Word: racer
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...Ellsworth Swarthout is a stocky little (5 ft. 6 in., 135 Ibs.) motor bug. As a peacetime Army pilot in the '20s, he flew airplanes for a while, but gave them up as "too dangerous." Swarthout found a substitute in something closer to the ground by turning auto racer in big (270 cu. in. cylinder displacement), standard racing cars, then gave them up for earth-hugging midget (up to 145 cu. in.) racing. Last week, at Brawley, Calif., 50-year-old Ward Swarthout, now a grandfather, was happily racing just a couple of inches off the ground...
...snappy little Porsche from Germany, a Cométe and a Simca from France. The three U.S. models: a 1953 Studebaker, a Nash-Healey (standard Nash engine, with British chassis and Italian coachwork), and a big, hand-built Cunningham convertible with a long, oval-grilled snout and a racer's body. (Engine: Chrysler V8. Speed: up to 130 m.p.h. Price: $10,000.) As usual, the foreign cars had little chrome, rocket-smooth lines, little room or comfort for passengers. That, believes Curator Drexler, is all to the good: U.S. motorists are too pampered by big cars that...
...speedway near Milan last week, the roar of 80,000 voices mingled with the thunder of racing engines. Round and round the four-mile track swept 32 powerful, low-slung cars piloted by some of the world's finest drivers. Mostly the crowd kept its eyes on one racer: No. 4, the bright red Ferrari driven by Italy's Alberto Ascari. For 55 of the 80 laps, Driver Ascari hung back, jockeying for position, then made his move and shot into the lead. On the last lap, still ahead by 20 yards, Ascari saw a rival edging closer...
Nuvolari's unearthly skill sometimes surpassed other drivers' understanding, though they acknowledged him as the greatest racer of all. At Monte Carlo's 1935 Grand Prix, heavy rains swept the racing route. A car's oil line broke in the middle of an already slippery S curve. The five cars following piled up and littered the road like tank barriers. Next came Nuvolari. In a few seconds, at high speed, he power-slid and threaded his way across the slick and between the crashed cars with only millimeters to spare, without touching...
...Paul, Minn., in 1895. Fitly enough, it was a notable year in U.S. sailing history, though the year's tidings made little ripple beyond the Eastern Seaboard. It was the year in which American yachtsmen, sailing Defender, a lineal descendant of the great ocean racer America,* defeated the British challenger for the tenth straight time in the America's Cup series. It was also the year in which the premier international championship for smaller boats, the Seawanhaka Cup series, was launched. Though he was in no position to appreciate it at the time, Corny Shields was to help...