American sports car racing in the 1950s and 1960s was filled with home-built specials, a more affordable alternative to costly European imports, and an opportunity for Yankee hot-rodders to show what they were capable of. The smallest-displacement classes, F, G and H Modified, provided venues for ingenuity and creative engineering to triumph. Power was derived from small production engines like Crosley, Porsche, Fiat, Panhard, and SAAB; there were even cars running Mercury and Evinrude outboard motors. Some were crude, some exquisitely finished. Then there was the TM (Thews Motors) Special.

Curtis Thews had been a mechanic for Studebaker in South Bend, Indiana, before opening his own VW and Porsche franchise. He'd gained experience racing in SCCA's production classes and had built a front-engined Crosley-powered H/Modified. Having access to Porsche's racing parts inventory, however, opened another door: he'd create his own small-bore sports-racer with Porsche power, mid-en