Sebring 1963

The Harrington at Sebring in 1963 - Images from Dick Waite (Click to enlarge)

 

The letter below is from Dick Waite regarding the Theodoli Harrington which was raced at Sebring in 1963. Dick participated on the crew for the Sebring team. I wish to thank Dick for telling his story which must have been a grand adventure. I have left it in Dick's own words because it presents the story first hand. I don't think I could retell it any better.

 

Steven,

The following is a rather rambling story about the Sebring Harrington LeMans adventure that I was involved with back in 1963. I've tried to keep it in sequence but it may jump around a bit. Please remember that this was over 35 years ago and some of the facts may be a little fuzzy.

I first met Stan Hallinan and his partner Tom Fry when I was in college (1956-1959). After graduation I used to hang around D&H Automotive, bought a car or two from them (one of which I still have) and participate in local rallies etc.

At the time they were a Hillman/Sunbeam dealer, as well as AC's but that's another story. I believe that Bill Kneeland bought his Alpine from them. I'm not sure how the Harrington car arrived on the scene but I'm pretty sure Theodoli already owned it and took it to D&H to have it prepared for Sebring. Tom Fry did all of the prep work (sadly he passed away about a year ago). The only modification that sticks in my mind is that a pair of dual throat Webers was fitted. As events would prove, this was a mistake.

Several of us hanger-ons were drafted to accompany the car to Sebring and act as pit crew. The tow car was a 1946 Ford Tudor Sedan which I had sold to Stan earlier in which he had installed a rebuilt motor, done a quick re-spray and covered the seats with something vinyl. I believe there were four of us in the car on the trip: Stan, Tom, me and Dave. (Can't recall his last name) Dave was a dwarf and couldn't share the driving chores but his bawdy humor kept us sane.

The trip to Florida was mostly uneventful as I recall. We met up with Theodoli at Sebring and he provided lodging and invitations to a lot of great parties (met Stirling Moss, Fireball Roberts, Phil Hill among others). I'll never forget one scene with little Davie sitting on top of a grand piano, surrounded by a bevy of British fashion models, regaling them with dirty jokes and generally having one hell of a time. (At this point I should mention that I was 24 years old at the time and wide-eyed at this international event and the celebrities that went with it.

At the track we shared garage space (in a hanger) with Chinetti's Ferrari team as well as another small Ferrari group which was running a GTO. All the stories you've heard about Ferrari crews and Chinese fire drills are true. What a circus.

The three Alpine drivers were Bill Kneeland, Jerry Crawford and Theodoli. Bill was picked to start off as Filllipi had to perform some official function at the start (Alatalia was a major sponsor of the race). I'm not sure who went next. I was in charge of refueling, Tom Fry was the mechanic, Dave was our 'runner' and Stan was sort of the crew chief. Although it sounds like we had things under control, chaos reigned a good part of the time.

As noted Bill Kneeland was first off the line but was overtaken very quickly by much faster cars. Everything seemed to be going ok for the first several laps (forget how many) but then Bill pulled in unexpectedly. He was low on fuel! (At first we couldn't figure it out but eventually we realized that the Webers were using about twice the amount of fuel that the stock setup used.) At the start the pit officials had sealed the gas tank to prevent anyone starting the race with a small load and getting an early lead. We had to locate a pit marshal and have him cut the wire seal. In the rush and confusion the guy cut and yanked at the same time and managed to pull the quick release fuel filler assembly right off the fill pipe and out of the fender. There was no way we could reattach the cap so I had to fill the tank using a funnel pushed down into the fender. It didn't quite reach. Needless to say gas sloshed all over the place and I was soaked in it from head to toe. We didn't have duct tape (don't think it was available back then) so we taped up the hole in the fender with masking tape.

Once we got the fuel in, Bill went out again but was black flagged within a lap or two and came back in. Seems that on hard left turns the fuel was shooting out of the filler pipe all over the track. In fact we found out later that Mike Parkes (driving a Ferrari GTO I think) spun out on the spilled fuel. The only thing that kept the car in the race was Fillipi's official status and the fact that the pit steward had actually caused the problem. Our solution was to only half fill the tank from that point on. However, it made for a lot of pit stops and a very tired yours truly.

The only other 'incident' was the overdrive switch packing up. I'm not sure who was driving at the time, but during one of the fuel stops Jerry Crawford rewired the switch (Jerry was an electrical contractor by trade) and it worked fine for the rest of the race.

Despite the Webers, the car was the slowest in the class. Pitted next to us was the Sports Cars Graphic entry Alpine Hardtop. I think the car was one of their 'project' cars that they wrote a series of articles about. The main driver was Jerry Titus and the mechanic was Doane Spencer. Both went on to bigger and better things. The car was faster than the Harrington but at some point a rear axle broke. Titus managed to get it back to the pits and we were sure it was all over for them. We were wrong. Spencer fished out the broken bits and fitted a spare. It took close to an hour but once back in the race they made up the time and finished ahead of us. A good demonstration of how much faster the car was than ours.

About the only other thing that happened was that one of the other cars in the class, a Porsche as I recall, went out so we moved up a place. Eventually the end came and we finished. Fillipi was elated, as the car hadn't finished the previous year. He supplied plenty of Champagne for all.

Strangely I don't remember how I got home. I have no recollection of towing the car back so maybe I flew. It certainly was a grand experience and one, as you can see, I haven't forgotten. About the only regret I had was I didn't get to see any of the race as we never dared leave the pit area and you can't see much from the front straight at Sebring.

That's about it.

Regards,

 

Dick

Please click the image for enlargements
	Jordan got off to a beautiful start. Kneeland (#55) was first car to leave the grid. The two Alpines finished 3rd and 4th in class behindthe ultra-fast Abarth-Porsche and Carrera.
	I am amazed to think that this car was used daily. From Sebring to the Grocery....
	Detailing the exterior.
	The Harrington awaiting doors
	Stan Hallinan, of D+H, at the Limerock Vintage Festival, 2000. Causually hanging out looking at an old Alpine. Ironically, Dick Waite in his 32 Ford Special was also racing the following day and Jim Adams drove a Spice GTP to victory in the Enduro.

 

 

"A Very Special Harrington Alpine"
by
Ian Spencer

Many of you in TE/AE might  already know Bob Avery and  his Carnival Red Harrington  Alpine. It is the Series 'A'  Harrington that raced at  Sebring in both 1962 and 1963. It also made it to the cover of Car and Driver magazine in  1963. Bob, a retired engineer  from General Electric, has 3  other cars and one tractor. A  1914 Ford, a 1941 Lincoln Continental, a 1932 Ford  Cabriolet (A 4 time national  show winner!) and a 1945 Ford tractor. Bob had the opportunity to purchase the Harrington just after the  '63 Sebring race at D & H Classics in New Hampshire. "I saw the car as it was sitting on the trailer," Bob said. "It had just been trucked in from the race." Bob continued to tell me that he had stopped into D & H for a regular visit not knowing that the car was there. He  bought it on the spot!

For those of you that remember,  there was an Italian NART racing  team owned by Fillipo Theodoli.  Theodoli was an airline executive  with Air Italia. He also had a passion for fast cars. Theodoli took a likingfor the Harrington Alpine and added one to his stable of Ferrari's, taking personal delivery of the car at the Harrington factory. This was an event that was well remembered by G.H. Harrington and  documented in a letter to Bob after his purchase of the car. The  Harrington was tuned to Stage III specifications as also noted in  Bob's letter.  I believe that this could  be one of only a few left hand  drive Series 'A' Harringtons ever produced.    This famous Harrington Alpine only saw two races before ending up in Bob avery's hands. It's first was the 1962 Sebring race, where it  proudly wore.the number 44.  Unfortunately, it's race was cut short. A  blown engine proved to be fatal and the Harrington got a DNF. This  would mean a new engine for the little red coupe. Unfortunately for  Bob, this original engine would be lost. Now replaced with a fresh  engine built by D & H, Theodoli's Harrington would be ready for it's  second race. Sebring '63. 

Now sporting the number 55 and a new motor, the Harrington  managed to be first of the starting grid. Driven by Bill Kneeland and  Fillipo Theodoli, it finished 4th in it's class. The top ranking positions were Jerry Titus and his number 54 Alpine in 3rd, a Porsche Carerra in 2nd and an Abarth-Porsche in 1st. After this race, the car would be sent back to D & H to be sold. 
  

Once being converted to a street car, Bob was able to take delivery of his Harrington Alpine. He drove the car for 4 years, then gave it to his son. His son then drove it for  anotheer 4 years before parking it in a barn. During this time, Bob'sson moved to Arizona, but it wasn't long before he arranged to have  the car brought to him. By this time, the Harrington Alpine had started to rust and would be needing a restoration. Since most of the special  racing parts were lost when D & H converted the car to street form, putting it back to it's original racing glory would mean that the certain parts would need to be relocated. Bob's son managed to find a roll bar and a set of Weber DCOE's to  replace the lost originals. Sadly, a  tragic accident took his life before he could continue his work. Now Bob, living in Gloscow, Kentucky, has taken on the restoration of this  special Alpine in memory of his son.   Nearly completed, this historical racing Harrington will once again  wear the number 55 as it did in 1963.
Bob has just fitted the roll bar and is ready to mount the doors. One of  the only remaining tasks to be finished is the rebuilding of the actual engine used in the '63 Sebring race.  There is, however, a problem Bob would like help with solving. Bob is  unsure of where the spare tire was mounted. Since the car was equipped with a 40 gallon fuel cell, there is no room for it in the back where it belongs. Bob feels that it should be mounted on the floor where the  passenger seat belongs, but has been told that the car raced with a passenger seat. Can anyone help him solve this mystery? Bob has tried  to contact Fillipo Theodoli, but had no luck. He has talked to Stan Hallinan, the only living partner of D & H, and not turned up much. Stan doesn't appear to remember much about the car. 

Bob would eagerly like to talk to anyone who might be able to provide  him with information about this car. If you can help him, I will be happy to put you in touch with him. Please contact me ian@sunbeamalpine.org

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Vineland, New Jersey, 1962 4 hour enduro

The Theodoli Harrington at Speed at Vineland, NJ

 

Race report from Vineland, NJ, 4- hour endurance race, August 12th, 1962
From Autosports, November 1962

The team of Barette/Theodoli/Theodoracopulis had a busy afternoon. They also drove a Sunbeam Harrington coupe in F Modified. The Alpine wasn't that modified; actually, the only big difference between it and a normal Sunbeam Coupe is a notch in the roofline. But under SCCA rules, that makes it "modified," and so the owner Theodoli, figuring, that since they had to run with the F modified machinery anyhow, they might as well extract maximum horsepower.

The logical step seemed to be Webers, to replace the stock (inadequate) carbs, but the Sunbeam people told'em it couldn't be done. Placement of the steering gear and all that, old chap. Only possible with right-hand drive cars, and yours is an Americanized model. Not a man to be daunted, Theodoli got in touch with Weber. Why didn't you know, said the Weber people, that we make a kit for the Alpine, with new manifolds and all that, to take the Webers? It was news, to the Sunbeam people too; scratching their heads over just this problem for months, but quicker than you could say "100,000 Lira, " an Alitalia plane was hustling over with the kit. The only modification necessary to make room for the installation was moving the master cylinder slightly.

 

It made for a real "tiger" out of the Alpine, too, as Theodoli and company held down fourth spot overall and first on index for hours. But unfortunately, not for four of them.

 

 

 

Please click the image for enlargements
	This race image is from Vineland, New Jerey in 1962, Autosports Magazine,November 1962.
	This is the Weber setup which the car featured.
	The start of the Vineland, New Jersey endurance race. Great shot of another Alpine on the grid. Can anybody identify the driver?

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