donation | New England Auto Museum

NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne at Lime Rock this Thursday, Sept. 18

LAKEVILLE, Conn. (Sept. 15) – Jeff Gordon, along with teammate Kasey Kahne, Rick Hendrick and Alan Gustafson, are at Lime Rock Park from 3:00 to 5:30, Thursday, Sept. 18, for the track’s efforts to raise funds and awareness for AARP Foundation’s “Drive to End Hunger” campaign. NASCAR star Gordon has spearheaded Drive to End Hunger since 2011.

Gordon, Kahne and Gustafson (Gordon’s crew chief on the #24 Drive to End Hunger Hendrick Motorsports Chevy SS in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series) are giving “hot laps” around Lime Rock’s storied 1.5-mile, 7-turn circuit to those who donated to Drive to End Hunger, following a 45-minute hosted interview for hundreds of fans, each of whom donated $24 to be here. They’ll be driving prototype 2015 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28s.

Local racing star Liam Dwyer (Southbury, Conn.), the armed forces amputee who made national news in May following his IMSA race win at Lime Rock on Memorial Day weekend – and someone Gordon has wanted to meet – will also be here; he’ll be giving Gordon some “recon” laps prior to the hot laps as Jeff has not raced at Lime Rock before.

Lime Rock Park has set a goal of raising $96,000 in 2014 for Drive to End Hunger, the track’s Official Charity, and Thursday is the biggest element so far of the effort which provides food to needful seniors via the Connecticut Food Bank.

New England Auto Museum Receives Delta Thor Chassis Donation

Michael E. Scheidel, NEAM Founder and CEO and Bruce Tyndall

March 20, 2014. The New England Auto Museum (NEAM) launched its automotive collection and educational initiatives with their acceptance of the donation of the Delta Thor X-110 chassis produced by Connecticut-based Tyndall Motor Car Company. This innovative aluminum space frame chassis designed by Bruce Tyndall in 1964 was visionary for its advanced impact-absorbing qualities. Tyndall continued development of the chassis and began construction of the frame in 1967. His body-styling drawings present a European-tradition sporty roadster.

Tyndall’s design drawing

Tyndall, a mathematics professor, has had a lifelong fascination with all forms of transportation, especially automobile design. Born in 1930 in Iowa City, Iowa, his interest in automotive engineering was influenced (yet discouraged) by his father, a professor of physics. Tyndall began designing his impact-absorbing aluminum framed car in the early 1960s while teaching in the Department of Mechanics at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; his research on the absorption qualities of aluminum was enhanced by fellow Professor James F. Bell’s studies on the deformation of metal when struck by a high-velocity object.

Delta Thor X-110 chassis produced by Connecticut-based Tyndall Motor Car Company.

In 1980, the Society of Automotive Engineers published Tyndall’s “An Aluminum Automobile Structure to Absorb Impact” analysis of the use of aluminum to create lighter, safer and more fuel-efficient car platforms. Ford and Chrysler hired him in the 1980s and 1990s to design aluminum framing for impact testing.

Tyndall’s plans and research documents and related parts, including a small Hercules truck engine round out the donation.

Mr. Bruce Tyndall

“The New England Auto Museum is grateful to Bruce Tyndall for his generous contribution,” states Michael E. Scheidel, NEAM Founder and CEO. “Mr. Tyndall’s car frame and studies are central to the educational mission of the Museum as we partner with schools to realize his goal of building the body.”