This 1938 Dreyer / McDowell Sprint car is finished in mirror gloss black with a tobacco leather interior. It is powered by a ’46-’48 Ford 239 cubic inch 59A flathead V8 engine with an Edelbrock Super intake manifold with twin Stromberg 97 carburetors. It is further fitted with neat Stewart Warner 2-5/8 curved glass gauges, Hartford friction shocks, Bell steering wheel, Harmon Collins magneto, dual stainless steel trumpet exhausts, machined aluminum dash, hot rod dagger oil dipstick, front and rear push bars and more! The car is currently riding on a set of Kelsey-Hayes bent spoke wire wheels with NOS blocked and ribbed Goodyear tires, measuring 5-16 in front and 7-16 in rear.
Per sprint car racer and historian Don Radbruch, this car was involved in a wreck in the late 40s in Milwaukee and Johnny McDowell moved onto other cars before a fatal crash took his life in 1952, also in Milwaukee. This car was found by a father/son team in 2003, run by Bob Ryan and his father. This car was completely stripped from the cowl back; in addition, the car received a new hand-crafted hood, grille and custom front push bar. The motor was rebuilt and set up to run on race gas and mated to aluminum Edelbrock heads and stainless steel headers and exhausts. The restoration was certainly a labor of love by Ryan’s Garage and no corners were cut.
