2011-11-01 08:44:57 | pauls writes:

Nice story about the car at:
www.britishracecar.com/BobMillstein-Jaguar-HansgenSpecial.htm

Curtis Jacobson: freelance automotive journalist

Walt Hansgen's Jaguar XK120 Special, now raced by Bob Millstein
Owner: Bob Millstein
City: Briarcliff Manor, New York
Model: 1951 XK120 Special
Engine: Jaguar 3.5L six cylinder
Chassis No. 670835
Engine No. W2222-8
Body No. F2061
Gearbox No. JH4485
Originally built by: Walt Hansgen
Race prepared by: Briarcliff Classic and Imported Car Service

The Car that Launched Walt Hansgen's Racing Career

Walter E. Hansgen was born on October 28, 1919 and grew up in a northern New Jersey small town. He worked in his family's automotive body shop until the age of 32, when bitten hard by the racing bug he scraped and borrowed to purchase a 1951 XK120 brand new from the Jaguar dealer in Morristown. He entered the Jaguar in several races (including the 1951 Watkins Glen Grand Prix) but found it wasn't competitive enough to keep pace with his rapidly improving talents or with the Allards, Cunninghams, and Ferraris of the day.

In fact, the three results I found for Walt Hansgen in 1952 season SCCA National races were all logged in borrowed cars. On March 15, Hansgen shared an MG TD with Randy Pearsall to finish 10th overall at Sebring (666 miles in 12 hours). At Bridgehampton (on Long Island) on May 24 Hansgen borrowed Don McKnought's modified 1952 Jaguar XK120 coupe to take second overall and first in Class 3 in the 10-lap Hayground Cup race. For the Grand Island Grand Prix of August 30, 2952 Hansgen borrowed a Siata Gran Sport to take a second place finish in the under-1500cc race. Hansgen would need a much faster car to compete with the Jaguar C-Types which made their North American debut spectacularly at Elkhart Lake in September 1952.

Unable to purchase a C-Type for the 1953 season, Hansgen decided to transfer his Jaguar XK120's key components to a lightweight "special". By replacing the XK120's basically two-dimensional ladder frame with an elaborate three-dimensional structure of (mostly) round tubing, he hoped to meet or beat the C-type's 2100 pound curb weight. Combined with a lightweight body and eliminated trim, this would amount to over 700 pounds of weight reduction compared to an un-modified XK120 roadster.

Walt Hansgen and Emil E. Hoffman built this multi-tube frame mainly of 8 gage chrome-moly steel tubing.
Walt Hansgen and Emil E. Hoffman built this multi-tube frame mainly of 8 gage (i.e. 0.165" wall
thickness) chrome-moly steel tubing. Chrome-moly is a high tensile alloy that Hoffman was familiar
with from his service in aviation factories during World War II, but for most car builders it would
remain an esoteric material for several more decades. (Photograph courtesy of Bob Millstein.)

The F.G. Hansgen auto-body shop in Westfield, New Jersey was home base for all this work, and in it Walt Hansgen had access to all the tools, machinery, and skilled help he needed. Emil Hoffman did much of the panel beating and probably all of the oxy-acetylene welding on the aluminum body. Hansgen's father helped prepare the body, and Jimmy Brown laid down the original paint job.

Hansgen probably first raced his Jaguar special at Cumberland Maryland in early May 1953.¹ (This was an SCCA regional race.) As recorded in The Washington Daily News: "The big race was a thriller and the spectators who lined the hills surrounding the airport watched Walter Hansgen in a Jaguar Special and J.L. Negley in a Chrysler-powered Allard LeMans battle neck and neck for 32 laps. On the 24th lap, Hansgen sliced into the lead on a turn only to lose it again a couple of laps later. Then on the 31st lap, Hansgen sneaked inside to get on top again on one of those acute turns. Negley went all out to get a shade in front on the next straightaway and plunged into the backstretch S turn at a roaring 80 miles an hour. His white No. 11 Allard spun around and smacked one of the guarding hay bales. The bump pushed his left front fender into his tire and he limped back to the pits, so it was a cinch for Hansgen, who had only to keep out of trouble the rest of the way to win."

Hansgen also raced his special on the streets and roads of Bridgehampton on May 23rd. David Leigh described the Hansgen Special in his race report: "The Bridgehampton Cup race brought out Walt Hansgen's beautiful tubular-chassis Jaguar special with a total weight, including Walter, of just over 2100 pounds. Walt designed and built the car himself, taking 14 months in the process, and it can be described as a masterpiece. Walt gave the impression that he was driving the car easily and was running between the XK-Cs of Harry Grey and Henry Wessels at the time the race was stopped although he had previously passed both cars with apparent ease. Strange though was the fact that none of the three cars was lapping faster than Hansgen did last year in Don McKnought's modified XK coupe." Unfortunately, the Bridgehampton Cup race was black-flagged early on account of an accident involving three spectators.

The Hansgen Special raced again on July 19 at Cumberland Maryland, and came home with the biggest trophy: Hansgen defeated a string of XK120s to finish first in the sixty lap Cumberland Cup race. (J.L. Negley's Allard had been faster earlier in the day, in the over-1500cc sprint race.)

At Floyd Bennett Field on August 29 Hansgen entered his Jaguar special in a 215-mile endurance race, but reportedly most of the driving responsibilities that day were handled by friend and co-driver William Eager. As a team they finished fifth overall and second in class. The records show 41 starters and that the cars finishing faster were two Cunninghams (both in the B-Modified class) and two Ferraris (one in C-Modified.) Incidentally, Hansgen and Eager later shared an OSCA for the 1955 Sebring 12 hour race.

At Thompson in Connecticut on September 6, Hansgen took second place behind Masten Gregory's C-Type.

The most important race of Hansgen's season was held on September 19. Hansgen proved his engineering ability and his driving at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix where he edged out George Harris's Allard on the final lap. The Washington Daily News provided this play-by-play coverage: "Hansgen set the pace for 18 laps of the 22-lap race before Harris slid by him on the 19th. Hansgen regained the lead on the next round only to lose it again on the 21st. Harris takes the curve on the inside. Hansgen won't be denied. He takes to the dirt and gravel along the outside. Hansgen's wheel throws a storm of gravel and the engine's thunder strangles momentarily as the Jaguar goes around crabwise. He gives it the gun, fishtails, then zooms past Harris and crosses the finish line - the winner!"

After the 1953 season, Hansgen sold his XK120 Special to a friend (Paul Timmins) and then purchased Masten Gregory's Jaguar C-Type to continue his career with. Hansgen continued as a privateer until Briggs Cunningham recruited him, and then his professional racing career really took off. Hansgen won SCCA's C-modified National Championship four years in a row driving Jaguar-powered cars. For Cunningham he drove D-Types, Lister-Jaguars, and lightweight E-Types. In 1960, he piloted the prototype Jaguar E2A racer at Le Mans, co-driving with Dan Gurney. Hansgen also showed his versatility by successfully driving open-wheeled racecars including particularly Cooper Formula Juniors and Lotus Formula One cars. In 1964 he qualified 10th for the Indy 500 in the MG "Liquid Suspension Special" and then ran as high as second place in the race until mechanical problems. Hansgen died on April 7, 1966 from injuries suffered while testing a Ford GT40 in preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Paul Timmins had one successful season with the Hansgen Special before dying in a road accident in March 1955. The car passed to George Sterner of York, Pennsylvania who kept it registered as a road car until selling it to Ed Jurist of The Vintage Car Store in June 1966. Jurist's dealership then sold the car to J.D. Inglehart of Connecticut who occasionally entered it in hillclimbs. Current owner Bob Millstein was impressed by the Hansgen Special when he saw Inglehart driving it at the Mt. Equinox hillclimb in 1979.

Bob Millstein bought the Hansgen Special in 1983. Back home at his shop, Briarcliff Classic and Imported Car Service in Westchester County (north of New York City), he carefully removed the body and started a comprehensive restoration. In this he was assisted by Michael Gregory, Leo Bunker, and Ed Willimann. The Hansgen Special's one-of-a-kind handcrafted aluminum body required the highly specialized attention of Romeo Autobody in Brooklyn. Finally, in 1989 it all came back together and was ready for public display. In fact, the restored Hansgen Special was the Jaguar Club of North America's National Concours Champion (Class 15) in 1989. After winning that honor, Bob began entering the car in vintage racing events.

Twenty-two years later, it's still going strong! The car has suffered just one notable shunt in that time, and as a result the original radiator and header tank have been replaced. Also, the original exhaust system wore out and required replacement. (The new headers, with much longer primaries, are admittedly a huge performance upgrade.) A number of other original components such as the engine, the transmission, the Alfin brake drums, and the Boranni wheels have been put into storage for safe keeping. But racecars belong on racetracks, and Bob intends to keep racing this car just as long as he can.

2013-07-24 03:15:59 | RP writes:

Offered at www.carcollection.at
€ 650.000

2013-10-27 21:27:45 | pauls writes:

Car offered at Car Collection Wittner:
www.classicdriver.com/en/car/jaguar/hansgen-special-roadster/1952/190913

Sellers description:

Summary

Year of manufacture
1952
Mileage
9 999 km / 6 214 mi

Drive
LHD
Condition
Used

Location
Exterior colour
White

Car type
Convertible

Interior colour
Other
Interior brand colour
Number of doors
2
Number of seats
2

Gearbox
Manual
Performance
184 kW / 251 PS / 247 BHP
Drivetrain
2wd
Fuel type
Petrol

More info
Description

Einzigartiger historischer Rennwagen der Sonderklasse. Dieser Jaguar Hansgen Roadster war Gewinner des Watkins Glen Grand Prix 1953 und ist seit dem in Sammlerbesitz. Der kompromisslose Rennwagen besitzt einen für den professionellen Reihen ausgelegten Sechszylinder Reihenmotor.
Ein wirkliches Sonderstück für Liebhaber und Kenner.
Standort des Fahrzeuges ist derzeit USA.

Der Jaguar wird im Auftrag unseres Kunden verkauft.
Weitere Informationen erhalten Sie auf meiner Homepage www.carcollection.at sowie unter der **Rufnummer 0043 664 8367050- Franz Wittner, Standort **Oberösterreich nur 90 km von Passau oder 160 km von Wien.
****
----**Wir sind Aussteller auf folgenden Oldtimermessen und freuen uns auf Ihren Besuch:
**
******-Classic Expo SALZBURG von 18. Okt. bis 20. Okt. 2013 !!**
**-Auto/Moto d?Epoca PADUA von 24. Okt. bis 27. Okt. 2013 !!**

Einzigartiger historischer Rennwagen der Sonderklasse. Dieser Jaguar Hansgen Roadster war Gewinner des Watkins Glen Grand Prix 1953 und ist seit dem in Sammlerbesitz. Der kompromisslose Rennwagen besitzt einen für den professionellen Reihen ausgelegten Sechszylinder Reihenmotor.
Ein wirkliches Sonderstück für Liebhaber und Kenner.
Standort des Fahrzeuges ist derzeit USA.

Der Jaguar wird im Auftrag unseres Kunden verkauft.
Weitere Informationen erhalten Sie auf meiner Homepage www.carcollection.at sowie unter der **Rufnummer 0043 664 8367050- Franz Wittner, Standort **Oberösterreich nur 90 km von Passau oder 160 km von Wien.
****

2015-07-24 18:18:39 | pauls writes:

Saw the car at Lime Rock Park in 2003.

2016-08-05 21:55:39 | Gilbert writes:

www.youtube.com/watch You can se the car on this link when in the ownership of Terry Larson, renown Jaguar collector