Photographer to the Cars - Dan Knopp

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Photographing Racing Engines

     Racing car engines make interesting photographic subjects. The mix of alloys, chrome, brass, wiring, linkages, and fuel and coolant plumbing provide great opportunities for photo composition.

     A pictorial essay could be made of Weber carbs alone. Though the basic Weber carb body used in auto racing is the same, the air horns, also known as stacks or trumpets, vary in length, shape, and color, as do the linkage and fuel lines. Then sometimes you can find something humorous being used to cap them when the engine isn't running.

 

Photo op - British Field Meet

     If there is one at a track near you, a British Field Meet is a good place for lots of photo ops. You'll find these Weber carbs on the side of some of the old 4 cylinder engines, often looking way too big for the engine. They look funny but they work. You'll also find friendly car owners and quite a variety of cars, from originals to all-out race machines from a number of classic marques.

Weber carbs on Chevy V8 Lola engine.

Weber Carbs

     Weber carbs, like the four twos on this Chevy V8 powered Lola Can-Am racer, have always been and still are popular in auto racing. They have a very efficient airflow and are able to be tuned to a fine degree to maximize performance of the engine.

     Though never seeing use in stock car racing and very little at the drag strips, they were very popular in sports car racing. Today you can still find them being used extensively in offroad racing and also being offered for use on street machines. Other than a properly set up fuel injection system, the Webers can't be beat for performance, driveability, and fuel mileage. In fact they are as close as you can get to fuel injection and in some installations Webers are the better choice.

     To top it off the look of these carbs is just hard to beat, whether mounted on the top or the side of the engine.