H Modified
Introduction
Engine: Fiat 600 based
Builder: Doug Thorgeirson
Current Owner: Jerry Boone
On Aug 25, 2004, Jerry reported
"I recently purchased what was known as the Thorgeirson Special, a home built H Modified car constructed between 1962-64 and raced until 1968 in the Pacific Northwest.
It was lost in a divorce in 1968 and vanished until a few years ago when the man I bought it from discovered and purchased it.
The chassis is a tube frame copy of a Lotus of that era. I'm told it was a 23, but I think Lotus 11 is more likely given the age of
the car.
The builder originally planned on using Porsche power, but ran out of money and built a Fiat 600 based engine instead. He made the car mid-engined by turning the Fiat gearbox
upside down to reverse the
relative rotation of the output shafts.
The engine is gone. The engine mounts have been cut away. All that's left of the rear brakes is a rusty steel tube that was cut off years ago. Some of the chassis is pretty solid,
other parts are pretty rough and will need to be replaced.
The bodywork is rough. It was based on a Devin ... kinda. The front is the rear of a Devin and the rear is a copy of the
front, only cut short for a Kamm configuration. But there is a lot of the original car left: gauges, switches, front brakes, even the original number and HM on the hood.
I figure it will be a two-year project. My goal is to have it ready for the Portland Historics in 2006. It needs an engine, gearbox, engine mounts, radiator, rear brakes, new
aluminum all around, a complete teardown...or as a friend of mine described it: 'All it needs is everything.'
I'd like to talk to anyone who remembers seeing the car or recalls anything about it ... and at times like these, sympathy cards are always appreciated."
Jerry Boone
Portland, Oregon
August 28, 2004
"It is pretty darn rough right now. The bad news is that it has sat idle for the better part of 35 years...which is also the good news, too.
Other than all the engine mounts being removed, it isn't too far away from when it was parked about 1968. The rear bodywork is pretty bunged up, but most of the pieces to fix it
are still there. All the original gauges and switches are still in the dash." Jerry Boone
September 9, 2004
"The car is a bit of a project but it's all substantially there and shows no signs of ever being abused or crashed.
I've already begun stripping all the aluminum off the frame and what I've found underneath is encouraging. A couple tubes will have to be replaced, but most of them look
solid." Jerry Boone
January 31, 2006
"Here are some photos on the work I've done in the past year. It is a bit farther down the road than these show." Jerry Boone
October 24, 2006
"Progress comes in bits and spurts. The roll cage structure you see in the photos has to be replaced, as the local organization decided to update its minimum requirements beyond the 1969 standards.
I'm also adding slight flares to the fenders. The car had aluminum eyebrows to cover the wheels. I'm adding fiberglass ones that will look a bit less like an add-on.
I have all the bits to assemble the engine and modify the gearbox. The engine will go to the machinist before the end of the year. The current goal is to have to ready to run in the spring of 2007." Jerry Boone
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