The 1953 Chuck Tatum Special: A Deathtrap With Wheels

Carroll Shelby built an automotive empire around his application of an American V8 into the body of a small British race car. He is certainly due a lot of credit, although to be blunt, it was an idea that had taken root long before Shelby came along. Almost a decade before Shelby’s Cobra’s hit the track, Chuck Tatum was using an all-American designed and built custom racer to show Europe’s best that yes, Yankees can build a fast car with handling capabilities.The Chuck Tatum Special holds an important place in the annals of American racing history, and it has shown up for sale on Hemmings for $195,000.Built in 1952, the Chuck Tatum was engineered and designed by Americans for competing against “foreign” cars that dominated the race tracks at the time. So Tatum, with a team of friends, built a custom frame and started assembling parts from various American automobiles. This included the front suspension ‘32 Ford with steering from a ‘40 Ford. It was so fast and well known that an English woman asked if it was “the beastly car with a lorry engine in it.” From then on, it was called simply “The Beast.”

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The engine was actually a six-cylinder GMC 270 bored out to 302 cubic-inches as it was more reliable than a flathead Ford and lighter than a Chrysler or Cadillac engine. It went on to do very well in races nationwide, beating the more-powerful Allards that had dominated the scene. Tatum eventually sold the race car, and assumed it had been scrapped until his son managed to track down and restore the car. The account on the classified ad is well worth reading, and $195,000 for this piece of American racing history should be considered a bargain for anybody in the know.