Shortly after the end of World War II, Ted Cannon opened Cannon Engineering, a machine shop in North Hollywood, California. His skills and talents had him create three unique and creative race cars: the MKI, MKII, and MKIV. The first was called the MKI, though it was given the nickname - Cannonball or Vacuum Sweeper. It was constructed in 1950 and built by hand from items lying around Ted's shop. Many of the mechanical components came from Dodge, Mercury, and Lincoln parts. The chassis was from a 1930 Dodge that had been shortened to a 100-inch wheelbase. A Ford axle with transverse leaf springs was placed in the rear and the Dodge independent front setup was left untouched. Ford brakes were used in the rear, and Dodge brakes in the front. The engine was a Mercury flathead V8 which was matted to a Lincoln Zephyr three-speed manual gearbox. The engine was tuned by Cannon Engineering to increase its horsepower output. One Stromberg carburetor was used initially but was later replaced in favor of three Stromberg carburetors. Spare tire covers were used for the vehicle's cycle fenders.
The Cannon MKI was driven mostly by Jim Seely in hillclimbs and road racing events during the early 1950s. It competed in the first Pebble Beach road race in 1950, where it finished in third behind two Jaguars, one driven by Phil Hill and the other driven by Don Parkinson.
The MKI continued to be raced during the 1951 season. In 1952, Ted Cannon introduced his MKII. The car had a six-cylinder aircraft engine mounted in the rear with a chain drive gearbox. The chassis was of space-frame construction with a live axle with quarter-elliptic springs in both the front and the rear. It raced only once and failed to gain the success its builder had hoped. Changes to the SCCA rules meant the car was obsolete. As a result, the car was recycled and used in other racing endeavors.
The MKIII was the next planned racer, though it was never constructed.
The Cannon MKIV was built in 1953 and would be the final racer built by Ted and Cannon Engineering. Like the others, it was assembled from spare parts lying around the machine shop. The chassis was constructed from steel tubing of 1.75 and 2.0-inch diameter. The front and rear suspensions were both live axles. The rear was a Ford unit with transverse leaf springs. The engine was a four-cylinder, 270 cubic-inch Offenhauser unit matted to a three-speed Lincoln Zephyr gearbox. The clutch and flywheel were Ford units.
The car was finished in a coupe configuration, with the body built by California Metal Shaping of Los Angeles, CA. The vehicle had a high roofline, partly because the space-frame chassis had been built very tall, which fully enclosed the driver in a cage. There were gullwing doors since conventional doors would not have worked with the setup.
The car was fast, but it did have its drawbacks. The brake pads wore quickly and were unreliable. Among other growing-pain problems, the car did rather well in SCCA competition, finishing seventh in the C-Modified national point standing in 1955.
When not being raced, the car was used as a daily driver. It was driven regularly by its owner, Ted. So even though there were initial growing pains, as is the case with any new creation, they were able to be identified and fixed, which left fewer surprises on the racing circuit.
by Dan Vaughan