Nick Rowe

Clair Trierweiler was a retired machine shop owner and former World War II air corp pilot who owned open wheel race cars for 17 years. He started with the uprights, but when he saw that the off-set roadster-style car was the wave of the future, he switched. His cars carried No. 12 and were always emblazoned with the specter of a fearsome woodpecker sporting a cigar. The Trierweiler cars ran their best at Oswego [New York]. Their accomplishments include six top 10 finishes in the Oswego Classic, the most prestigious and highest paying supermodified race in the nation. It should be noted that to this day the Oswego-style car is the fastest, most powerful racing car in the world, weighing about 200 pounds more than rear engine Indy cars yet sporting almost twice the horsepower. Trierweiler hired only five drivers during his tenure as a car builder and owner. Three of them were from Portland. He started with John Davis, employed Bill "Nick" Rowe, who was his driver during the halcyon days at Oswego; and then Bill Rowe's son George took over the controls. He finished with John Davis driving again.

Trierweiler's cars were always clean and well-prepared. Mechanical breakdowns were the exception. Leon Platte prepared the engines. The body was often done by Howard Morris, who was considered by many to be an artisan with sheet aluminum.
  source. . . Tom Allen, Portland (MI) Review