• Iconic American Midget racer
• 4.7-litre Ford V8 engine and two-speed automatic transmission
• An older restoration
• Present ownership since 2015

Frank Kurtis was one of the biggest names in the history of US auto racing. His cars dominated the Indianapolis 500 race in the early 1950s, winning every year but one from 1950 to 1956, and continued to feature prominently until the end of the decade.

Of Slovenian extraction, Frank Kurtis was born in Crested Butte, Colorado in 1908. He later worked on the Don Lee Racing Team's midget cars, and in the late 1930s built his own midget car chassis, calling it the 'Kurtis-Kraft'. Kurtis is credited with making an estimated 550-plus midget cars and some 600 kits at his Glendale, California factory between 1946 and 1962, and he also built quarter-midgets, sports cars, sprint cars and championship (Indianapolis) cars. The latter were powered by the then ubiquitous Offenhauser twin-cam racing engine in various capacities, while the midgets used a smaller version of the classic four-cylinder 'Offy'. In 1986 Kurtis became the first non-driver inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame, which describes the combination of a Kurtis-Kraft chassis and Offenhauser engine as 'virtually unbeatable for over 20 years.' Frank Kurtis died in 1987.

Acquired privately for the collection in 2015, this Kurtis-Kraft Midget Special is power by a 4.7-litre Ford V8 engine coupled to a two-speed automatic gearbox. Dating from 2013, a document on file states that the car was assembled by Cornis Engineering in 1955 and subsequently rebuilt. Reputedly, Cornis raced the car in Arizona alongside three or four others. For some years the car resided in California where it was registered for road use.

The aforementioned 2013 document goes on to list various works carried out within the previous six months including replacing the tyres, alloy radiator, starter motor, alternator, fuel tank, battery, oil breather tank, carburettor, prop shaft, rear brakes, electric cooling fan, raised steering column, seat covering, gear change lever mechanism, automatic gearbox, fuel pump and filter.

This Kurtis-Kraft has been on static display since acquisition and will require recommissioning and thus is sold strictly as viewed.

The car comes with copies of the 2015 sales invoice; California Certificate of Title (titling it as a 'Kurtis Midget Special'); UK customs paperwork showing the car arrived in the UK in 2013; and sundry parts invoices (2013).

Please note that this vehicle is from outside the UK. Our customs agents, CARS UK, will manage all post sale customs administration. A fee of £350+VAT will be charged on the buyer's invoice to administer both import or export customs movements. If the buyer also chooses to ship with CARS UK, this will be quoted separately. If this vehicle is to remain in the UK, it will be subject to Import VAT at the reduced rate of 5% on the hammer price. This vehicle will not be available for immediate collection after the sale and will only be released on completion of customs clearance formalities. If you have any questions regarding customs clearance, please contact the Bonhams Motorcar Department.