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Salem GMC Kurtis Byers Special - unique racing car as a concours beauty

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Created on January 1, 2021

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Bonhams

49

Road & Track

1

Archiv

3

Bonhams

49

Road & Track

1

Archiv

3

Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - with sidepipes and Halibrand replica wheels

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - there is space for a large radiator behind the large radiator grille

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - 172 cm wide

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - the design by Jim Byers still impresses today

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - Bellezza for the racetrack

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - Two-seater with potential

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - there is only room for one large tank in the "trunk"

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - beautiful two-tone paintwork

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - ready for the next mission

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - ultra-flat with racing windshield, the roll bar, which is necessary for American races, was removed

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - the paintwork was applied free of charge as an advertising measure in the 1990s

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - the hood is almost higher than the windshield

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - rebuilt as a racing car in the 1990s

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - ultra-flat, the original Corvette windshield is missing

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - not quite four meters long

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - compact and probably weighing less than 1000 kg

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - better suited for the Concours than the race track?

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - certainly likes smooth road surfaces

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - probably over 250 km/h fast, but then the cap flies off

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - the sound from the V8 can only be guessed at

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - the plastic body came from Jim Byers

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - better equipped than back in 1958

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - Workplace for vintage racers

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - gearshift mounted far back

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - the interior is still in the style of the time

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - stylish steering wheel

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - Training on the Lutthutze

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - Driver's seat with lateral support

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - the rev counter is more recent

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - a hurricane rages in the car at 160 miles per hour

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - complete instrumentation

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - bent gearshift

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - performance-enhanced DeSoto Firedome V8

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - Powerhouse

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - mixture preparation

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - the V8 fits almost better in the engine compartment than the earlier GMC inline six-cylinder engine

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - cylinder head of the DeSoto engine

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - Chassis number (complete?)

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - tasteful paintwork

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - Kurtis badge on the nose

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - Vintage rear-view mirror

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - instead of the former steel rims and hubcaps, Halibrand replica wheels are now fitted

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - reference to the V8

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - Central locks

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - no frills

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - you can guess the V8 rolling

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - Ground clearance?

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - large safety tank in the rear

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Kurtis 500KK SR-100 (1954/1955) - racing embellishments

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Byers SR-100 on the cover of Road & Track February 1957

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Kurtis 500 M (1955) - plastic body, Cadillac engine, top speed 220 km/h

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Kurtis 500 M (1955) - sports car built in small series with plastic body and Cadillac engine

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Kurtis 500 M (1955) - complete sports car by Frank Kurtis

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Summary

Many Specials were built in the 1950s and 1960s, but few have such an interesting component list and history as the sports car built by Steve Salem on the basis of the Kurtis 500XX chassis with a Byers SR-100 body, which impressed with both beauty and performance. This vehicle report not only tells the story of the Special, but also that of the American carmaking legends involved.

This article contains the following chapters

The designer Frank Kurtis
The plastics specialist Jim Byers
The do-it-yourselfer Steve Salem
The engine supplier General Motors Truck Company
A convincing result
Rediscovery and rebuilding

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Nomen est omen? American one-offs often had multi-part designations and the Salem GMC Kurtis Byers Special, even if it was never called exactly that, illustrates this particularly well. Four stories come together in this racing sports car. And the fact that it did not race, but rather enchanted with its beauty, was not actually intended. Frank Kurtis was best known for his Indianapolis racing cars, which were almost unbeatable in the early 1950s and often made up almost half the starting grid. He was born the son of an immigrant in Colorado (USA) in 1908 and the family moved to California when he was 14 years old. From an early age, the young Kurtis worked as a mechanic and coachbuilder. From the 1940s, he began building monoposti for the famous Indianpolis 500-mile race, with one of his cars setting a new lap record as early as 1946, followed by the first victory in 1950.

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