the TWIN ENGINED ‘SHOTTGUN EXPRESS’

[dinoKeymaster]

Have searched for years and Found it ! One of the only Photos out there of the Twin-Express…maybe Richie still has some ??? Crashed at Dover (Flew) off the left side of shut down area. Don’t know what happend to it .
photo by Bob Fuertinger, who worked as Photographer for the old Patent Trader Newspaper.Taken at Raceway Park-N.J. Bob lives close to Danbury and said he’s diggin out some old Dover photos.

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[pete-kumble]

That is a rare photo! Ok guys, believe it or not, I sat in that car. Really! It was at the NY Auto Show in 1971. It was brand new and had not yet been run. I was there working with Fat Jeff Seligman and sort of helped out handing out literature, selling decals, etc with the Shotts. At the end of the day, I asked Richie if I could sit in the car. He agreed. I later learned that when test firing the car before leaving for Gainesville, one of the motors was either not right or broke something. So, in went the trusty Woody Gilmore single motor car and they went to Florida and were runner up to the Freight Train. I never got to see the twin run. So, Dover’s dreaded left side of the shut down claimed it…

[dinoKeymaster]

Didn’t know all that …gotta find results/photos of that event… was race 71 or 72 ? also got the Dover CSI looking for Jeff ….We usually ‘Get Our man” ….theres one more shot of the twin posted someplace . What was the show Literature all About? Shott stuff? R&Speed stuff…fill us in ?

[dinoKeymaster]

Pete …Check Historical Dover Photos…More there on the Express…Just got to get ahold of Richie and Jangle his Cage !

[dinoKeymaster]

Success !…just got off the phone with “Ol R.H.’ Richie Shott 😀
Heres some of the facts I’ve gotten and they’ll be more to follow…………ABOUT THE TWIN ENGINED “SHOTTGUN EXPRESS”…The car was a last ditch effort by the Shott Bros. and many other top Gas guys to keep the class alive. The car ONLY RAN TWO TIMES ! …Once (First) at ’70 NHRA Summernationals at Raceway Park…and then Second at Dover .Thats the Day it crashed. It was featured at the Colusium Show in NYC …but thats the reason hardly any photos exist. After the first and only run at Dover …while time trails were still running…they actually CUT up the car and stashed the pieces in the enclosed trailer Brother Gil had brought down to the Shut Down area. Between runs…they’de haul more debri across the track. All boxed up…out of site and Gone. The rear undamaged part of the chassis hung in Gil’s barn for many year. Richie finally took it to Bob LaRegina to see if it could be the base for a new frame. Bob checked it out …said it was too bent and tossed it.

[dinoKeymaster]

Richie now lives just 15 minutes away from Brian, Who Today, is visiting him to dig through Richies little, but could prove helpful, mementos. Might turn up a Twin photo we hope. He does have some early sixties photos he took as a spectator,before he raced. Of interest is the fact that Richies First Race Car was a Blue T-Bucket ,with what he says had a big engine set-back. the engine was a 348, and as He remarked,the car “was pretty Grim”. His next race car was a AA/C (dragster with t-body)..that was based on a Grady & Gommi chassis he stuck the T-Bucket on .It was red .Richie said the chassis was real bad, not a chromoly tube type, but built out of cheap, what he called “Muffler” pipe.”Was so flimsey ,it bounced up & down on the trailer,and flexed so bad ,it was hard to drive”. Then came the first Woody Gilmore Rail….”Shottgun Express 1″. That car was the Flake salmon -pinkish color . “Shottgun Express II” started out with the short rear-only body, BUT was sent back to Woody Gilmore to have the Chassis extended and the Full body installed. Thats why it looks like there were 2 multi color cars ,But they were the same . Last was the ill-fated Twin Motor .As was stated earlier …after the show in New York..the team was headed for Florida to run it for the first time at Gainesville. And one motor did blow. Richie says how it happened: …”We took it down to Rt.6 in Brewster to shake it down …right on the straight section near the old Fore’N’Aft .When we fired it ,one motor locked up…so we took the good motor out and re-installed it in the old chassis .Gil drove it down to Florida and I flew.That was my Honeymoon!…I had just got married . We did get runner-up to the famous “Freight -Train” though.”

I’m getting as good as Drake with all the facts!…well almost..Drake could probably ADD to this !

[dinoKeymaster]

More facts…Richie & Gil got 5th place in Top Gas-Div.1 1968, WON Top Gas points 1969-Div.1 and that Runner-up to Peters in the Freight Train at the ’71 Gators was not any easy win, pushing the “Train” to record the fastest Top Gas run in history ! a 7.00.

[dinoKeymaster]

Brian Report …just back from Shotts house ! : Have THREE shots of TWIN ! ONE AT DOVER ! …the crash run …- and Two Color from Show ! plus a few of his older cars. Need someone to find Englishtown ’72 Summernational’s Program…Shott says they used nice photo of Twin from year before in it …..

[dinoKeymaster]

The only remaining Photos of the twin at Show In NYC

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[dinoKeymaster]

Firing the Twin at Dover For it’s LAST Run 😥

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[dinoKeymaster]

Heres a link to More on the Shottgun Express, in Historical Dover Phot0s. (Thats in Multi-media forum and you must be registered and loggin in to access)

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………Also just talked to Richie and expect him here on forum Soon
………Another tid-bit…didn’t realize it at first, but after veiwing a couple of times : The film clip on our new homepage shows Shott 3 times.With his old AA/comp (rail with T-bucket) the First “Express” and the later full bodied “Express”.

[dinoKeymaster]

Skip North had this SHOTT shot of the twin hiding in his Photo Album All these years …One of the few that exist! He thinks this was at N.Y. National Speedway.Skip is in the red striped pants.The guy next to him is a Ford Motor Co. rep,Don Hauser…truck rep for east coast Dealerships….That’s Gil straping in Richie & If I’m not mistaken,Tink Schaefer sitting on the tow car hood ..Nice find ,thanks Skip !

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[masoParticipant]

What about the other dragster lined up next to him…? Red body with black frame rails, zoom headers and wider tires than the ShotGun car.

[dinoKeymaster]

Sure looks like Billy Lynch…He ran Gas before switching to Nitro…Was at Dover with the Gas Dragster Curcuit,Shott was in along with Moses, and the a whole bunch.

[dinoKeymaster]

Been A couple of years…Still looking for more …than These ONLY shots of the TWIN EXPRESS….

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