Allen Mite
(click on photo to enlarge)
Glen "Howard" Allen, from Pompton Plains, NY, was responsible for two separate mite car designs. Both designs utilized McCoy .19 race car engines with spur-gear drive. And both were loosely based on former Indianapolis 500 winning cars.
The "first design" Allen mite car was actually a collaboration between Howard Allen, Bob Scarsdale (from Park Ridge, NJ) and Ed "Jake" LaMotta (from Nutley, NJ) . At the time, Allen was the chief tool and die maker for the light bulb division of Westinghouse Electric; Scarsdale was the operations manager for Atlantic Aviation Corp. at Teterborough Airport; and LaMotta was a pattern maker for Curtiss-Wright Corp. All three were skilled modelers and avid tether car racers.
The design of the first car was patterned after several relatively similar Kurtis Kraft race cars which were the dominant chassis in the Indianapolis 500 at that time: the Blue Crown Specials in which Mauri Rose (1947-1948) and Bill Holland (1949) scored three consecutive victories at Indianapolis; the Novi Specials which were arguably the fastest cars of their time; and a somewhat smaller Offenhauser-powered version of the Novi's. Based on photographs of the cars, Scarsdale drew up the original sketches of the first Allen mite and then produced the final machine drawings. Using Scarsdale's drawings, LaMotta made the wood patterns for the body, pan and engine mount castings. All of the machine work was performed by Allen and the cars were completed in late 1949.
A total of three cars were produced; one each for Allen, Scarsdale and LaMotta. Neither Scarsdale's nor LaMotta's cars were ever raced and no record of Allen's car having been raced has been found.
Interestingly, several years after the three "first design" Allen mite cars were produced, LaMotta produced a number of unpowered mite cars which were copies of the Allen car. While the design of the LaMotta cars was virtually identical to that of the Allen mite, there were several notable differences: (1) the Allen mite had the name "ALLEN" cast into the pan near the tail while the LaMotta mite had the name "LA MOTTA" cast into the pan; (2) the front axle mount was somewhat different in the two cars; (3) the Allen mite utilized a sprung, machined, straight front axle while the LaMotta mites used an unsprung, cast, dropped front axle; and (4) the Allen mite was approximately 5/16 inch longer than the LaMotta mite, which suggests that the Allen mite was a "first generation" car while the LaMotta car was probably a "third generation" car; using castings taken from a pattern which was actually a casting taken off LaMotta's original Allen mite.
The "first design" Allen mite shown below was originally owned by Bob Scarsdale. The car features Hornet Mite wheels on both the front and back with Hornet Mite tires in front and 3-inch diameter C&R semi-pneumatic tires in the rear. The pan-handle is a modified Real McCoy pan handle. The body is polished cast aluminum with a hand-formed sheet aluminum seat. The engine is a McCoy .19 race car engine with 1 3/4 to 1 ratio spur gear drive.
The "second design" Allen mite car appears to have been the sole effort of Howard Allen. The car was again patterned after an Indianapolis 500 winner; in this case, the Kurtis Kraft Wynn's Friction Proofing Special that Johnnie Parsons drove to victory in 1950. The "second design" car differs from the "first design" in that its cast aluminum body is somewhat more substantial than that of the earlier design and is better suited to the rigors of actual competition. Like its predecessor, the "second design" car features a McCoy .19 race car engine with 1 3/4 to 1 ratio spur gear drive. Unlike the first car, however, the gears are fully enclosed within the body. And, rather than having the name "ALLEN" cast in the back of the pan, the "second design" car has a small circular logo with the letters "ARCCo" (which stood for Allen Race Car Co.) cast in the front of the pan.
The "second design" Allen mite shown below was originally owned by Constantine "Costy" Demikoff of Clifton, NJ. Demikoff was a machinist by trade and he replaced the Real McCoy pan handle which originally came on the car with a machined aluminum pan handle of his own design. Like the "first design" Allen mite of Bob Scarsdale, Demikoff's "second design" Allen car had Hornet Mite front and rear wheels, Hornet Mite front tires, and 3-inch C&R semi-pneumatic tires in the rear. The car still has the original red paint, graphics and number decals that were on the car when Demikoff owned it.
Return to Home
This website was created and maintained by John Lorenz (e-mail: mitecars@gmail.com)