My grandfather, Thomas K. Larkin (TK) from Kennet Square,Pa, was Oldfields mechanic and rode alongside him in the racing of the 999. He told me several times that he was the first person to drive the 999 on a curved track as the 999 had no differential and Oldfield declined to try it. I do have corroboration of TK at the wheel of the 999 from an old picture taken at Daytona Beach in the very early 1900’s when they were doing time trials there. Can anyone direct me with further information, corroboration concerning the alleged curved track experience. I have further details about the experience but they would be too long for this forum. Thanks, FRrophill
Maybe you ought to try the PBS show “The History Detectives”. This sounds like the kind of challenge they would take on.
Keith has given you a really great idea. As he said, this is exactly the type of research that they will do when they find a case to be interesting enough to be a part of their TV show. And, based on what you told us, I do think that they would find this interesting!
The show runs on PBS as a summer replacement show, but all of their research and legwork is done during the Fall and Winter months, based on the video footage that I have seen. Most likely, the Spring months are spent editing the footage for Summer broadcast. If you contact them now, they might be able to take on your project for their next season.