1961 Dolphin America

For sale by auction on Saturday 28 November 2015 with Historics at Brooklands. Brooklands Motor Racing Circuit. Weybridge. Surrey. Call 01753 639170
We are delighted to offer this extremely beautiful and rare
1960s American sports racing car manufactured by the Dolphin
Engineering Company. El Cajon. San Diego. California. The company
was formed in 1958 by Bud Hull along with the British chassis
designer John Crosthwaite who had famously been involved with Lotus
and Cooper Cars Limited. Dolphin's first car. the Mk. I Junior. ran
with a Fiat engine and transmission. Whilst successful. the latest
designs from Lotus and Cooper required the West Coast constructors
to re-design the rear engine layout so as to remain competitive.
This led to the Dolphin International of 1961. The new chassis was
of a tubular design by Crosthwaite and elegantly bodied by Dick
Troutman of Scarab fame. The Ford 105E powered International was
driven to notable success by ex-pat Ken Miles. By this time. in
1961. Dolphin targeted the popular sports racer classes and began
to develop a new car. Development fell to Don Maslin as Crosthwaite
had now left the company. with the new car being known as the
Dolphin America. This full bodied car retained the nose-cone of the
International with added wings. creating a Ferrari 250
Testarossa-esque appearance. The rear body was developed from a
mould taken from Maslin's own modified Lotus Eleven known as the
'Wotus Bwossomi'! There is some speculation and discussion as to
how many Dolphin America cars were built. but it is believed to be
in the region of 12 being produced with various engines including. br/>Ford. Abarth. Coventry Climax and Porsche before. due to financial
difficulties. the Dolphin Engineering Company closed it doors in
1964.

Chassis No. 2 has recently been imported into the UK from
California and is believed to be the sister development chassis to
the well known car that Ken Miles campaigned. That particular car
was fitted with a Porsche 1. 00cc RS61 engine and is known as the
Porphin. Chassis No. 2 today is fitted with a highly tuned 105E
Ford pre-crossflow engine fuelled via the twin 40 DCOE carburettors
with drive via a Hewland five-speed gearbox and transaxle. In 2010. br/>whilst still in California. extensive works were carried out by the
highly respected vintage racing specialists. Virtuoso Performance
of Hayward. California. An extensive breakdown of these works
(including testing) is detailed on the invoices that reside in the
history file and is too extensive to list here but does include a
full engine strip and rebuild. In addition. further works included
the flywheel. clutch. suspension. pinion ratios and conversion to
five-speed gearbox; these bills total over $68. 00. The
wheels are of magnesium construction and are fitted with a new set
of Dunlop historic racing tyres. The rear suspension uprights are
also made of magnesium and the shock absorber bodies have been
fitted with steel bodies for compliance- the alloy bodies
originally supplied are included. Disc brakes were fitted at the
front as standard with drum brakes to the rear; however. rear disc
brakes have been fitted with the original alloy finned and
lightened drum brakes available for re-instatement. if so wished.
Jacob Engineering. Gloucestershire. England. specialist engineers
for historic Sports and racing cars originally supplied the
steering wheels to Dolphin and still hold the patterns. It was from
these patterns that Jacob Engineering recently supplied a newly
built steering wheel as would have been fitted in the period. Two
boxes of parts and a spare engine are included. An extensive file
accompanies Chassis No. 2 which includes invoices. period pictures
and three period magazines; two Car and Driver 1961 and 1962. plus
Sports Car Graphic from August 1963. These magazines feature
Dolphin within them. A letter from Phil Binks. Dolphin Historian
and owner of Dolphin America No. 6. FJ and No. 9 states: "When
Dolphin closed its doors in 1964 everything was auctioned off. Dr.
Charles Thompson bought America Model No. 2 at that time. This
consisted of a bare frame. suspension parts. a steering rack. front
and rear uprights. brakes and two seats. The chassis is a sister
car to the Porsche Dolphin America that Otto Zipper owned and Ken
Miles drove. " He adds. "Dr. Thompson campaigned an early
Dolphin/Abarth 750 America. This was previously raced by a well
known Southern Californian. Dan Parkinson. Doc continued to race
the old car and over the years heavily modified it. changing the
body. suspension. brakes and installed a Yamaha motorcycle engine.
The kit he bought at auction hung for many years in Doc's garage. I
acquired all of the car from him sometime in the 1980s. It was
stored in my garage until I shipped it to my son Dan Binks in the
late 1990s. Dan started work on the car in.

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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