Mike Burch

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Charles Michael "Mike" Burch (born April 29, 1907 in San Antonio , Texas , † July 11, 1981 ) was an American automobile racing driver .

Career

Burch qualified in 1950 on the Hoyt-Ford Shreve Special , a Ford V8 engine built by Art Hoyt in 1948 for the Indy 500 . Since Burch failed the mandatory health test, he was not allowed to start the race. This was his only attempt to start this race.

The "Hoyt-Ford Shreve Special"

In 1947 Thane Houser and his son Norm Houser bought an old racing car with an Offenhauser engine from Thorne Engineering and converted it to a Ford V8 engine with 273  ci (4474 cm³). The team sponsored by Robert Allison registered for the Indianapolis 500 in 1947 and he got the starting number 69. Norm could not qualify. The Housers then sold the racing car to the policeman Ed Shreve, who had it converted into a monoposto by the well-known racing mechanic Art Hoyt according to the new regulations and the engine with aluminum cylinder heads and four Stromberg 81 twin carburettors to 300 bhp (220.8 kW) brought. With the vehicle, now known as the Hoyt-Ford Shreve Special , attempts were subsequently unsuccessful to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 miles. For the 1950 event, Shreve won Ford dealer and racetrack announcer George Hoster as sponsor. Mike Burch was employed by this as a mechanic. After his failure, Billy Earl tried to qualify as a substitute, but failed.

The vehicle was then decommissioned and in the 1990s came into the possession of a collector who restored it. It was sold, shown at the prestigious Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance in 2004 , and competed in the Indianapolis 500 veteran vehicle miles in 2005.

In 2011, its value was estimated at $ 100,000 to $ 140,000 but only hit $ 90,000 at auction, which was below the sell-off limit.

The vehicle has a three-speed manual transmission. The wheelbase is 100 inches (2,540 mm). It has rigid axles at the front and rear . The front one is suspended from longitudinally arranged leaf springs. At the rear there is a four-point suspension with a transverse leaf spring. The braking system consists of hydraulic, hand-operated drum brakes all around.

statistics

Indy 500 results

year Start number begin Agony (km / h) Result Round guide failure
1950 84 DSQ
Legend
colour abbreviation meaning
gold - victory
silver - 2nd place
bronze - 3rd place
green - Placement in the points
blue - Classified outside the point ranks
violet DNF Race not finished (did not finish)
NC not classified
red DNQ did not qualify
DNPQ failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black DSQ disqualified
White DNS not at the start (did not start)
WD withdrawn
Light Blue PO only participated in the training (practiced only)
TD Friday test driver
without DNP did not participate in the training (did not practice)
INJ injured or sick
EX excluded
DNA did not arrive
C. Race canceled
  no participation in the World Cup
other P / bold Pole position
SR / italic Fastest race lap
* not at the finish,
but counted due to the distance covered
() Streak results
underlined Leader in the overall standings

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e conceptcarz.com: Hoyt-Ford Flathead Shreve Special.
  2. ↑ http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/BurchMike.htm
personal data
SURNAME Burch, Mike
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Burch, Charles Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American racing car driver
DATE OF BIRTH April 29, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH San Antonio
DATE OF DEATH July 11, 1981