History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

Is that 'Da Grump' climbing out of that racer? Naw, no cigar!

 

Oooofff... I'll bet that'd make your ears ring.

 

Seat? Who needs a seat? "AOG" stood for A/Open Gas, which was how the sanctioning bodies/tracks designed gas-burning dragsters, to distinguish them from fuel dragsters


From George Klass: Maynard Rupp's "Slot Racer," if there was a Logghe factory car, this was it (or one of them) Art Malone behind, looks like Half Moon Bay


also from George Klass: Porter & Ries, Pomona pits. This was a homemade deal by a couple of really young guys, blown Olds, beat Garlits once at Lions.....Steve Porter is steering.


and one more from George's collection: Safford, Gaide, & Ratican, blown Olds, probably taken same day as the Porter & Ries above.....I think that Rod Pepmuller built the chassis (?), Kenny Safford drove. These Olds were competitive in top fuel, but block weakness drove most who ran than to Chryslers eventually. Behind is the Chet Herbert twin F-85 Olds powered twin that Jeep Hampshire drove.

GBP at San Gabriel

Bobby Tapia in the Tapia and Hoffman Chev. This was an early Chassis Research TE-440, with a really low roll cage. Tapia was a computer engineer, which in those days was pretty rare. He later drove Larry Stellings top fuel car.

Looks like a T coupe with some pretty radical bodywork. Cotati or Vaca Valley?

 

Hi Dave

The Porter & Ries car sure looks like the early Frantic Four car, maybe the same guy built both as the back ends look the same ?

Also the Tapia bros ran a blown 92 fueler at San Fernando too

 

I know that Pepmuller built the Frantic 4 car because there was a big "thanks to Rod Pepmuller" on the cowl..so I think you're right...though the Frantic 4 car had torsion bars while the P&R car had a sprung front end...

 

That is a surprise as I thought that Rod had only built cars for other guys in the ' Road Kings '

 

I doubt Pepmuller built the Porter & Ries frame. Rod would have had enough experience to leave enough room between the bottom frame tubes to drop the pan between rounds!

 

This car will be at Bowling Green next weekend in its later "Prussian" guise.

Roo

 

It was, I remember that when Weekly & Rivero first showed up at San Gabriel with their fueler (yellow, and before Fox and Holding), we assumed that they were from the San Fernando valley because Pepmuller built the car, that's how local the chassis work was in those days.....George Britting was closer to the Pomona region and built some of the cars from there.....I think Dean is right, Porter & Ries was homemade, with the long radius rods and the spring front end, Pepmuller followed Fuller in using VW torsion bars for the front suspension.

 

Jack Jones, 1970 AA/GD (Spellman and Jones). This was the 1969 Top Gas World Champion, new full body for 1970.

 

Thanks, I'll add it to the shot...