1963

The following are pictures of my father Dr. Malcolm Donaldson with the Zink Petite MKII in as best chronological order as I can present. You will see the car change slowly with minor modifications from 1964- 1967.

Dad inspecting the car in Knoxville TN with Bill Greer. The car sill carries the number 87 that Ed Zink and Bill Greer campaigned the car with. The car carried a white with Blue paint scheme. Clearly this was a cool day as Bill here is wearing a coat, as is my father. This was probably November 1963 when dad went and looked at the car to purchase. The trailer in the second picture unfortunately has long since gone to the elements and time.

Dad trying it on for size. Obviously it was a good fit.

In searching through old checks I found what dad paid for the car. I was amazed he paid a deposit of $97.22 a whopping $350.00 for the car .

The car made it back home to Bedford NY where it received a new paint job and also receiving new tail lights.  The basic paint scheme was kept but dad changed the white to a grey color for the main body of the color. He campaigned the car with this though out his time driving the car. The badge on the nose of the car was the first victim at the first races at Limerock, dad spun at big bend and the emblem departed the car to be lost to grass and time.

Here is dad in the Zink Petite MKII with a new paint scheme. It had the stock wheels at this point and the car now bear the number 83 which my father had used through out his racing career. I am not sure whether this is Thompson or Limerock but it is a photo of the first year he raced the car. The car had the small chromed roll bar that had been on the car when Bill raced the car throughout 1964.

tech inspection

The first year racing dad had the help and expertise of a wonderful gentleman named Otto Hoffman. Otto was a Mercedes engineer but had allot of expertise with the DKW engine and cars. He was always at the races the first year with dad with his wonderful wife Trudy.  In the picture below is my father on the left, Otto in the center, and another gentleman I do not know all sitting on the trailer that came with the Zink. This picture was at Thompson in the wooded area that dad always seamed to get. I have to say thank you Otto far helping dad.

Below: Dad on the left, Otto Hoffman, under of the man on the right

Below: Left to right Trudy Hoffman, Mother, Dad, and Otto at the Berris Motel where all the racers stayed when at Thompson in the day

Below: Starting Grid at Thompson with Otto

Otto working on the Zink at Thompson. The tail lights dad put on the car are quite distinctive as they are a bee hive domed lens, they really started the whole project as I want to have the car as close to the way dad raced it and the tail lights were a 15 plus year hunt. They are Yankee 975 tail lights that were quite common in the 1950s and 60s. I have found a manufacturer for the lens and the tail lights were available on eBay.com. Of course I have multiple spares now.

New body latches have been purchased identical to the original ones on the car.

The rear vents as seen below on the rear of the cars body works were cut open so the stainless steel plates was just a single hole. I was able to find replacements at West Marine as they are boat locker vents.

Below: Here is another of Otto working away with my supervision

Below: On the pole position at the start of a race Thompson 1964, lots of blue smoke from the 2 cycle engines.

Below: Off to do battle at Thompson

Below: Those moments before one has to go do battle

Still trying to figure out the “Ecurie Ulcer” on the car and what dads meaning. Probably a bit of humor. Ecurie in the french language refers to Stable as in Horse Stable but has come to refer to race team. I think it meant racing ulcer being a pun but not sure.

Looking at the sticker to the right of the Ecurie Ulcer and found that is is the HMOD Racing Club sticker. So that means finding some one to make these up as well.

Reproduction of the one on the newsletter below.

Below: Trying to stay calm before heading out I think

Below: Limerock entering Big Bend

Below: Just Before Big Bend at Limerock

Below: A win at Thompson in HMOD (Weaver variant of Thompson)

The car at this point other than the paint scheme and tail lights had few changes. The next change that was occurred were new wheels. Ed Zink had Hallibrand create unique four hole kidney wheels ( kidney hole wheels were a Hallibrand style of the period) for the later Zink MK III/Z-4 which dad purchased a set and had put on the MK II. Due to the front and rear hubs the magnesium wheels had to be modified for the MK II car with the center being machined flush with sandwiching steel plates. In the below picture at Thompson the rear wheels had been replaced with the new 4 hole Kindney Hallibrand wheels.

Below: The wheels are quite unique in the style of the period and I think quite lovely. They were Hallibran wheels.

One of the fronts unfortunately this one was damaged later in the Zink’s life and has a crack. I was lucky and able to obtain two fronts but they require machining to the same standard as the other rims.  Here is what the original cast magnesium wheels looked like and these are awaiting stripping and machining. The center hub is quite substantial on the wheels. If anyone can recommend a resource for repairing my cracked wheel I would appreciate please email me.

Late in 1964 dad had a gentleman by the name of Joe Virog prepare the car. Joe was out of Stamford Connecticut and was a great fellow at preparing the car and a wonderful machinist. He made many of the modifications to the car which still stand to this day.

1965-1966

The 1965 season saw some changes such as a new roll bar to meet new regulations. The car now had both front and rear Hallibrand wheels.  The car was set up in a 6 volt configuration which was the standard for DKW cars and their ignition and power configuration. The DKW engine in a 6 volt configuration has 3 points and 3 coils and condensers. This is due to the low recharge rate of the 6 volt system is my understanding. The first major modification was to try electronic ignition. Unfortunately this had many failures with the result of melted pistons and lots of frustration.

Below: Thompson with two Bobsy SR-3’s I believe the second car is JD Igelhart.

Below: One of those days melting pistons

Another addition were side vents to help rear brake cooling. Joe has fitted disks brakes for inboard brakes next to the transmission and ATE brakes to help with more efficient braking. I believe the original rear brakes were the drums that were attached to the ZF gear box on the DKW Junior car.

There were successes however with a number of wins. The car in the below picture is at Thompson 1965 the way I tell is the lack of rear body section scoops which appeared in 1966 Throughout 1965 and 66 dad and Joe kept trying the electronic ignition idea but it never fully worked.

Below: Thompson 1965 or 66 under heavy braking

Thompson exciting a turn vigorously

Below: A win at Thompson

Below: and another 

The Zink in pole position for a standing start at Thompson. Got to love all the blue smoke an environmentalists nightmare. Zink, Osca, Lotus super seven, Jabro MK II behind the Zink.

Another weekend at the starting grid, JD Igelhart is on the pole position in his Bobsy with dad next to him

At speed at Thompson

Looking determined exiting the turn in a class

A win

Dad working on the car at Thompson.

You can see the space frame tube chassis here. The front suspension are unequal A Arms with Koni shocks. The rear suspension was a swing axel pivoting off a center lower point on the transmission casing with guide tubes fore and aft. The rear swing arm used the uprights from a DKW junior welded to the arm along with the power plant & Transmission to form the rear suspension. The rear uprights been most challenging in restoration as I still have tools to create to get them back together.  Other DKW components utilized on the Zink were the radiator and rack and pinion steering.

The car in these photos is still in a 6 volt configuration. The tachometer originally used was a classic Sun Tachometer 6  volt with and EB 2 transmitter which I have been able to replace to the 1967 configuration with a EB 7 transmitter and an RC 85 Tachometer in the 12 volt configuration that Joe changed for the 1967 season. All instrumentation will be period correct when complete. Unfortunately the original instrument cluster was removed and replaced by some one at some point later in the cars life and a very poor job of replacing Ed’s original excellent work was done.

At this point in 1966 the car still had a generator which was a Bosche 6 volt generator/water pump unit that was derived from the DKW 1000 SP as seen in the pictures below. The car originally having head lights and being able to run at night for an endurance type of race required a 6 volt generator. The car was converted for the 1967 season to a 12 volt system and ignition. Since the head lights became really unnecessary the generator guts were removed.  I believe the generator was gutted to save weight and just be a water pump in the 1967 season.

The engine before restoration. A Mantzel engine with ZF Gear box.

Generator housing and water pump

1967

This was the last year dad raced the Zink. Again it got painted with the lower aluminum now going gray like the rest of the car. The electrical system had been converted to a 12 volt system so it got a new Sun Tachometer RC 85 with a EB-7 transmitter. In addition the cars engine was modified where it had a Bosche distributor from a SAAB 93 mated to the DKW distributor housing. New pistons were machined as well for the engine. Also the car now sported front brake cooling intakes.

Some pictures from the last year:

Thompson I think

Limerock in the paddock right next to the old hamburger stand.

Limerock again at a start. Dad quick off the line as usual.

Unfortunately the car was starting to show her age. I clearly recall in 1967 at Limerock the car broke one to many times for dad and he decided to sell the car. He was looking to move up to something newer and faster. My heart was broken as I dearly loved the car being only 9 years old and growing up with this car. Dad was my hero racing car driver and the Zink Petite MKII had all my best memories.

Luckily Charlie Rainville a fabulous race car driver, SCCA official and car restorer bought the car from dad and did some driving with the car. Here is Charlie trying the car on for size like dad had done in 1964.

Charlie driving the Zink

It was my understanding that the car was crashed by Charlie’s oldest son at Thompson. Probably the reason for the cracked wheel. Charlie rebuilt the car and subsequently sold it. It passed through a number of hands before it came up for sale and dad out of sentimentality bought it and gave the car to me. Unfortunately she was in really rough shape by the time she came home to roost.