Tag Archives: Donaldson

Shafer 8 – Rigling Buick

Like the Wonder Bread Special I looked at last year today’s featured chassis is credited as being the handy work of Herman Rigling who is said to have built no fewer than 8 of the 40 chassis that started the 1931 Indy 500.

Rigling Buick, Silverstone Classic,

Foremost of the 8 entries that Herman had a hand in building was the Buick powered #12 example driven Phil Schafer known as the Schafer 8 which started 23rd and finished 12th.

Rigling Buick, Heinz Bachmann, Silverstone Classic,

The following season Phil returned to Indy to drive the #33 Shafer 8 Rigling Buick from 26th on the grid through to an 11th place finish.

Rigling Buick, Silverstone Classic,

In 1933 Phil was absent from the Indy 500 grid having failed to qualify the #7 Abels Fink Auto Special in an officially sanctioned qualifying session, he did qualify on the morning of the race, but officials realised they had overstepped their jurisdiction by allowing the running of a qualifying session on race day morning !

However the #8 Abels Fink Auto Special, Phil’s Shafer 8 dating back to 1931 , was driven by H W Stubblefield from 10th on the grid to a fifth place finish.

Rigling Buick, Silverstone Classic,

Phil entered two Shafer 8’s for the 1934 Indy 500, it would appear his original Rigling Buick was entered as the #36 for Al Miller and his mechanician Pinky Donaldson while Phil and mechanician Earle Frost drove the #26 Shafer 8.

Rigling Buick, Silverstone Classic,

Al drove to a 6th place finish from 8th on the grid while Phil starting from an Indy 500 career high 6th on the grid recorded his only Indy 500 retirement with a broken cam shaft drive after completing 130 laps to be classified 16th in his last drive at the Brickyard.

Rigling Buick, Silverstone Classic,

Phil continued competing in the AAA championship until 1936 and continued to participate in the Pikes Peak Hillclimb until 1952.

Heinz Bachmann is seen at the wheel of a Rigling Buick above that is believed to be the Shafer 8 that Phil Shafer failed to qualify at Indy in 1933 but with which Paul won the AAA non Championship race at Elgin Illinois, as described at the end of the post by John Glenn Printz, and raced in his final Indy start in 1934.

My thanks to Vitesse2 and Michael Ferner at the Nostalgia Forum for their help with some of the details in today’s story, I highly recommend reading Michael’s retelling of the 1933 Indy 500 qualification saga part 1 of which appears linked here and part 2 linked here with the race report linked here.

Thanks for joining me on this “Shafer 8” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at a DIY Backie. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Ferrari For Hire – Ferrari 750 Monza Scaglietti Spider S1 #0504M

Today’s featured Ferrari 750 Monza chassis #0504M was purchased new in 1955 by S.A.I.P.A. Srl in Modena Italy in February 1955 and nine days latter it was rented out to Frenchman Michel Poberejsky who entered and won the Agadir Grand Prix for sport cars entered under the pseudonym “Mike Sparken”.

Ferrari 750 Monza, Goodwood Revival

After retiring, having started from pole, from the 1955 British Empire Trophy and then coming second, from pole again in the Easter meeting at Goodwood, Sparken was joined by Marsten Gregory at Le Mans where the pair retired with engine problems. Marsten Gregory then drove #0504M in two races in Portugal and one in Brazil scoring 2 2nd plce finished and a win at the Portuguese Monsanto track.

Ferrari 750 Monza, Goodwood Revival

The last known races for the car were in the United States with Donald Johnson driving to a 3rd and 2nd place finishes at Lawrenceville and Greenwood in 1963, Donaldson is credited with a final race appearance in 1964 at Mid America Raceway where he is believed to have started but his finishing result is unknown. Dudley Cunningham drove the car in the 1969 Mt Equinox Vintage hillclimb where he set a record time.

Ferrari 750 Monza, Goodwood Revival

In 1970’s the car returned to Europe and has been with its current owner Richard Frankel since 2000, #0504M is seen in these photographs competing in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy at the Goodwood Revival meeting last year where it’s owner retired with less than half an hour to go.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ferrari For Hire” edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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