It is not uncommon to see a rare car at a car show, but it is exceptional to see an ultra-rare – as in 1 of 20 ever built – super car from the early 1950s. At the recent NSRA Western Nationals at Bakersfield, we were shocked to see a Kurtis Kraft 500M roadster parked in the crowd of Chevys and Fords. Highlighting this experience was the fact that two members of the Kurtis family were with the car, answering questions and entertaining the car fans that stopped to see this scarce piece of history.
The History Behind The Car
Frank Kurtis is a name that is well known in racing circles. Racing historian and author Brock Yates, claimed that Kurtis Kraft cars had won more races than any other car builder in the world. More than Ferrari, Maserati, Chevy, Ford or anyone else. That may be hard to prove, but the Kurtis Kraft record at Indianapolis is not.
Beginning at the 1950 Indianapolis 500, Kurtis Kraft put 14 of their chassis in the field of 33 cars. Johnnie Parsons won the race in a Kurtis Kraft chassis with two others in the top five. Not a bad showing for their first year. 1951 was more of the same as Kurtis Kraft cars finished in the top three positions sweeping the podium. The next year a Kurtis Kraft inspired Kuzma won the race but Kurtis cars finished nine out of the top 11 spots.
In 1953 the Kurtis Kraft cars finished in the top seven positions, followed by a four out of the top five in 1954. It was clear that Frank Kurtis and his chassis were steam rolling the field when it came to racing at the brickyard. The highly successful builder decided to build a street version of his overpowering racecar.
Kurtis had built a previous street car in 1948 and 1949 before selling to rights and patterns to Madman Muntz, who called a stretched version of the car a Muntz Jet. Looking to capitalize on his success at the track, Frank Kurtis stepped back into street car manufacturing with three different sports cars, the 500KK, 500S, and 500M series. Of these, the 500M is the one that appeals to most street drivers.
The Bakersfield Connection
At their heyday the Kurtis Kraft company built all of their chassis and cars out of Glendale, California. There were five chassis builders that dominated the Indy car scene at that time, and all were within a twenty mile radius of each other in southern California. When Frank decided to retire, his son Arlen moved the shop to Bakersfield, California. Kurtis Kraft continued to thrive, becoming known as the builder of some of the fastest drag boats of the day. Sadly, Arlen Kurtis passed away on December 5, 2016.
Arlen’s son Chris is now at the helm and while the focus of Kurtis Kraft may be back on the Kurtis Kraft midgets, Chris is still taking the 1954 Kurtis 500M out to the local shows because many of the Bakersfield residents have a strong bond and connection with the Kurtis Kraft brand. It was clear by the fans that stopped by at the show, these were more than fans. They were neighbors.
The Kurtis 500M
According to Chris, there were only 20 of the 500M models made. The one that appeared at the show was the version that was built for Milt Kahl, one of the most influential animators from the Walt Disney team of animators. He’s the man that created the Bambi, Thumper, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, along with many other favorite characters. Apparently Milt loved sports cars as well.
The car still has the original 1954 Cadillac 331 cubic-inch engine and hydromatic transmission that was installed by the Kurtis team when it was built. Arlen Kurtis’ widow Carol now owns the car, and was present at the show. She was kind enough to move the car for us for better photography. What really made these cars stand out, beyond the styling, was the race chassis. The same front axle and torsion bar suspension that was in the Indy cars, was installed in these street ready sports cars.