For more than 90 years, one of the most important race cars in early Black motorsports history was thought to be gone. The Wiggins Special had been built and raced by Charlie Wiggins, a mechanic, engineer and four-time champion who competed during an era when segregation kept Black drivers out of many of America’s biggest racing events. Then, more than nine decades after the car disappeared from public view, its remains surfaced in Ohio.
Charlie Wiggins Built His Own Way Into Racing
Charlie Wiggins moved to Indianapolis in the early 1920s and quickly earned a reputation as an exceptional mechanic. But Black drivers were effectively barred from competing in the Indianapolis 500, forcing Wiggins and other racers to create opportunities elsewhere.
The Colored Speedway Association organized the Gold & Glory Sweepstakes, which became one of the most important racing events for Black drivers during the era. Wiggins built his own race cars, competed at a high level and eventually won four Gold & Glory championships. His engineering ability became respected well beyond the segregated racing circuit, even as he was denied the same opportunities available to white drivers and mechanics.
Wiggins’ driving career ended in 1936 after a major crash left him seriously injured and ultimately cost him his right leg. He continued working as a mechanic, but the race car that carried his name eventually disappeared from public view.
The Wiggins Special Was Thought Lost
As decades passed, the Wiggins Special became little more than a car visible in old photographs. Its whereabouts were unknown, and for most historians there was little reason to believe the machine itself had survived. Then, in 2026, information surfaced pointing to the remains of the car in Ohio. The Wiggins Special had not survived intact, but enough of it remained to identify and preserve the machine. The pieces were transported to specialists at The NB Center for American Automotive Heritage in Pennsylvania, where the surviving components could be documented and reassembled.
The discovery was significant because so little physical material survives from the Gold & Glory racing era. Photographs, newspaper clippings and race results tell part of the story, but an actual race car built and driven by one of the era’s most important competitors offers something entirely different.
More Than Just a Lost Race Car
The Wiggins Special represents a part of American racing history that existed beside the better-known world of Indianapolis but was largely excluded from it. Black racers built their own events, organizations and machines because mainstream motorsports institutions would not let them participate equally.
Wiggins became one of the defining figures of that world. He designed and prepared his own cars, operated a garage and gained a reputation strong enough that other racers sought his mechanical expertise. His achievements make the rediscovery of the Wiggins Special more than the recovery of an unusual old race car. It is also a reminder of how easily important pieces of automotive history can disappear. For roughly nine decades, the Wiggins Special was believed lost. Then, sitting in pieces in Ohio, a tangible link to one of America’s overlooked racing champions was found again.
