History

The Solar Midget was built by the Solar Aircraft Company which was the parent company of Ryan Aircraft. It was intended to give the company some diversity at the end of WW II as Midget auto racing was extremely popular during that era. (The Solar racecar plant used the same facility that had been used for building Charles Lindberg's Spirit of St. Louis.)

One of the unique things about the Solar chassis is something they borrowed from the aircraft industry in that the main frame rails were built using stainless steel. According to the dash plate, this is number 16, which makes it a very early model. The Ford V-8 60 was a very popular engine in early midget racing. These engines were plentiful, inexpensive and easy to "hop up."

This beautiful piece of Midget racing history, the #2 Solar, was donated to the Woodland Auto Display by Reba Warren in memory of her late husband, Dale. We can't thank you enough for the opportunity to display this beautiful race car.