By  Kayleene Cosner and Theodore Klaus Jr

The “Butterfly Effect” is the thought that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly’s wing can start a series of events. The flutter of the wing moves the air, which causes a ripple in a pond, which causes a rock to shift and so on.

Is it possible that when Gary wheeler designed the 1978 Wheeler Formula Super Vee (FSV), he imagined the chain of events that might follow?  Could he have sensed that his beautiful design would draw friends together to echo through generations and be loved almost 50 years later?

Back in the 1970’s, a young engineer named Gary Wheeler worked for Dan Gurney’s All-American Racers (AAR).  He was the engineer on AAR’s #48 Indy Car driven by Bobby Unser.

For the 1978 season VW Sport, the SCCA, and USAC created a new set of rules for Formula Super Vee (FSV) utilizing the “water cooled” VW Rabbit engine to compete in the USAC “Mini Indy” professional series as well as the SCCA “Gold Cup”.  Gary set out to create the Wheeler FSV to be part of this new series.  There were only 10 Wheeler FSV’s ever produced.  The car was constructed by Dave Klym at FABCAR, tested by Richard Shirey, and offered for Christmas Delivery.

In the February 1978 edition of Sports Car Magazine, the Wheeler was described as “The Sexiest Super Vee ever built.”  A caption in the article reads:  “If races were won on looks alone”.

However to be successful in racing, one requires not only a good race car, but a good team and driver.  The Wheeler never found its way to the right team.

Ted Fields with Interscope Racing posted consistent top ten finishes in USAC’s Mini Indy Series and Pete Halsmer’s had some great finishes in the 1978 and 1979 seasons of the SCCA Gold Cup. Even today, the Wheeler holds a class record at Texas International Raceway with Danny Ongais turning a lap at over 163 mph – impressive speed from only 180 HP!

Jim Cosner Sr loved cars, and he loved racing. He worked as a mechanic and lived in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Jim Sr. was the guy you would call to make your engine the one to beat in any race. He was married at 18 and had 3 sons. It was drag racing in the streets when we met, his wife recalled.

His racing advanced, at one time running an AA Fuel Dragster.  In the early 1980s he and his oldest son Jim Jr started autocrossing.  When they learned about PHA Hillclimbs at one of the events, Jim Sr set his sights on finding the right car to compete.

One night in the spring of 1987 Jim Sr got a phone call from a friend who had spotted a race car sitting in an open garage.  Jim’s friend asked the owner about the car and learned it was parked here after a wreck back in 1979.  When asked if he would sell it, the owner said others had offered to buy the car for parts, but he always declined hoping someone would restore the car to race again.  Jim Sr’s friend knew just the person!

The next morning, Jim Sr wasted no time jumping out of bed to check out this race car.  His wife rode along with her robe over her pajamas, as Jim Sr was too anxious to wait for her to change.  When they arrived at the address to check out the mystery race car, the surprises started at once.

First, this was the home of John Sisk Jr, a former football player for the Chicago Bears.  Next the treasure in the garage was no ordinary race car, it was a 1978 Wheeler Formula Super Vee! John Sisk had raced the then brand-new serial #9 Wheeler in the 1978/1979 SCCA Gold Cup series. The car had sat here untouched since an accident in the 1979 season.

Jim Sr was properly smitten – the Wheeler was what he had always dreamed of racing. He told John his intention was to restore the Wheeler to race in PHA Hillclimbs. John loved this idea and sold him the car for $1 – just to make it legit.

As soon as the Wheeler was home, Jim Sr and his boys went to work, and in just over a year the restoration was complete. The serial #9 Wheeler FSV was now a beautiful red with a new #90. Now it was time to put his work to the test.  An autocross at Plymouth Meeting Mall was the perfect way to “give it a shake down” before taking it to PHA events.

The #90 Wheeler certainly turned heads that day.  One person was Ted Klaus Sr, who had to get a closer look.  Handshakes were exchanged, introductions made and so it began.  Jim Sr and Ted Sr were drawn together by the Wheeler FSV, and they became fast friends. (Pun intended)

Ted Klaus Sr always loved cars and the engineering behind them.  He worked in Aerospace on NASA projects, and ran a VW based “kit car” business. He and his wife lived near Broomall, Pa. raising 4 girls and 1 boy.

He raced Gymkhanas in the late 1950’s in a Devin roadster that he built, and later in an Autodynamics “Solo Vee” that he upgraded with a 356 “Super 90” engine. In 1970 he started running the Solo Vee in PHA Hillclimbs and in 1975 upgraded to running a 1970 Caldwell D-10 “air cooled” Super Vee.

After meeting Jim Sr their friendship grew.  Ted and Jim Sr attended PHA Hillclimbs and had endless car conversations – of course including ones about Wheeler FSV.

In 1988, Jim Sr started running PHA Hillclimbs in the #90 Wheeler FSV.  Over the years, his love for the PHA family led him to become a Novice Instructor and the head of Tech Inspection.  In 1990, after Jim Sr. won his first FTD in the #90 Wheeler, he brought the trophy to John Sisk Jr’s office to say, “thank you”.

Unfortunately, in 1994 Jim Sr was broadsided while driving to work and his neck was broken. The #90 Wheeler went into storage, only to come out for the occasional car show, where “she” also won many awards.

Although Jim Sr no longer raced, he continued to support his PHA family, and in 2000 was inducted into the hall of fame. Afterwards he continued happily to serve the PHA Race Family as a Stewart and Mentor for many more years.

Ted Sr adored the Wheeler FSV since that first day he saw it.  In 1995, as luck would have it, Jim Sr discovered another Wheeler for sale.  A gentleman named Paul Tavilla had bought the serial #10 Wheeler in 1978 and raced it in SCCA and USCA events.

So, the two friends took a road trip with Jim Sr’s trailer to Miami to check out the car. Paul happened to be getting married that weekend and invited the men to attend the festivities. How could they say no?

At the wedding reception, they were surprised to learn that Paul’s best man was none other than Gary Wheeler! Yes, the one who designed the Wheeler FSV. (What’s the chance?) This encounter fostered yet another friendship.

Since that day, they have all shared many phone conversations and mailed letters (yes it was a thing), which became emails over the years. They asked questions, shared information, and most of all kept Gary updated about the two Wheelers that they owned.

After a memorable evening, Ted Sr and Jim Sr went to see serial #10 Wheeler. It was in rough shape and missing a lot of parts. Paul explained he had been stripping the car to make it light enough to hang on his wall as art. With a price adjustment for what was missing, Ted Sr now owned his wheeler.

He was inspired by Gary to bring back to life the original #78 Livery featured in Sports Car Magazine. Ted Sr and Jim Sr would spend over 2 years getting serial #10 restored.

In 1998, 20 years after its introduction, Ted Sr began racing in the #78 Wheeler at PHA events.  Editor’s note: this photo is almost identical to the original 1978 PR photo shown at the beginning of this article.

Ted Sr found a home within the PHA family, including helping Jim Sr with pre-race Tech inspections.   In 2002 Ted Sr was inducted into the PHA Hall of Fame.

It was the 2007 season when Ted Sr had a serious crash at Duryea’s infamous Turn #6, OH S#!t. Miraculously, he escaped with only injuries to his left arm. The #78 Wheeler was severely damaged and would have become “junk” for most people, but not for Jim Sr and Ted Sr. The two began to plan to bring the car back to life!  

The original Wheeler drawings were lost when Gary sold the company, so Ted Sr designed, engineered, and procured new monocoque tub parts. He and Jim Sr began to lovingly bond and rivet the sections together. Perhaps this also bonded them together? Cars have a way of doing that.

The first set of parts cracked during assembly – drat! Then the business that made the parts went bankrupt – double drat! So, they had to find another business with a long enough “tool” to form the tub using fresh material to avoid the cracking issue.

The restoration of #78 Wheeler was taking so long that Ted/Jim Sr started to search for another car to race until the Wheeler was finished. Together they drove to check out a Martini Super Vee, but Ted Sr did not physically fit in the cockpit of the car.

On the same trip, they did find an airplane they liked, and almost bought it that weekend – WTF?  Finally, the friends found a 1998 Van Diemen Formula Continental that fit Ted Sr – now he could continue to race into his eighties!?

This is when Ted Jr got multiple calls from all 4 of his sisters. They all said, “you need to get dad to stop racing!!” Ted Jr said, “I’ll go racing with Dad and then he will stop…I think.”

Ted Jr joined Ted Sr for the 2009 Duryea Hillclimb. Ted Jr’s first Hillclimb run was in the Van Diemen on slicks in the rain. Jim Sr had taken a lot of time to give Ted Jr “the line” the night before, so luckily, he kept the car on the road, for the 2009 season anyway. 

In 2010 Ted Jr crashed the Van Diemen at Duryea in turn #7 on the first run – doh! Ted Sr and Jim Sr rebuilt the Van Diemen. The next season they presented Ted Jr with a plaque, “in wreck-ignition” for his driving prowess.  Ted Jr remains humbled by the honor to this very day.

With the Van Diemen surviving the 2011 season unscathed, Ted Sr decided to sell it and finally finish the #78 Wheeler.

The 1970 Caldwell D-10 Super Vee came out of “mothballs” so they could keep racing. Ted Jr and Sr both drove the Caldwell now old enough to be “Historic”.

At Duryea 2013 Ted Jr finally got his FTD – “Faster than Dad!”. The weekend still brings great memories. No one knew at the time, but this was Ted Sr’s last race as he needed open heart surgery in 2014.

The “finish line” of Ted Sr’s 40+ year racing career with PHA also began his new role as “Crew Chief” for Ted Jr.  With Jim Sr’s help, Ted Sr finally completed all repairs to the #78 Wheeler. 

A Klaus family re-union at the 2016 Giants Despair Hillclimb celebrated Ted Sr and his passion for the PHA with Ted Jr. running the #78 Wheeler for 1st time.

In 2021 Ted Jr retired from Honda Performance Development to spend more time with his family and friends. The #78 Wheeler FSV sat idle in the garage triggering memories of spending time in the garage as dad’s “tool retrieving soldier” and learning how to disassemble a stock VW beetle and rebuild it with a new “kit car” body, going to races with his sisters as “dads pit crew” checking tire pressure, cleaning stones off the tires – all the critical stuff! He remembered watching races at Duryea and he could still close his eyes and feel Oscar Kovaleski’s McLaren roaring up Giants Despair.

Why not run the #78 Wheeler at PHA events again? He and his dad could relive old memories and make some new ones.

James Cosner Jr (Jimmy) started Autocross at 13 yrs old. He was always with dad racing. Jim Sr not only encouraged him but taught him everything he knew. With his guidance he graduated from Formula Ford and Club Ford into Hillclimb’s.

Jimmy accelerated his own racing career by earning the opportunity to be taught one on one by Mario Andretti. He made his dad proud, even becoming the youngest novice instructor ever for the PHA. Sadly, he had not been to a Hillclimb in almost 30 years. He had given up racing, after being hit head on. Racing only compounded the fear of leaving his newborn son fatherless.

In November of 2021, his family was blessed with another Cosner male. His now grown son had a son, he was a grandfather and his dad a Great grandfather, it was everything he had hoped it would be. This moment was worth all the sacrifices. Unfortunately, the joy was short lived. In less than a month on December 23, 2021, James M. Cosner Sr. died suddenly from Covid complications. After his Dad’s passing, Jim Jr joined Ted Sr and John Harnett for their weekly lunches where they would discuss cars, racing…etc.  Jim Jr was helping John Hartnett with modifications on his 1970 Caldwell and attended the 2023 Spring Weatherly Hillclimb to support John. 

At Weatherly Jim Jr came face to face with Ted Jr and the #78 Wheeler. The car encountered some mechanical issues and Jim Jr eagerly stepped in to help make on site repairs alongside Ted Jr ensuring the Wheeler stayed in the race that weekend. This marked the beginning of a new chapter – where the sons began to rekindle the bond their fathers had shared.

A memorial was planned for Jim Sr at the 2023 Duryea Hillclimb, where Jim Jr would take the wheel for the first time in 30 years. Whatever fear kept him away from racing all those years had faded, replaced with determination to honor his father’s legacy.  After Weatherly,  he went home and pulled the #90 Wheeler FSV from its long slumber, ready to bring her back to life.

A few weeks later Jim Jr, Ted Jr and both Wheelers met at Polish Mountain Hillclimb and raced side-by-side for the first time ever. The bond their fathers had shared seemed to move by osmosis to the sons. There was a camaraderie between them, and a joy that radiated that day.

The event was filled with a sense of history and shared passion, as if the cars themselves were reliving their past glory.  After the race Ted Sr who had been watching the whole time, came to the pits. The pride and nostalgia shown in his eyes as he stood beside his son and Jim Jr to capture a moment with both Wheelers FSV’s and the next generation of drivers who loved them.

Jim Jr and Ted Jr raced the remainder of the 2023 season in the Wheeler FSVs. It turned out to be a fight with time – not their racing times – but “father time”, as the original parts on the aging Wheelers needed extra attention.

The 2024 season has been more of the same – finding parts and keeping the cars running has been a challenging task but together they work on each other’s car and have made it happen. The 2024 Giants Despair Hillclimb was the last race they were both able to compete together this season. There they pitted side by side, encouraging and helping each other the whole weekend. The “Jr” generation of Hillclimb drivers loving the 1978 Wheeler Formula Super Vee.

Do not misunderstand, although they work together and cheer for each other, the race now is not for FTD (Fastest Time of Day) nor FTD (Faster than Dad), but FTT (Faster than Ted) and FTJ (Faster than Jim). At Giants the 2 drivers were separated by only 0.01 of a second.

All are looking forward to the 2025 Hillclimb season, to see which “Junior” claims King of the Wheelers!

Special Thanks to Theodore Klaus Sr. and the late James Cosner Sr for their documentation and memories