Neat Old Race-Rod: The 1950 Diedt Rochester SpecialBy Brian Lohnes Posted 03/11/10
The late 1940s and early 1950s were some of the pinnacle times for hot rodding. The "rule book" had not really been established, there were lots of talented tradesmen fresh off duty from WWII, and so long as someone had either the talent or the bucks, they could have their wildest dreams come to life. Such was the case of this cool one off, the 1950 Diedt Rochester Special.
Road racing was a big time activity for the well heeled back then. Guys like Briggs Cunningham and others were running their iron at road courses all over the country. Exotic cars from all over the world were being brought in to the states to be raced by gentlemen racers. Aside from the Engligh and Italian jobs, there were cars like the Allard which combined a proper English racing chassis and body with the grunt of a good ol' American V8. This car is modeled after that same idea, but was constructed wholly by hand. The skills of Emil Diedt, a brilliant race car designer and builder who specialized in Indy cars were set to work constructing this car.
Funding came from Eddie Anderson, a comedic actor of the 1940s who loved cars, wanted something unique, and had a pile of money. He spent a reported $20,000 on this car, which was a massive sum of money for the time. Design credit for the car goes to Roger Bacon, a friend of Anderson and a fellow racer.
It is powered by a multi-carb'd 331ci Cadillac motor and sports period racing equipment like a Norden steering wheel, and a Halibrand quick change rear end. The body is hand formed aluminum and the chassis is a twin frame rail tube job.
The car bounced around for decades, ultimately undergoing a major league resto in 2002. It was put up for auction in 2007 and since the bidding did not reach the expected $300,000-$500,000 price range it did not sell.
We got tipped off to the existence of this car by BangShift.com forum member Monk who saw it at a local trim shop getting some interior work done. It is a very neat machine and a cool piece of roddin' history.
Thanks for the tip, Monk!
Source -- ConceptCarz.com -- 1950 Emil Diedt Rochester Special
Comments + Post your comment!
Written by DanStokes Mar 11 2010
Absolutely magnificent! WAY out of my league but stunning. The mag wheels look like Indy wheels of the day which makes sense given the builder's affiliation with the Brickyard. The wires are cool too, of course. I wonder who stole the side scoop from who? Or which came first, GM or Diedt? I wouldn't put it past Zora to pirate something as pretty as that but I think the Y-Job had something along that line IIRC.
Thanks Monk - great catch
Dan
Written by studemax
Mar 11 2010
What an exquisite beauty!
I love the wheels with 2 holes - perhaps Halibrands?
Written by BangShift Forum Admin Mar 11 2010
http://www.bangshift.com/blog/Neat-1950s-Race-Rod-The-1950-Diedt-Rochester-Special.html
Written by Monk Mar 11 2010
It was way cool to see this up front and personal.
I'll have to go back and get photos of the folder he
has with all the black and white photos with Rochester.
It's a work of art.
Side note....this car went through a $300,000 resto and
the interior work was crap.....I think I could've done as good.
Reason why my buddy has to do it over again.