{"id":2111,"date":"2013-12-31T12:45:46","date_gmt":"2013-12-31T20:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=2111"},"modified":"2014-01-02T17:17:21","modified_gmt":"2014-01-03T01:17:21","slug":"poor-mans-offy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/poor-mans-offy\/","title":{"rendered":"Poor Man\u2019s Offy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The 1938 HAL sprint car is finished in an eye-catching yellow and blue combination.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The sign on the yellow racing car said \u201c1938 Hal Sprint Car. Complete nut-and-bolt restoration with a few track days since. Equipped with a full Hal racing engine (aluminum block, 5 main bearings, rare Winfield racing carburetors), a very unusual quick-change rear end and proper Dayton racing wheels and tires. Known as the \u2018Poor Man\u2019s Offy\u201d or fake. Runs and drives excellent with great cosmetics. $35,900. \u201d<\/p>\n

Obviously the Poor Man\u2019s Offy isn\u2019t something that fits in a poor man\u2019s budget today. However, more than a few people who saw the car sitting in the paddock at Road America wondered what it was about the tiny yellow sprinter that made it special and valuable.\u00a0 The secret is in the engine.<\/p>\n

\"Cool-looking<\/a>
Cool-looking exhaust pipes exit on the right side of the hood and run from there back down the entire length of the car.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The HAL engine company evolved when Harold \u201cHal\u201d Hosterman, an Akron, Ohio, speed equipment dealer, started manufacturing overhead valve conversions for the Model T engine in the 1920s.\u00a0 Hosterman\u2019s \u201cAkron Hed\u201d design used ball bearings inside curved tubes to replace the traditional OHV push rods and rocker arms assembly and Williams Foundry in Akron cast the heads.<\/p>\n

Hosterman started making the heads around 1926, producing 1,500-2,000 of them over several years.\u00a0Hosterman once said that he and his friends would hop up their cars with his head designs. Then, they would wait at the foot of a hill in town for owners of big cars to start up the incline. After allowing them a \u201cthird of the way\u201d lead, they would take off and pass them as though they were standing still.\u00a0 Hosterman sold the heads with special exhaust manifolds through various distributors including the Montgomery-Ward catalog. Twin-cam cylinder heads for Ford Model As and Bs followed, and HAL heads started to garner quite a buzz.<\/p>\n

\"Dual<\/a>
Dual carbs were a feature of most, if not all, HAL double overhead cam Ford conversions.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sprint cars fitted with HAL engines were considered capable rivals to the better-known Offenhauser powered cars. HAL wasn\u2019t as well-known as some of the other brands, but cars using HAL engines were still being built in the years 1954-1955 when Hiram Hillegass, of Allentown, Pa., put a HAL sprint car together for Charley Sacks of Allentown. The power plant in that particular car was the first HAL engine fitted with Hillborn fuel injectors. It produced 240 hp and was one of the last Ford conversion cars to compete successfully with the Offys.<\/p>\n

This car is even mentioned in the book Eddie Sachs: The Crown Prince of Racing<\/i>, by Denny Miller. It seems that Charlie Sacks gave the \u201cCrown Prince\u201d one of his first opportunities to get involved in racing and eventually slide behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

\"Chrome<\/a>
Chrome grille, chrome roll bar and leather hood straps add to the car\u2019s authentic details.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In this fascinating You Tube<\/i> video featuring a circa 1931 HAL sprint car owned by George Albright of Ocala, Fla., two men discuss its features as the car idles with one of the men in the cockpit. The car has a Ford Model A\/Model B four-cylinder block with the HAL double overhead cam conversion.<\/p>\n