Voigt Chassis
H Modified
Introduction
Engine: Crosley
Builder: Gene Voigt
Current Owner: Rich Campbell
The Voigt LRC is an H-Mod racer developed from parts of an old Crosley Hot Shot (engine, transmission, brakes, rear-end). The
chassis is a tubular steel frame very similar to the Jabro.
Its original engine was a Crosley with hand-made intake and exhaust manifolds. The original carburetor was described as
creating problems, so, by the late 60's it had been replaced by a Mikuni motorcycle carburetor.
The car has a fiberglass nose and tail, with a hand-formed aluminum center body. The hood isn't smooth because it was laid up without a mold. Based on this lesson, a mold was
made for the fiberglass tail. The original plexiglass windshield was formed by heating it over a shop heater made out of an old water heater. The instruments came out of a 40's
Nash.
The car's color was described by the local paint shop as "Pepsi-Cola Red." Rich Campbell refers to the car as the "Voigt LRC" because everyone he has spoken
with about it referred to it as the "Little Red Car".
Builder
The Voigt LRC was built by Eugene (Gene) J. Voigt. Work was started in Defiance, OH, by Voigt and his wife, Maxine, but had to be delayed when they moved to Ft. Pierce, FL. The
car was shipped down to Florida, where they fabricated the fiberglass nose and tail. In the early 60's they moved back to Defiance where the car was run with the Ft. Defiance
Sports Car Club.
A pipe fitter by trade, Gene was always "tinkering" with things. He also had the habit of sketching all kinds of things from buildings to cars. And it wasn't unusual
for him to translate his sketches into something he could make in his garage. (This may explain how the "Jabro-like" frame
of the Voigt LRC was designed.)
In Ohio he and a friend (Jim Ehlinger) finished off the car, got it licensed, and, as Jim put it, "I drove it some, and he drove it some." The car was last run in 1969
or 1970. When Gene moved back to Florida in 1979, he sold the car at a yard sale to Don and Susann Cooper of Defiance, OH. The car stayed in storage until 2001, when it was sold to
Ray Heppenstal of Gloucester City, NJ. The car went from Heppenstal to Chris Shoemaker of Royersford, PA and Rich Campbell bought it in 2004.
The car is pictured on the right when it was changing hand from Christopher Shoemaker to Rich Campbell.
The information and photos on this page were provided by Rich Campbell. |
