Penrose Customs #92, 99
Penrose Customs #99 testing on a track, artist’s rendition, 1952
In 1952, Martin Penrose was a young engineer building custom vehicles out of his shop in Pittsburgh, Penrose Customs. Having emigrated from Britain before the war, he brought a uniquely European perspective to his creations in the US. Many of his customers were affluent European immigrants who found themselves dissatisfied with traditional American offerings.
One such customer was a British man named Stirling Greene, who was a friend of his father’s before the war. He was a racecar driver and wanted Penrose to build him a pair of race cars to compete in the 1952 Corso di Fruinia. The cars would be based on a certain Swedish automobile which had already proven itself in rallying. He wanted the car to be extensively modified for maximum performance and handling prowess.
The donor cars were stripped and gutted to reduce all unnecessary weight, and body panels were remade with aluminum for even more weight reduction. The first vehicle, #92, maintained the donor car’s front-drive architecture, but Penrose fitted a custom-built 800cc boxer-4 engine which produced 80hp for a remarkable 100hp/liter ratio. Greene wanted the second vehicle, #99 to house a 1400cc engine which could produce up to 110hp. However, the engine proved too big to fit in the car’s compact engine bay. Penrose and his team ended up doing a complete RWD conversion to get the engine to fit.
The result was two vehicles which, although they appeared nearly identical from the outside, drove like completely different beasts. #92 was incredibly lightweight and maintained an easy to drive character with a hint of understeer. #99 was an hot rod with a remarkable power-to-weight ratio and a propensity for power sliding.