Kurtis 500kk (VIN#500kk51) 1954

[Amac500]

History:

Back in the day, Kurtis was one of the top racing companies in the business, known best for the roadsters they entered at the Indianapolis 500. However, Kurtis did also branch into sports cars with the 500, of which 60 examples were made, the 51st (VIN#500kk51) being very unique. The car was incredibly advanced. It was built off of the same tubular space frame with torsion bar suspension that was used in their Indy roadsters. The chassis also featured an X cross-brace in the middle and twin main tubes above and below the axles. The body was a one-off custom aluminum body (other 500s were fiberglass) made by Cal Medal Shaping. The engine of the car was particularly unusual. It was a Chevy inline-6 that was offset to the right of the car, in order to make space for the supercharger. And what was the most unbelievable part of this car you ask? Look at the styling... it's American.


1954 Kurtis 500kk:

 

[Sick Cylinder]

Absolutely Fantastic - Thank you so much Amac500 for posting this car - one of the things I enjoy most about this section is finding out about great cars and this is one that I had never heard of before.

I would love to see this in the game, especially if we also got the Allard J2 which in either Cadillac or Ford V8 (with ARDUN OHV head conversion) powered form were a mainstay of the early fifties US racing scene.

Check out this thread and please support the Kurtis 500KK's most likely competitor - the J2 Allard:

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/allard-j2-1950-cadillac-powered-sports-race-car.302412/


There is lots more information on the Kurtis 500KK available from this link:


http://www.fantasyjunction.com/cars/1172-Kurtis-500KK-Supercharged Inline 6-Cylinder


Picture shows a 1954 Kurtis 500KK with 291 cubic inch Chevy V8 racing at Laguna Seca.

 

[Dr P Grunfelde]

I can't believe this thread hasn't been flooded with likes! NB It might help to put the date at the end of the title and then add Great Sound! or American Sports Race Car! to get more attention to this little known, but very worthy car.

The Kurtis 500 was basically an Indy 500 / champ car chassis for the road complete with torsion bar suspension - in it's day it was as close to an F1 car on the road that you could get. The chassis was sold as a kit with the suspension to which you fitted a body. A nine bar radiator grille and cycle wings (like the Allard J2) were normally fitted, but body styles varied. About 60 of these cars were made and it would be a welcome addition to the game in either the beautiful Italian bodied style shown above or the cycle winged Allard J2 style which was more common in early 1950's racing. I suspect that many of these cars were re-bodied with more modern bodies as the years went on. Also with the advent of the Cobra in 1962 these sorts of cars would no longer be competitive on the track and may have been converted to road use and hence fitted with sleeker bodies.

PD - it would be nice to race this car against the Allard J2, Ace Ace Bristol (Predecessor to the Cobra), C type and D type Jaguars, Aston Martin DBR1, C1 Chevrolet Corvette and other 1950's road and race cars

Enjoy this footage from a race at Spa - you are onboard in a 6 litre V8 Kurtis 500:

 

[Amac500]

Absolutely Fantastic - Thank you so much Amac500 for posting this car - one of the things I enjoy most about this section is finding out about great cars and this is one that I had never heard of before.

I would love to see this in the game, especially if we also got the Allard J2 which in either Cadillac or Ford V8 (with ARDUN OHV head conversion) powered form were a mainstay of the early fifties US racing scene.

Me too mate, always enjoy learning about new cars The Allard is a fantastic car too. The company was always very revolutionary and ahead of its time and the J2 was similar in layout to the normal Kurtis 500 sports cars, like in the video below your post!

I can't believe this thread hasn't been flooded with likes! NB It might help to put the date at the end of the title and then add Great Sound! or American Sports Race Car! to get more attention to this little known, but very worthy car.

The Kurtis 500 was basically an Indy 500 / champ car chassis for the road complete with torsion bar suspension - in it's day it was as close to an F1 car on the road that you could get. The chassis was sold as a kit with the suspension to which you fitted a body. A nine bar radiator grille and cycle wings (like the Allard J2) were normally fitted, but body styles varied. About 60 of these cars were made and it would be a welcome addition to the game in either the beautiful Italian bodied style shown above or the cycle winged Allard J2 style which was more common in early 1950's racing. I suspect that many of these cars were re-bodied with more modern bodies as the years went on. Also with the advent of the Cobra in 1962 these sorts of cars would no longer be competitive on the track and may have been converted to road use and hence fitted with sleeker bodies.

PD - it would be nice to race this car against the Allard J2, Ace Ace Bristol (Predecessor to the Cobra), C type and D type Jaguars, Aston Martin DBR1, C1 Chevrolet Corvette and other 1950's road and race cars

So you're saying like add to the title something to the title what, kind of like "[2/14/14: Great Sound!]"? I agree though, I think that once somebody gets on this page it will be impossible not to vote for this car. Personally I've never seen a sexier car in my life!

You're correct in saying that they were sold as kits. Like the Allard, there were a variety of engines placed in them too, which makes this one even more unusual because the engines put in the Kurtis were mostly V8s from companies under Ford Motor Corp. You could actually buy them in various stages too, be it a complete kit, partially assembled, or one you have to assemble and so on. This particular Vin was delivered new as just the bare chassis with no body. Actually, the original owner apparently drove it around before he had the body work for it, which was made new by Cal Medal Shaping, so it actually had that body on it for its entire life and I think others may have taken similar routes with their 500's.

And I absolutely agree about adding the Allard and others that you named! PD is good at adding one car from various types and periods of motorsport, but they aren't good at adding the competitors so we could actually get into racing them! I posted another car you should check out if you haven't, it fits the bill with cars you just named. Search for the 1957 Corvette SS

 

[ClydeYellow]

All we need to do is convince the owner of the car with chassis num. 500kk51 to take his Kurtis to Pebble Beach, where I'm sure it would swoop the GT Award.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

I just had to add another Kurtis. After discovering the make today, I couldn't help searching for more information. This is a 1956 Kurtis Lyons Roadster with what looks like eight single choke carbs!

 

[JCH8r]

The engineering that was going on around the Indy 500 was pretty impressive even before the Brits showed up in the early 60's. Thanks, this is a good thread.

 

[Dr P Grunfelde]

How about this lovely Kurtis 500! It's a 1953 chassis, but the car wasn't completed until 1959 and is Chevy V8 powered.

 

[JCH8r]

Very cool, probably one of those projects where the guys building hot rods in the states said, "You'd pay HOW MUCH for a Ferrari?" and built a much better (okay, just as good) vehicle at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Amac500]

All we need to do is convince the owner of the car with chassis num. 500kk51 to take his Kurtis to Pebble Beach, where I'm sure it would swoop the GT Award.

His name is Fred Phillips and he live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He seems like he's a pretty cool dude too, that's him in the video. He does the whole cars and coffee deal with it. Stole this quote from a website that bumoed into the car at one of the events: "The car, a 1954 Kurtis 500KK, pulled into a parking stall with the engine roaring like a wild lion. Phillips casually removed his vintage driving goggles and helmet and got out of his Kurtis with a wide grin on his face – the face of a true car guy, ready to mingle with like-minded individuals." He's got a huge collection too. Gotta love a guy who owns this caliber of car and I actually drives it, like a car should be!

 

[NART512]

American power with European styling. Just an awesome combination.

 

[Amac500]

I think one of the things that really makes this car look so good is the colors. Sure, we see the red Italian racer's of the 50's, and French blues, and UK greens, German silvers and so on. But when have you ever seen black on black with those black wire knock off wheels, black interior, all that. It just makes the car that much sharper I think, and I couldn't tell you another sports of the 50's or 60's that incorporated this color scheme.

 

[Sergio Perez]

One of the many forgotten gems of the automotive world.