1981 Edmunds Casey Special Midget Race Car

The first event for 'Midget' or 'Sprint Car Racing' took place on August 10th of 1933 at Loyola High School in Los Angeles, California. Just nine months later, the Gilmore Stadium opened nearby and midget racing would continue there until 1950. During that time, hundreds of tracks opened across the United States.

Midgets were styled like Indy cars but were much smaller and lighter. They had a 72-inch wheelbase and were powered by four-cylinder engines. Skilled tuners could tune the engines to produce over 150 horsepower, and with a weight of around 1,000 pounds, these small race cars were very fast and racing was often very close.

In 1957, California midget racer Don Edmunds raced at the Indy 500 and was named Rookie of the Year after finishing 19th. After a crash during practice resulting in an injury in 1958, Edmunds returned to building midgets.

This 'Casey Special' is a 1981 Edmunds chassis built to USAC specifications for John Casey of Buffalo, New York. The car ran only one heat race when it was new, at Westborough, Massachusetts. After a few warm-up laps, a slider pin came out of the driveline on the second lap, and that was it for the evening. It has not seen another track since that time.

The two-liter, four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed, alcohol-injected, Volkswagen engine produced 200+ horsepower. It has a Halibrand rear transmission and there is a hand-operated rear disc brake. There is a 72-inch wheelbase, solid axles, and coil-over suspension.

In 2011, this vehicle was offered for sale at the Amelia Island Auction presented by RM Auctions. It was estimated to sell for $15,000-$25,000 and offered without reserve. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of $27,500 including the buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2011