1922 Meteor

1922 Meteor Indianapolis Open-Wheel Race Car
Loan Courtesy of Minden Automotive Museum, Minden, Nevada.

The Meteor's owner and son often dreamed of owning a 1920s vintage Indianapolis race car. During the 1980s, the owner attended an auction in California. He was looking for farm equipment, not a race car. But something caught his eye. A red, consignment vehicle that may have at one time raced on northern California dirt or board tracks. He bought it and trailered it home.

The owner and his son decided to build a custom desined Indy race car from what was left of the racer. The used many of the original parts, including the chassis and Continental engine. The exposed barrel gas tank was eliminated and replaced and then covered by a streamlined "ice cream cone" tail. A custom tailored cockpit was created around the son's tall frame.

It was the auction car's unique chassis that inspired the name of the car. The chassis is from a Meteor Motor Car Company automobile. Although the company offered passenger cars from 1914 to 1930, their factory production focused on funeral cars and ambulances. It is not known if this chassis is from a passenger car or a hearse, but the company name, Meteor, is certainly an appropriate race car name.

This race car is reminiscent of the privately owned custom "hybrids" or "specials" that were popular from the mid-teens into the 1920s. Many of these cars may have been highly modified with the usual ambiguity as to origin while others were established makes.

The car was shown at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and vintage raced at the Monterey Historics.

Adams Custom Engines of Sparks, Nevada restored the engine and chassis. The body was fabricated by Kent White of Nevada City, California and painted by Joe Burgerell of Sparks, nevada.