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    • 1963 Native Weebly
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Rattenbury Specials

Prolific special builder and driver Jim Rattenbury was first known for his small-bore specials, but for a while he modified and drove a D-Jaguar profiled
elsewhere (as is Jim). His most famous true special was the oddly shaped car pictured on the web site which started out with a Crosley engine and finished its career with a much more potent Porsche. His first special, raced in B.C in 1953, was as rough as any, resembling a soapbox racer with bigger wheels. It was based on a Crosley and Jim basically just removed the body. He installed a supercharger that gave the car 57 hp with a weight of 865 pounds. The second special used the same engine and blower, but in a more sophisticated tubular chassis body. It was raced in 1954 and ‘55.  
 
Next came the afore-mentioned “oddly shaped” special that was quite mechanically sophisticated for its time. The car, once described as looking like as “guppy on wheels,” featured a steel-tubed space frame, four-wheel independent suspension, hand-formed aluminum bodywork, a transverse Crosley engine and more.  
 
After Jim’s D-Jag years, he upgraded the car with a Porsche Super 90 unit with Porsche drive train and disc brakes. It was quite successful for several years in Class G modified.
Website by Jimhydeshelp
  • Home
  • Racing Memories
    • 1954-Native Weebly
    • 1955 Native Weebly
    • 1956 Native Weebly
    • 1957 Native Weebly
    • 1961 Native Weebly
    • 1962 Native Weebly
    • 1963 X-Video
    • 1963 Native Weebly
    • 1966 Native Weebly
    • 1969 Native Weebly
  • About Martin
  • Contact