair Race where Griswold drove himself and score an outright victory.
After the War, Griswold sold the car to California-based racer Tommy Lee, who had developed a taste for exotic racing cars. He first ran the car at a Dry Lake event before flying it to Indy to compete in the 1946 edition of the 500. Entered as the Don Lee Special, it made three further appearances at Indy between 1946 and 1948. The car left the Lee stable during the 1950s and by the end of the decade joined the longterm ownership of Dave Uihlein.
Still wearing its Don Lee Special colours, it was finally sold on in 2006 when it joined a British stable. Benefitting from a mechanical restoration by the Neil and Craig Twyman and boasting a spectacular patina, it has since been regularly shown and raced at events all around the world.
Chassis details |
Manufactured in |
1934 |
Engine number |
50007 |
Last known location |
British Private Collection |
Appearances |
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