This hot rod was made by Duffy Livingstone, who came up with the idea for go-karts. Its history is fascinating. Brock Yates’s book The Hot Rod: Resurrection of a Legend is about how he bought the Eliminator and won at Pebble Beach. It is for sale on Bring a Trailer right now. You can bid until May 1, 2023. Combine the Pebble Beach Concours, Formula One, and land-speed racing into one car. If you’ve read Brock Yates’ book The Hot Rod: Resurrection of a Legend, you know that the vehicle has a Ford Model A frame, a Model T body, and a patched-up small-block Chevy V-8 engine. Before we talk about the equipment at this Bring a Trailer sale, which, like Car and Driver, is part of the Hearst Autos company, let’s meet the leading players. In spite of the fact that it is referred to as the “Ex-Brock Yates Ford “Eliminator,” it was in reality constructed in Pasadena, California, by a driver by the name of Duffy Livingstone. Livingstone is best known for coming up with the word “go-karting.” In the late 1950s, he also made it a favorite hobby. Art Ingles made the first go-kart at the Kurtis Kraft race shop, but Livingstone got his company’s name when he started Go Kart Manufacturing. Prior to that, he would utilize the Model A as his base vehicle. In 1950, Livingstone bought the junk Ford from Jay Chamberlin, a driver. (Chamberlain would leave his mark on the history of cars by, among other things, bringing Lotus cars to California.) You’re right if you think the Eliminator has met greatness everywhere it has gone. This is just the start. Chamberlin stopped working on the car when the class for which he was making it changed the rules. So, he gave the old Ford to Livingstone, who took it apart and put it back together as a beat-up sports car. It was first driven by a flathead engine, which was later swapped out for a Chevy small-block engine that had been bored out. Not only in Livingstone did people race hot rods on the road? Max Balchowsky’s Buick-powered “Old Yeller” cars were built and ran at the same time as Livingstone’s “snobby” sports car, the “Eliminator.” They were formidable rivals for the “Eliminator.” In SCCA and USAC races, Livingstone drove the Eliminator against Ferraris and Porsches, and single-seaters with open wheels. Even though the fans and other racers laughed a lot, old Duff got what was funny. He was often seen in the car, which was called a “Tihsepa Mk II” or a “Tihsepa Eliminator.” If you say that to yourself backward for a few seconds, you can join in the laughter. Even though it was a Tihsepa, the fast car held its own and sometimes surprised Livingstone. In 1959, Livingstone beat Jim Hall and F1 driver Wolfgang Von Tripps in qualifying for a famous sports car race. He then came close to passing Dan Gurney and placed 11th overall. The Eliminator was passed around as Livingstone’s kart business grew and race car development moved beyond the Ford frame of a home-built hot rod. It ended up in a shop in Southern California, where it was still being worked on but needed to move forward. The story now includes Car and Driver. Brock Yates, an experienced editor for C/D who is used to making waves in the car industry, saw a Ford ad and thought back to his early racing days. He made the connection, got in touch with hot rod expert Pat Ganahl, and decided to take on the challenge of rebuilding it while keeping its unique history. We could talk about how Yates worked with the more famous Pete Eastwood and Pete Chapouris at So-Cal Speed Shop and how the Eliminator ended up on the grass at Pebble Beach, but you should read it for yourself. Yates wrote many articles and, finally, a book called The Hot Rod: Resurrection of an Eliminator Legend. The winner of the Eliminator auction will gain a variety of extra desirable features, in addition to the triple Strombergs and the Halibrand quick-change rear, which are already included in the package. They will be the latest in a long line of brave and influential people who set new trends in the auto industry. We also hope the person who wins the auction doesn’t turn the Eliminator into yard art. Duffy and Brock would think it was a bad idea.
