2. Hobbies

Bobsy Sports Racer - Chassis #14

This car is now for sale after a rescue and complete restoration. The owner-builder is Tom Quaranto of Evergreen, Colorado. Here's the background and pictures of the restoration:

Having been involved in various forms of Motorsport for the past 40 years, I decided in 2015 to purchase a vintage race car. I purchased a 1973 Bobsy SR-6 sports racer, chassis #18. These cars while not well known they are well respected in the vintage community. The SR-6 models utilized a semi- monocoque chassis and inboard rear shocks with push rod activation. This was advanced stuff in 1973! When I purchased my car, (chassis #18) it came with an extensive “spares” package. These "parts" included this mostly complete but unrestored chassis #14, a complete NOS never-been-mounted body, and a 1600cc pushrod motor in bad need of a rebuild. CLICK HERE for the Bobsy Registry which documents the current and historical ownership the Bobsy Sports Racers as well the complete history of Bobsy marque.

In 2020 I decided to disassemble #14 and restore it to usable condition. Being a qualified mechanic/fabricator this turned into a two year build project resulting in the complete, documented B sports racer you now see here. While I thoroughly enjoyed this project I only need one race car, and chassis #18 is the one, although I most likely will restore it in 2022.
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The chassis #14 as it was in 2015 when it came as a spare parts car when purchasing Bobsy SR-6 #18.
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The chassis #14 as it was in 2015 when it came as a spare parts car when purchasing Bobsy SR-6 #18.

  • The chassis #14 as it was in 2015 when it came as a spare parts car when purchasing Bobsy SR-6 #18.
  • A front view showing the poor condition of the sheet aluminum.
  • The right front of the driver’s compartment and dash.
  • Rear view of the driver’s compartment. (Note: The belly pan that was only .032 material, way too thin for that application. More on that later.)
  • The left front corner where the suspension mounts.
  • The left rear view of the bulkhead of the chassis.
  • Some pretty rough prior "fixes." Left lower view of the rear of the tub. This car was used and repaired many times!
  • The same corner with skin removed revealing the chassis tubes.
  • The engine side view of the left rear corner again with the skin removed. If you look closely you can see how the curved 90 angle aluminum piece is torn.
  • Finally all the rivets are drilled out and the old skin removed. On its way to media blast.
  • Back from media blast and ready to get started.
  • Close up of the rear section of the chassis. After media blast the tubes in between the front and rear bulkheads where found to perforated by rust and very thin-walled tubing as originally constructed. (In a recent conversation with Ron Mong, who has the original blueprints for these cars, I was told how the prints called out a tube wall thickness. During on-going car development these thickness were changed and reflected on the original prints by being crossed out and the next thickness was called out. In some cases this occurred three times at some locations.)
  • As a result, some of the tubes have been replaced as well diagonal tubes added for rigidity.
  • The new belly pan (3/32” thick this time!) being bonded and riveted to the chassis. The chassis tubes were painted with PPG epoxy primer instead of powder coat. I wanted a good bond between the chassis and the skin and was concerned that the plastic coat would be too slippery.
  • The fabrication and installation of the panels continues.
  • The inside of the right side torque box showing the internal mounting of the water tubes. There is an access panel positioned in the skin to allow access to the hose clamps and shift linkage in this area on the completed car.
  • An outside view of the left torque box. These torque boxes are constructed in the true monocoque fashion utilizing hand bucked solid rivets and aluminum bulkheads. They provide torsional rigidity for the chassis as well as a place for the fuel cell and various other components.
  • The left front outside view of the completed torque box and cooling plumbing is getting started.
  • Fabrication of the pedal box is getting started.
  • The steering rack and master cylinders are in!
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