Topic: Solved -PJ580- Sherwood Johnston's "The Beast"

[Paul Jaray]

What is this?
I have a nickname and the engine.
Probably it is very easy, I don't know, just want to file it away.
1 point for a correct id.

[Carnut]

This one could be difficult.
Any clues?!

[Paul Jaray]

There you have it! 

[Bill Murray]

Oh Snap!!!!

And I had such a very clever answer to post and it would have had to be correct as there was no photo
Bill

[targhediferro]

In the foreground I suppose to see a not so old car, so is the quiz car a replica?

[Paul Jaray]

Not a replica.

[Paul Jaray]

BTW, I found now all there is to know about it.

[nicanary]

That looks like the US of A to me - is it a Crosley?

[Paul Jaray]

Yes and No: not a Crosley but from the USA.

[nicanary]

It's clearly a special built on a production car base, hence the disc wheels, so probably not an MG. It's fairly small....

French car beneath?

[Paul Jaray]

Not French parts (that I'm aware of...)

[nicanary]

British base?

[Tom_I]

I'd say the wheels are from a Jaguar XK120, but the car looks too small to be based on one. Any Jaguar parts involved?

[Hiawatha]

Supercharged?

[Hiawatha]

That's Sherwood Johnston's "The Beast" based on a 1950 XK120 and specially built for the Mount Washington Hill Climb..

[nicanary]

Well done! It beat me.  Apparently it was made for Johnston by Hansen-McPhee Engineering of Boston in 1951. It was used for road-racing in 1952 and Johnston was top-scoring driver in SCCA events that year. His win at Mt. Washington was in 1953. I have found a photo of him winning at the same event in a Jaguar C-Type with the body removed, but I feel that this would have been a later event.

I can only assume he had this body made because his XK120 did not have an alloy body, but the stock steel item, which he thought was too heavy. Otherwise why ruin a beautiful car? Here's photo of the car today with present owner Roger Dowd. BTW you can tell it's the East Coast by the people's clothes - very much Boston "old money". A J Foyt would NOT have fitted-in!

[Paul Jaray]

That's the car.
Here's more about:
'Sherwood Johnston piloted up Mount Washington’s 7.6- mile Auto Road in a record-breaking run of 10 minutes, 47.6 seconds in 1953, to the list.
Johnston, who was originally from Winchester, bought the Jaguar right off the assembly line in 1950, and promptly began modifying it for racing.
“There were a bunch of Jaguar Specials running in those days,’’ said Dowd. “But the Beast was built with the specific purpose of running the Mount Washington hill climb.’’
It was modified by Lindy Hansen of Hansen-McPhee Engineering in Lexington. Hansen’s team produced the first Jaguar featuring a three-carburetor manifold and custom Mickey Thompson cams. “They put together a car that produced about 265 horsepower and only weighed about 1,890 pounds,’’ said Dowd. “It was a very potent car.’’
Asked whether the Jaguar’s impressive power-to-weight ratio led to its nickname, Dowd replied: “Yes, it is, because it’s a beast to drive.’’
Dowd was only 15 when he watched Johnston race the Jaguar at Watkins Glen, N.Y., in 1951. The following year, Dowd was competing behind the wheel as well."

Source: Boston.com

..and the car today:

[Paul Jaray]

Point for Hiawatha!
Tom_I was on the right path but 30 minutes later we had the answer!
Thank you nicanary for the additional info.
There is a 4-page article about this car, I'll post more if anyone is interested.
(but it's easily googlable  )

[Carnut]

Another picture: