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Re: Cromeen Durant 4+4 Speedster

Jeff was a great guy. It's good to know the speedster is safe in loving hands.

Dave

Where Are You From? Iowa

Do You own a car built by Durant? yes

Re: Cromeen Durant 4+4 Speedster

Don Shilling
I found some pics from Butch James of a trip we made in 2003 to visit Jeff Cromeen in Dallas. Jeff built this replica of the 1925 Durant 4+4 Speedster and entered it in the Great Race. It was built from an extended A22 frame and running gear, Star radiator and shell, and two W5 engines. The front engine is a Star W5 and the rear is a Durant W5.

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Hi Don, thankyou so much for posting these pictures of what you have described as the Jeff Cromeen built "replica of the 1925 Durant 4+4 Speedster". I gather from Google that the 4+4 Speedster was an actual Durant production line model but is rare? and not some in period special of which Jeff has made a replica or even an indeendent design all his own? I haven't found one online yet as a 1925, only 1924.

I love it and Jeff's workmanship and interpretation is simply first rate.

Would it be OK to show these pic's on my blog with a link back to this forum thread of course. I ask because it is broadly relevant to where I'm going from here with my own attempt at building a Durant based Indycar tribute.

Some questions (which probably can't be answered, especially if the car's current whereabouts are unknown); are the two 4 cylinder blocks welded or bolted together? What about crank and valve timing and attachment? Does it run as a properly timed straight 8 or as two fours or as one big four. Was custom crank damping required if it is running as a straight 8 and if so, how did Jeff resolve? I have considered trying this sort of thing myself in the past.

Thankyou again everyone for helping to resolve the identity of my own Durant chassis and to you in particular Don. My own research is now deeply mired in the confusion of Cliff Durant's involvement in the 20's Indy 500 scene. I have still not been able to pick which car is to be the basic starting point for my "tribute" special. The historical tangle of these cars is astonishing.

Where Are You From? South Australia

Do You own a car built by Durant? Chassis only, model M

Re: Cromeen Durant 4+4 Speedster

Just re-read this whole thread and between you all you have answered most of my questions about this very cool car. Great commmunity atmosphere here. I reckon your club meetings must be fun & friendly affairs:relaxed:

Cheers, Mark.

Browny's Place

Where Are You From? South Australia

Do You own a car built by Durant? Chassis only, model M

Re: Cromeen Durant 4+4 Speedster

Mark, this is a fantastic club. Full of information, history and friendship. Let me encourage you to consider joining us as a member. We would truly enjoy following you on your project and the club could benefit greatly with your membership. I’m sure we could use your input on subjects as well.
Our gatherings are a great deal of fun! We were please to host some members from Australia at last years big gathering. I hope you will consider.

Where Are You From? Brighton Michigan

Re: Cromeen Durant 4+4 Speedster

Hi Brian. I am definitely considering joining your club, even all the way from the other side of the world. The open friendly community you show here on your public forum is a great advert for your club and honestly, without this forum's help, my project would be going nowhere. Now, instead of worrying about South Australian bureaucratic problems (well, still a little...), I'm researching which Durant connected Indy racer is to be the starting point for my own tribute; now what a tangled web of cars that is and I can see, fertile ground for passing off a perhaps initially well intentioned self built tribute as a genuine race car. My build will and is being documented as much and as well as I can on my blog and will always have in the car a copy of the process. My hope is that the car will stay in my family when I'm gone as Jeff Cromeen's special appears to have.

Regarding joining the club, is it affiliated with any clubs in Australia, particularly South Australia? I ask because there are still Australian bureaucratic hoops for me to jump through. My build will definitely be classified as a street-rod which will require either a full engineering report and sign off (very expensive) or examination and sign off by a qualified TAC Inspector, a process generally related to being a member of a club with an affilition with the ASRF (Australian Street Rod Federation) so, in the main, hot-rod clubs. Ideally, I would love to join one of the local clubs which doesn't have friction between restorers and rodders as I really do intend my Durant to be a tribute to a type of racing vehicle which I would personally love to own, drive and maybe even hill-climb a little.

Given my brain cancer treatments, money is a big factor in all of this sadly.

All the best and thankyou for the invitation to join the club which I'm sure will happen sooner rather than later :smile:

Sorry for my wordy replies. May I start another thread to discuss which Durant racers I am considering as the basis of my tribute and ask you all which one you would start with as the basis for my design?

Where Are You From? South Australia

Do You own a car built by Durant? Chassis only, model M

 

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