Jim Seely saw the first post-war race at Palm Springs in California and decided to make their own car for the upcoming Pebble Beach event. Built out of Ted Cannon’s machine shop in North Hollywood, this Mk. 1 was the first of five cars specially made for SCCA’s modified class. It used a dated Dodge chassis from the 1930s together with bits and pieces from the shop.

The Dodge chassis was boxed for rigidity and fitted with numerous foreign parts including a Ford rear axle. With the stock front suspension, the Cannon had mismatched Dodge/Ford brakes. To maintain a proper balance, Cannon fitted a a dual master cylinder complete with brake balancer which could be changed from the cockpit.¹

A Mercury flathead was chosen for power. It was fitted with new camshafts and 3 Stromberg 97 carburetors. In 1955 a Ford block was installed with Ardun cylinder heads and four Stromberg carburetors. With custom exhaust headers and a DeLong camshaft 320 bhp was available at the flywheel.

Driven by Cannon’s friend Jim Seely, the car appeared at many west coast events including the first Pebble Beach Road Races in 1950.¹ For this reason it was included in the Pebble Beach Road Race class at the 2006 Pebble Beach Concours.

Sources & Further Reading

1.Pace, Harold. Vintage American Road Racing Cars. Motorbooks: 2004.

Story by Richard Owen