On March 17, 1920 the Craig-Hunt Motor Company was incorporated in the State of Delaware with a capital stock of $1,000,000 by John P. Craig, Wilbert L. Hunt and Chester L. Zechiel who hoped to built a low-cost 103” wheelbase, 16-valve roadster and touring car of "wonder performance".
John P. Craig and Wilbert L. Hunt, were the very same Craig and Hunt that produced Craig-Hunt Speed Specialties and Chester Leonard Zechiel (1884-1953) was the Indianapolis attorney who financed the capitalization.
A preliminary advertisement stated that the car would use the Craig-Hunt 16-valve overhead cam head and their proprietary underslung spring suspension, but the vehicle never made it to production. In June of 1920 the firm was enjoined against building its new Maple Road Blvd, plant by a new Indianapolis ordi nance that prohibited erection of a manufacturing plant within 500 feet of a boulevard.
On October 14th, 1920 the Craig-Hunt Motor Company was forced into receivership for an outstanding debt amounting to $125.50. With their hopes of automobile manufacturing squashed, the three partners went their separate ways. Zechiel returned to his successful law practice, Hunt created a new firm, the Speedway Engineering Co., in order to market his 16-valve heads and Craig organized the Race-Way Body Company in order to produce speedster bodies.
Hunt kept the firm’s 910 N. Illinois St. factory and advertised his 16-valve heads which were now available with an optional bevel gear drive for $215, or the original chain & sprocket drive for $165. Also available were complete race or road cars which were competitively priced starting at $1200.
Speedway’s 1921 catalog included all the parts needed to put together your own underslung speedster ranging from Splitdorf magnetos to their own pistons, crankshafts, camshafts and 8-valve heads and continued to offer the Morton & Brett-sourced “Speedway” speedster body.
Hunt was historically more interested in his racing activities than in business and by 1923 he had run Speedway Engineering into the ground and Carl Rogers, another Indianapolis-based racer and parts dealer, purchased his inventory at the receiver’s auction.
Hunt then opened up a small garage called Imperial Motors, where he rebuilt engines and installed aftermarket speed equipment between 1923 and 1925.
For the 1924 Indianapolis 500, the Chevrolet Brothers prepared three Fronty-Fords for Barber-Warnock, an Indianapolis Ford dealer. They hired Hunt to pilot one of the machines, and he qualified 19th in a field of 22 eventually finishing 14th. Now that he had accomplished one of his life-long goals - albeit as a hired gun - Hunt gradually withdrew from racing and returned to his first love, building and flying airplanes.
John P. Craig’s Race-Way Body Corp. was headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, and claimed to have its own body factory in Muncie, Indiana. The Race-Way speedster body was very similar to the Craig-Hunt/Morton & Brett “Speedway” body except the tail was lower and more rounded in order to better conform with the fenders of a stock Model T.
Their bodies were well thought of and following Race-Way’s 1922 bankruptcy, continued to be distributed by Morton & Brett, as the “Roadway” race body, which was available in two models, the 6 and 6F.
Most speedster experts believe its remaining inventory was purchased by Morton & Brett and Race-Way’s owner, John P. Craig, withdrew from the automobile business and became a real estate agent and investor.
A search of newspaper classifieds from papers across the country reveals aftermarket Ford speedster bodies were most popular between 1920 and 1922. The earliest ads date from early 1918 and by 1923 I noticed a sharp drop-off in frequency. By 1925 only used bodies were advertised, typically priced between $20-35, including windshields. I could find no ads for any Ford, Chevy or Dodge-based speedster or generic speedster body dated 1926 or afterwards.
