To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' The
Elkhart Collection event, 23 - 24 October 2020.
Estimate:
$175,000 - $250,000
- Constructed in the early 1920s by Horace Shaw of Rochester, New
York
- Formerly of the well-known Hostetler's Hudson Museum
collection
- A beautiful and well-maintained older restoration by Al Prueitt
& Sons
- Documented by an extensive history file with detailed
correspondence
Please note that this vehicle is being offered on a bill of
sale.
This fascinating vintage sprint car was built by Horace Shaw of
Rochester, New York, in either the late Teens or early 1920s, using
a repurposed 96-inch-wheelbase two-man racing frame of the Teens
fitted with underslung rear suspension. It was long purported that
the car utilized a modified Duesenberg frame, though that claim
remains unconfirmed. At some point later in the decade, the car was
repowered by a Hudson six-cylinder engine, believed by historian
Charles Betts to be a factory Indianapolis racing motor, though the
block was later replaced by the standard 1917 unit that is
currently fitted.
The Shaw Special completed, its namesake raced the car extensively
in the Eastern United States. It was then acquired in 1947 by
Norman McCandless, who ran it at dirt tracks in New Jersey and
Pennsylvania. The Hudson-powered special was later photographed
with its grille modified and modernized at Trenton in April 1948,
driven by Ben Smarto. Its history then picks up in 1977 with Marty
Himes of Long Island, who sold it in 1981 to James Etter of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Ralph Prueitt, of Glen Rocks, Pennsylvania, acquired the Shaw
Special from Etter later that year and spent the next decade
researching the car's history before selling it to Tom Rowe.
Following a meticulous restoration by Al Prueitt & Sons, the car
was accepted for exhibition in AACA meets, receiving the Past
Presidents' Racing Cup in 1993. More recently the Shaw Special was
a twenty-year part of Eldon and Esta Hostetler's famed Hudson
museum in Shipshewana, Indiana, from which it was acquired for the
current collection.
This is a truly unique and special vintage racing car.To view this
car and others currently consigned to this auction, please visit
the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/el20.
