Marty Himes Estate Auction Featured Item: #52 Frankie Cal 220 Offenhauser Sprint Car
Among the late Marty Himes' most treasured possessions was the 1946 #52 Frankie Cal 220 Offenhauser Sprint Car. This, along with three other historical midget racers, countless signs, racing photos, programs, and toys will be sold during the Himes Estate Auction on Saturday, October 11, 2025. Between now and then, we plan to highlight a number of items that will be available for bidding. Today, we are starting with the #52 Sprint Car. All historical images in this story have been forwarded by the Himes family.
To view/bid on this historic race car, click here.
The auction, currently open for pre-bidding on all items, will be structured in such a way that the highest pre-bid will become the opening bid on October 11th. To browse all lots for the Himes Estate Auction, click here (note that lots 303 to 306 are the race cars; photos, programs, pins, badges, toys, etc. start at lot 501.)
We also uploaded a highlight list of items being sold from the Marty Himes estate with direct links to each lot. Click here to check it out.
Article by Gram Spina
Built in 1946 by Kurtis Kraft, and then modified to become a stretched Sprint car in 1951 by Danny Hogan, this was Marty Himes' most prized race car. He archived the complete history of the vehicle with images and articles, all neatly preserved in binders that are included in the sale of the racer.
From 1947 to 1951, the midget raced in over 41 races, winning at least 19.
In its first race on August 19, 1947, the Ernie Casale #25 Offy was driven by Johnny Mantz at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. It finished 2nd in the feature race and 1st in the Trophy Dash.
On November 23, 1950, the Ernie Casale #3 Offy driven by Bill Zaring won the most important midget race of the year, the Turkey Night “Grand Prix” at Gilmore Stadium in Los Angeles. It was the last event ever held at Gilmore before it was destroyed to make room for the development of CBS Studios.
In May 1951, the midget was reconfigured by Danny Hogan and stretched to allow it to qualify for Sprint Car class races, which paid out more to drivers and teams compared to the smaller midget racers. This class of racing was essentially a path that drivers took to get a chance at racing in the Indy 500. Sprint Cars were about as fast and sized similarly to Indy 500 racers at the time.
The former midget, now turned Sprint Car, was painted glossy maroon and given the number 14.
In April 1952, the stretched midget was sold by Ernie Casale to Frankie Calandrillo, who went by “Frankie Cal” of Hicksville, New York, and was painted in its current livery of red and white.
From 1952 to 1954, the Frankie Cal #52 Offy participated in 13 races driven by Joe Barzda, Jiggs Peters (1951 ARDC Midget champion), Mike Nazurek (1949 ARDC Midget Champion, Indy vet 1951,1953 & 1954), Nick Fornoro (1950 ARDC Midget champion, 1953 NASCAR Midget champion) and Bill Homeier (Indy 500 vet 1953, 1954 & 1960).
From 1956 to 1963, the Frankie Cal #52 Offy raced in over seven races, driven by Rex Records, Bobby Marshman and Bob McCoy.
In this string of images, we see the #52 car go airborne and recover during a 1956 race in Williams Grove, PA.
The 220 Offy engine currently in the racer is in the process of being documented. It was previously reported that this engine was one of the 179.2 cubic inch series Offy 220 (engine #170) built specifically for Briggs Cunningham by Meyer & Drake Company in August 1954. However, this claim can not be substantiated at this time.
The report stated that Briggs Cunningham sold the engine in 1956 to sprint car owner Frankie Calandrillo (Frankie Cal).
The engine was installed in the 1954 Cunningham C-6R sports car (chassis #5422) and was driven by Briggs Cunningham in the 1955 12 Hours of Sebring (March 1955), LeMans (June 1955), and the Road America Race, Elkhart Lake (September 1955).
What is known is Offy specialist Ken Hickey reconfigured the engine to run on methanol, and it was installed in the #52 Frankie Cal Offy. Ken Hickey rebuilt it in the 1980s.
Marty Himes purchased the car from Frankie Cal on January 18, 1980, driving it in a number of vintage races from 1981 to 2006.
In 2002, the #52 car was damaged in a fire at the Himes Museum. It was then fully restored mechanically and partially restored on the exterior. The choice was to preserve as much of the original paint as possible, and to fix and primer all the damaged body panels, and to leave it in that state.
After the preservation restoration, Marty Himes drove the car in demonstration laps at Riverhead Speedway in 2006. This was the last time that the historic racer thundered around a track with Marty behind the wheel. Afterward, the historic racer was only ever seen on display at the Himes Museum for visitors to enjoy.
Which leads us to today. The images you see here is when this iconic race car was pulled out of its hibernation at the Himes estate after Marty pasted away.
Now it's time for a new caretaker to make the winning bid on October 11, 2025 and write a new chapter for the Frankie Cal #52 racer.
Barn dust and horsepower waiting to be unleashed.
Additionally, there is a quarter-size midget, painted in the same color scheme as its big sister car, that will be sold as a separate lot in the auction.
Here's an image from when Marty brought both of the #52 Midgets to a retro vintage racing event at a dirt track. It would be nice to see both of the race cars back in their ready to race condition.
This race car is ready for its next care taker, and that new care taker could be you if you place the winning bid.
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