The Wentworth/Hoyt Roadster

Eugene W. Wentworth built this roadster in West Peabody, Massachusetts

and ran it on the salt at Bonneville, Utah in October 1951 where he attained an official speed of 126.939 mph.

According to the official standings (below) of the SCTA-BNI http://www.scta-bni.org

the Wentworth/Hoyt "C" roadster was powered by a 292 c.i. flathead V8 Ford.

The final standings that year placed dad 27th out of 33 entries in the class.

In those days the Bonneville venue was just about "the only show in town" and to even make an appearance

was a statement about the skill and determination of the builder and driver.

In addition, the "C" class roadsters were one of the most competitive classes.

Vernon Hoyt, who accompanied dad to Bonneville, was his partner in business at Wentworth's Auto Repair.

(These same type of roadsters are still run at Bonneville.)



Click here for a hi-res version of the above picture.



Click here for a hi-res version of the above picture.

The April 2003 issue of Street Rodder Magazine printed the first of two articles by Eric Geisert about this roadster. Eric has done extensive research into the history of dad's car (now known by most as the Sidebotham Roadster) and it's long and interesting history. He is planning to write his follow-up article as new information comes to light.

Thanks to Eric Geisert for above photos.

Read Eric Geisert's article in StreetRodder




The following section are graphics out of the November 1951 issue of HOT ROD Magazine.

The "C" class roadsters are listed in order of speed on page 60 (below).

(enlargement of circled section)

According to SCTA-BNI, dad did not pre-register.
That is, he registered when he arrived on the salt.

A tank racer ready at the start line.
(The view dad had before his run.)




Dad was there and had the (greasy) T-shirt to prove it!

A shot of the roadster (as it is today) superimposed on a photo of the Salt Flats...

The photo above is from pg. 32. The text reads...
"On the east coast, these Massachusetts members of the National Hot Rod Association have already worked out a successful program built around police cooperation and aid."

With a few free minutes to duck into the

bookstore, I went straight for the car section.

This is the first book I picked up...

Great American Hot Rods
A Full Throttle Chronicle of Custom Cars from Street, Show, and Strip

Keith Harman
Including photographs by Chuck Vranas
KP books

pg. 6 (photo), pgs. 276-277 (photo and description)

Purchase @ Amazon.com

Link to April 2003 StreetRodder article

Link to Summer '04 Mag-neto article (issue 16)

During the fall of 2004 the this historic roadster was on display

as part of an early hot rods of the New England exhibit.

While in the museum, Bob Wentworth made a visit and snapped these pictures.

See Bob's museum pictures...

See the November 1959 article in...

See the April 1960 article in...

- the   end-