LEGENDARY BARN FIND! REVIVING The Original 1953 Sorrell SR-100 Race Car HIDDEN FOR 60 YRS in DESERT
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- This incredible sports car has been hiding in the desert for over 60 years, but was still solid and 99% complete when it was purchased by the present owner!
A Sorrell SR-100 with a powerful GMC six cylinder, Kurtis 500KK chassis….flip front for easy access, who could ask for more? This would have been considered an ideal build in all the right ways and inspired countless young men across the country to press forward with their dream of building their own fiberglass bodied sports car in the 1950s
It's a magazine cover car too, most prominently featured on the cover of Car Craft in October 1955. The man behind the car, Bob Sorrell, was at the top of his game when this article first appeared
Bob’s first fiberglass body debuted in 1953 and here it was late in 1955 and he already was on the cover of a magazine. In fact, as you’ll read below, Car Craft Magazine used Bob’s work and expertise in the creation of another article, one that appeared over 3 issues of Car Craft starting in October 1955. Below is the full article text taken along with photos from the article that are featured at the end of the video.
GMC Under Glass: Car Craft, October 1955
Racing Chassis, Hot Rod Power Plant and Modernistic Styling Make Up Dick Lane’s Fiberglass Sports Roadster
Photos by Bob D’Olivio
"When we gathered together all of the material for the “Building a Fiberglass Car” story which starts on page 18, we decided that it would be a good idea to show just what kind of results could be obtained using a fiberglass body. Since the above mentioned story is a start to finish operation on Bob Sorrell’s body, we went to Bob and asked him where we could find a good completed car using his body.
Bob sent us over to see Richard Lane of Los Angeles and we had to admit that his car was good, in fact, it was sensational. Dick used one of Frank Kurtis’ 500 KK tubular frames with full torsion bar suspension. The 500 KK frame is, except for size, the same basic framework which has been under the winning car for the past three years at Indianapolis.
In keeping with the Indy theme, Lane used knock-off hubs, magnesium wheels and spot brakes made by Halibrand Engineering for race cars. The torque tube rear end also has a Halibrand quick-change center section with a 3.78 ring and pinion.
In the engine department, Lane took a 302 cubic inch GMC, bored it 1/8 inch and left the four inch stroke stoke so that it totaled about 320 cubic inches. A special twelve port Fisher-Horning aluminum head with large valves was bolted on and the compression checked out at 8.5:1.
Frank McGurk ground a billet cam and also took care of the piston, tubular push rod and flywheel department. Six Amal carburetors on the left side of the engine and the six chrome headers into a large collector tube on the right side give the engine an unmatched potent appearance.
Unfortunately, the engine was never dyno tested so no figures can be given but to quote Lane, “It really scares you when you get on it.” Future plans for this roadster call for competition at some of the Southern California drag strips and also a little closed course competition in sport car events.
We bet that this car will also be seen in a lot of automobile shows in the next few years. It’s a beauty."
_____________
There’s More to Discover with Undiscovered Classics:
www.undiscover...
Follow/Connect:
Instagram: / undiscoveredclassics
Facebook: / undiscoveredclassicsusa
Threads: www.threads.ne...
_____________
LIKE. SHARE. SUBSCRIBE.
Give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed watching 👍
#cars #restoration #carlovers
Thanks for watching the video LEGENDARY BARN FIND! REVIVING The Original 1953 Sorrell SR-100 Race Car HIDDEN FOR 60 YRS in DESERT
The car is stunning. Great walk around. 👏👏👏
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it
Agreed. Any idea how many were made & survive?
I *think* maybe half a dozen made. There’s lots of history on Sorrell in our website, here’s just one of many posts: www.undiscoveredclassics.com/forgotten-fiberglass/the-ads-of-sorrell-engineering-selling-bob-sorrells-sports-cars-1955-1956/
Also: if anyone has watched any of the Admiral's Ferrari stories or the lost interview, - one of these Sorrells is what he says he THOUGHT that his car was at first. What a find. Imagine coming across that!
Whoa, I hadn’t seen that! Very cool
This car is incredible. Nicely done
I didn’t expect to see it in the paddock, but when I did I couldn’t believe I was looking at the Car Craft cover car!
Stunning machine. Thanks for showing us.
It’s a really beauty. Thanks for following along
Great background on this survivor, love the interior and gets to live its life as a race car! Thanks for the vid!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Regarding the fabrication of the windshield and surround. That pattern making technique is known as CAD. Cardboard Aided Design. As for making a fiberglass composite ANYTHING, - doing it well is harder than it looks. Trust me on this. That said, with the right tooling ( the molds ) and materials you can make some incredible stuff. See: the America's Cup "boats"
Ha! Love that take on the CAD definition, funny
Holy cow, that WAS, ahead of its time.
It sure was!
Fabulous 😎👍🏆
😄
Wow wow 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
😄
that is just cool
It’s pretty rad 😎
WOW⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It sure is a stunner
With the very rare cross-flow head!
It’s quite the car!
What a find.. always such a stunning car. I’m assuming this is at Monterey this year? Now I’m really kicking myself for not going up…
Yep! Found him in the paddock at Laguna Seca
Keyway rear axle is still used in vintage midget racing, and it's safe.
Good to know!
now l know were the XKE jag got its looks, beautiful car would have liked to here it run
Me too, but I didn’t want to push it by asking since he was having engine trouble
Very good lines...
I'd say more like 1950 Italian than British but the front and tail also resemble Jaguar pre E type treatment.
Who was responsible for the body?
Bob Sorrell! Lots of good info on our website, here’s just one of many stories we’ve done about them: www.undiscoveredclassics.com/forgotten-fiberglass/the-ads-of-sorrell-engineering-selling-bob-sorrells-sports-cars-1955-1956/
Body looks a bit like a 1955 OSCA MT4
Hmmm I can maybe see it in the side profile a little
You didn’t fire it up.
As the owner mentioned, they had a minor motor issue so I didn’t want to push it