• Welcome to the new SAOCA website. Already a member? Simply click Log In/Sign Up up and to the right and use your same username and password from the old site. If you've forgotten your password, please send an email to membership@sunbeamalpine.org for assistance.

    If you're new here, click Log In/Sign Up and enter your information. We'll approve your account as quickly as possible, typically in about 24 hours. If it takes longer, you were probably caught in our spam/scam filter.

    Enjoy.

Old Bell Toptex Helmet

agmason

Donation Time
You may very well get big buck$ for it. A few months ago I followed a Bell helmet that looked sort of like a polo helmet and was shocked by how much it sold for. Phil Hill wore that style of helmet long after his contemporaries went to the style you are selling. Another helmet that sold for many deniros on Ebay was a circa 1950's polo style racing helmet. Its not that I track helmets, it just that someone was selling a large collection of racing paraphanalia and I was curious on what the things sold for.
 

sunbeam74

Silver Level Sponsor
Ok... now it has moved on to the ridiculous phase.

Now I really want to know what makes this special. I didn't pay that much for the car the helmet was found in.

Steve
 

V6 JOSE

Donation Time
Hi Steve,

I was wondering if you could take the helmet to Bell and have them upgrade it to the latest SNELL requirements? Would be kind of fun to have one and be able to wear it again. I used to use one when I drove my older brother had his 427 Ford powered '57 T-Bird.

Jose:D
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
Man. I gotta go un-bury my old helmet box in storage. I've been sitting on a gold mine!
 

sunbeam74

Silver Level Sponsor
Jose,

I wouldn't think you could upgrade the old shell but you never know. I had heard reports that Bell was looking to recreate these style of helmets a year or two ago.

At one point last year I was about to chuck these.

Steve
 

Jim E

Donation Time
wow! you got a new in the box Judson! cool! pictures please! heck the box is probably worth a pile by itself.
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
Well, if I get a chance I'll take a few snaps, but yeah, it's so new that it still has its original "Judson" branded fan belt in the box... I've never even seen another one of those. And of course it has a new Marvel Mystery Oiler, as well. The box is even kind of cool - it says "Another Package of Power" on it in large block letters.

Back-story:
Haddon Judson and I knew each other fairly well - I often visited him at his facility in Conshohocken, PA and picked his brain on engine design. Anyway, around the time the plant was winding down and about to close he and I had lunch, and afterwards we toured the plant one last time. About half-way through he grabbed this box from the shelf and said "Hey, you have a Sprite, don't you?" and I said "Sure" (in fact, at the time I had about 5 of them), and he handed me the box and said "Here, have a blower!" Needless to say, I was plenty grateful, and said so. Then as he and I walked around the workshop he picked up a bag and proceeded to go from parts bin to parts bin, plonking in bits as we walked along... and then he gave it to me afterwards and said there'd be enough parts in the bag to completely rebuild the unit if I ever needed to... bearings, vanes, end-caps, everything. Haddon was a really great guy, and a wonderful engineer. Later, many years after Haddon passed, his son and I had dinner, and he's just as nice as his dad.

02.gif
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
OK, so I dug the box out of my spares storage and took a few pics for those who enjoy obscure soup-up speed bits. Enjoy!

(This is the only time you'll likely ever see one of these! An oridingal Judson fan belt.)
DSCN0788.jpg


(Notice that it's still sealed!)
DSCN0790.jpg


(Note the NOS Hellings air filter... it came with the kit.)
DSCN0792-1.jpg
is
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
More pics...

(Includes all the hardware and such. The grind mark is original - not sure why they did that, but all of them have that mark.)
DSCN0793.jpg


(Original Holley carb)
DSCN0794.jpg


(The Mystery Oiler is so new it still has the wipe-marks from the glue used to put on the sticker!)
DSCN0795.jpg
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
The last of the set...

(Here's all the parts Haddon gave me to rebuild it, should I need to. The emblem didn't come from him, though.)
DSCN0799.jpg


(All the installation instructions are there, too, as well as updated service bulletins.)
DSCN0800.jpg


(Gotta love that slogan. Note that this was made pre-Zip Codes.)
DSCN0787.jpg
 

puff4

Platinum Level Sponsor
Wow, that's amazing. I'm sure I've got a fortune in my old helmet box... among others, I've got my old Bell Star 180 and an original vintage 1950's Harley Davidson 'skullcap' helmet (the kind with the leather back), kinda like this, but way older:

gogglesup.jpg


Oh, and that Judson blower gauge just went final, too.... for $561. Yeow.
 
Top