Leon Daniels #5, 5x, 6, 56, 88 Driver Profile (Page 2 of 2)

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This roadster was designed and built by Leon Daniels in the basement of his residence in 1965. The car had to be completely disassembled and hauled upstairs a piece at a time and was reassembled outside. The Daniels Boys have nicknamed this one "The Basement Special".

The car is shown here in it's second paint scheme. This was the first car in the TCRA to have a wing and fuel injection. This car was often seen at the old Salt Lake City Fairgrounds race track during the CAMRA events of the 1960s.

This car was eventually sold to Terry Hopkins of Blackfoot, Idaho while Daniels was building "The Tank". The next owner was Bob Harper of Blackfoot, Idaho and it was later sold to Reid Harper of Pocatello, Idaho.

The "Basement Special" in it's first season of racing. The car was equipped with set of four Stromberg 97 carburetors, M&H Racemaster tires, small block Chevrolet power, and the famous Gibbons Tenzaloy wheels which were manufactured in Boise, Idaho. The car was fast and ran very well but had a tendency to break rear axles back in the days when full floating truck differentials were being used prior to the development of championship type rear ends.

Leon Daniels with the "Basement Special". Daniels was very successful with this car despite it's drive train reliability problems. This car was a good runner and Daniels captured a couple of local championships with it.

The "Basement Special" during construction in the basement of Leon Daniels' home in Blackfoot, Idaho. We're still trying to figure out who carried that small block Chevrolet engine down the stairs.

The "Basement Special" was the first race car equipped with the famous Daniels/Crosley steering system. The car was also equipped with the trademark Jim Malloy Y style exhaust headers.

Leon Daniels is show here behind the wheel of the "5X". This little roadster was designed and built by Daniels in the back of his Sinclair gasoline station in Blackfoot, Idaho. This was Daniels first attempt at designing and building a roadster.

The car was painted orange and was initially given the number 5X. The number 5 was chosen because Daniels had met up with the famous CAMRA champion Jim Malloy from Denver, Colorado and was quite impressed with his driving and equipment. The "X" was later dropped and Daniels continued to use the number 5 for many years. Jim Malloy died from injuries suffered in a practice crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1972. Malloy had previously finished 4th in the 1971 Indianapolis 500 behind A.J. Foyt.

The car had torsion bar suspension and was powered by a small block Chevrolet with four Stromberg 97 carburetors. It was also equipped with the Art Pollard twin exhaust header system. At one time this car was equipped with a single pedal for the throttle and brake. This concept was later removed and the conventional two pedal system was put back in. Daniels won his first race in this car.

This #88 Mopar was a joint venture between Leon Daniels and Henry Moore of Blackfoot Idaho. These are the only known photos of this car which were taken after it's last big crash. Daniels and Moore would both build their own cars after this venture ended giving each the opportunity to drive full time.

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