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1959 Hagemann Sutton Special news, pictures, and information | ||
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After WWII, with his stint at Mare Island ended, Jack went into business building racecars and bodies in a shop behind his home in Castro Valley and later at a separate shop in San Leandro. When he moved to Alamo he built another shop behind his house where he continued building and repairing aluminum bodies until a few years ago.
During the many years he spent bending and forming aluminum into automotive works of art, his magic touched many different types of racing: Midgets, Sprint Cars, Indy Cars, Bonneville Streamliners, Hot Rods, and Sportscars all received the Hagemann touch. Hot rod airplanes are not to be left off that list, many P51 Mustangs had their wings bobbed and cowls reworked by Jack Hagemann.
Among his many accomplishments were some beautiful sportscar bodies for racecars of the 1950s and 1960s. In the early 1950s he built the Leson Simca and in 1951 built the David MGTD, followed by the Gillespie MGTD in 1952. Chuck Tatum was building his Tatum Special in 1953 and asked jack to build the body. Tatum and a friend came up with a design that caused Jack to change his decal to read 'Built by Jack Hagemann' instead of 'Designed and Built by Jack Hagemann.'
In 1954 he built the Barneson-Hagemann Chrysler; in 1955 he was commissioned to build a special similar to a Jaguar C-Type, but suing a GMC engine....that Hagemann GMC is now run with a Jag engine in Vintage events. In 1958 he built a Scarab-type chassis for Wally Taylor that was never bodied. He also built the beautiful polished-aluminum bodies for the Webster USRRC cars in 1963. His favorite of all the cars he built is a handcrafted RSK-Type roadster with a tube frame, aluminum body, and Porsche running gear that he built for himself in 1985 and still owns.
In 1958 Wally Taylor traveled to Southern California to visit the Reventlow team shops anxiously awaiting the promised customer Scarabs. After racing Austin-Healeys in Northern California for several years, he wanted to step-up to a faster car and had decided that a Scarab was what he wanted. But when Reventlow's Formula 1 effort started, it cancelled plans to build customer cars.
So, Wally commissioned his friend Jack Hagemann to build a car based on the Scarab design. The chassis was built using the same style DeDion rear suspension and Halibrand quick change differential with Troutman and Barnes side covers, Jaguar XK150 brake rotors with Girling calipers were used on the front, specially made disc brakes with Girling calipers purchased from Bill Devin, the same as used on his Devin SS, were fitted inboard on the rear. Monroe shocks and springs finished off the chassis. In 1958 new Halibrand knock-off wheels were bought for the car. A Chevy 283 fitted with Hilborn injection was mated to an early Corvette 4-speed transmission.
The chassis was never completed to a 100-percent ready level and before Hagemann finished the chassis and started on the planned aluminum body, Wally suffered a financial setback and the project was stalled.
Butch Gilbert likes to think about his restoration projects for a little while before undertaking them. In this case, about 23 years!
The Sutton body had never been fitted to the Hagemann chassis, so the first task was to determine exactly what had to be done and exactly how to do it so as to retain the unique character of each. The body had to be shortened by 8 inches to fit the chassis, the rear fin was retained, but now provides air inlet for the inboard disc brakes. Sections of the chassis were reinforced and fittings for attaching the body had to be designed and fabricated.
As completed, the car is just about what Wally Taylor had envisioned nearly 50 years ago, a special that is very similar to the Scarabs and Chaparrals of the late 1950s. It is truly a shame that Wally passed on before he could see the car he had envisioned in 1959.
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| Land Rover Celebrates 65 Years | |
 | - April 30th 2013 marks the 65th anniversary of Land Rover - Celebratory event showcases 65 years of Land Rover innovation - Around 150 heritage vehicles attend celebratory event at Packington Estate in the United Kingdom, the original testing ground for Land Rover (MAHWAH, N.J.) April 29, 2013-Land Rover will mark 65years of technology and innovation with a celebratory event at Packington Estate near its Solihull hometown in the United Kingdom. The desire to create a vehicle that...[Read more...] |
| Jaguar Land Rover Debuts Three All-New British Vehicles At 2012 Los Angeles International Automobile Show | |
 | Jaguar Land Rover introducing three new vehicles with special focus on the U.S. Market •High-performance 2014 Jaguar XFR-S makes its world debut •All-new two-seat sports car, the Jaguar F-TYPE, makes its U.S. Auto Show Debut •The world's first all-aluminum SUV, the 2013 Range Rover makes its U.S. Auto Show Debut •The U.S. will be the world's largest market for the three vehicles Jaguar Land Rover is debuting at the 2012 Los Angeles International Auto Show (MAHWAH, N.J.) – November...[Read more...] |
| Mercedes-Benz at Pebble Beach Automotive Week: An Expression of Fascinating Design and Innovation | |
 | •Historical Tribute to SL: W194 Chassis No. 2, 7 and 11 among 300SL vehicles on display •The Concept Style Coupé opens a new chapter and generation of Mercedes-Benz vehicles •AMG 45 year anniversary highlights the pinnacle of performance and style A tribute to Mercedes-Benz SL Roadsters is set for Pebble Beach Automotive Week with three 1952 W194 vehicles among a mix of vintage and new vehicles bearing the three-pointed star that express the marque's breadth and depth of fascinating desi...[Read more...] |
| Mercedes-Benz at Pebble Beach: An Expression of Fascinating Design and Innovation | |
 | • Historical Tribute to SL: W194 Chassis No. 2, 7 and 11 among 300SL vehicles on display • The Concept Style Coupé opens a new chapter and generation of Mercedes-Benz vehicles • AMG 45 year anniversary highlights the pinnacle of performance and style A tribute to Mercedes-Benz SL Roadsters is set for Pebble Beach weekend with three 1952 W194 vehicles among a mix of vintage and new vehicles bearing the three-pointed star that express the marque's breadth and depth of fascinating design and ...[Read more...] |
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