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Brothers Carl and Salvatore “Tudy” Marchese built the first tube-frame midget race car in 1935. In that same car was housed a four-cylinder Miller engine that had started life as a straight eight designed for Indianapolis car competition.
Following World War I, the Marchese brothers, Carl, Tudy and Tom, operated a Milwaukee auto repair shop and, over time, continually added machine tools which eventually evolved as a race car shop. By the 1930s they had become a racing dynasty in the Milwaukee area. Along with building racers, the Marcheses also raced them. Carl proved his abilities in the 1920s by winning at local tracks with his Model T-based racecar. In 1929 he drove a Miller to a fourth place finish in his inaugural appearance at the Indianapolis 500.
Tudy was a skilled machinist and Tom was equally as skilled as a promoter. Their shop became famous for their creativity and innovation, including being one of the first to take advantage of aircraft-type tubing for frame rails. Carl and Tudy were also among the first to supercharge midget engines, experiment with dual rear wheels, and develop a workable torsion bar suspension. They also developed center-point knockoff magnesium wheels and fielded other cars at Indy over the years, always with their own little touches. |