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

fortunately the '55 guy didn't hide his ID


Kay Sissell was a regular with his 6 cylinder cars, really ran hard...and with a great exhaust note


Any ID on this M/R? Looks like Riverside.



Looks like the early Willys broke out of the gasser ranks, classified as an altered. Paul Frost in the other lane?


From George Klass...this is, or was, Melvin Heath, from Oklahoma, the '56 top eliminator at the Nationals...don't know if Melvin added a blower (it had carbs in '56) or if he sold it to someone who did, two years later


Also from George Klass...not a lot of street roadsters got by Hugh Tucker...or some dragsters, for that matter (like the one in my avatar!)...raced for many years, first with a street Olds, then a blown Olds, then with this Chrysler...has been found and restored...


I'm pretty sure that the car on the right is early Don Garlits, before it became "Swamp Rat I," racing in Florida...I seem to remember this picture in an early Hot Rod Magazine...(corrections welcome!)


and another from George Klass....is this the Carroll Brothers before their fuel dragster days?


I'm pretty sure that this is Don Tuttle, from Chatsworth, CA, slowing at San Gabriel. Don ran an injected fuel dragster with a set of Algon injectors we sold him...great guy, his son Dave took over Don's California Chassis Engineering.

Don't know where or who or when...anyone??...at least early '60s as there is a flag starter.

 

Hey Ardun, wasn't Dave Tuttle's Dad name Walt?

 

The second from the last photo is mine from late 1962. Back in the days when a 12 year old could wander around the top end with a camera.

 

About the engines Hugh Tucker ran in his roadster. He never owned any of them, until the car was recently restored. The Olds engines belonged to his partner, Dave Stoll. The Chrysler belonged to John Rasmussen. It came from John's top gas car.

Kay Sissel was an inline fan for sure. As noted he ran 6's, and also ran straight eights. Kaye was a wonderful guy. When I built my T speedster, I set up the Fronty with a side draft Webber carb. Could not make it run right. Kaye's shop was close to ours, so I went over and introduced myself. He didn't know me from Adam, but after talking with him, he gave me some tips, and loaned me his genuine Webber factory tuning kit! This beautiful oak box had all the pieces in it to build any Webber carb. He said "just pay me for what you use". A true gentleman, indeed!

 

Nope, Ardun has it right.

Roo

 

Here is Dave Stoll's Olds engine in it's original location, prior to stuffing it into Hugh's roadster:

 

296Arden,,,,,,I posted about this car over on the Caddo Mills thread,,,,YES its Bill and Kurt Carrolls car before the went to a dragster,,,Bills nick name was "Bones" so therefore the Bonesmobile...

 

I notice "aeeco" on the door. I believe that was Automotive Engineering & Equipment Company on Irving Blvd.
in Dallas. They were a competitor of Custom Automotive in Dallas(right Bobby?).
I used to frequent that place in my late teens (early '60-'61).

 

My Father owned the car. A few people drove it. Bill Frontuto; Paul Stanley and Gary Essman...are a few I remember.

 

st: 10643388, member: 74877"]More Lions:
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I'm not sure on this full bodied digger, might have been Dennis Martin in "Dennis the Menace," from NoCal, anyone else?

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Great shot of Bennie "the Wizard" Osborn, from Oklahoma.

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Jerry Baltes?

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Bill Martin's "400 Jr." on the fireup road...note Tirewiper's comments on the fireup road in an earlier post, it was hard to get the car lit and slowed as you approached the starting line, because the fireup road was so short...later Lions went to roller starters

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Don't know whose C/C this is, Looks like Algon injectors

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I forgot the names of the guys who ran this blown Olds F/A...Frontuto and Hartwell?? I'm probably way off...I think this had a steel body...

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Not sure who is driving here...Lions did have bite!

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SWC again...when the AA/GS'ers ran the pits would often empty out, they were really popular at Lions[/QUOTE]
Your not way off...It was Hartwell/Frontuto. My Father Bob Hartwell owned the car.

 

Ardun and Dean Lowe, spoke with Herb Ries yesterday. The story is he built he car and didn't worry about R&R between rounds, he said if it were broke he went home. Asked what became of the car and was told it was sold to some fella (Herb can't remember his name) in Iowa. Wasn't long after he sold it the new owner crashed the car and is understood to have demolished the car. Love talking to Herb, so many stories of early Pomona (The Alley) where my shop is now, Sneaky Pete, Kalitta, stored their cars there in the winter. Weekly and Herb had buildings in the alley which were later occupied by Leroy Chatterton and Mikio Yoshioka. History man, lots of history in the Alley...

 

Thanks, Mark, this is great history...the story makes a lot of sense, most racers had no spare engines, so if it broke, it was the end of your day....If I remember right, Herb went on to race a blown Chrysler...I'll see if I can find a picture of it...

 

This is the only shot I could find of Herb's Chrysler car...and I checked both "Reis" and "Ries"...from Don Ewald's site.

 

Thanks George. I knew the Olds was Dave's, but I never knew it was in a boat.

 

Thanks for the history Mark. And for those that don't know Mark, he "loves" talking to everybody! But, that's all I'm going to say about that. Mark is about a foot taller then me, and out weighs me by a good bit.

 

Your not way off...It was Hartwell/Frontuto. My Father Bob Hartwell owned the car.[/QUOTE]
Princess, thanks for the information...here is another photo of the car at Lions...pretty faded but a great shot, from George Klass's collection; he just posted it.

Any more that you can tell us about your father would be great!

 

Yea Dean but I remember when you were taller than me and scared the snot out of me..LOL.. Here is a picture of (L-R) Herb Ries, Al Noose and Mikio Yoshioka I took at the museum. GEEZE can't get the computer to down load the picture, to many byte....

More stories. Herb told me when they got the new 426 hemi in crates they would toss the cross ram manifolds and cast headers in the back of the yard. Herb said that some may be buried under the concrete slab the Leroy and Mikio laid down to build a dyno room. Probably nothing worth digging up.

 

I know Dave pretty well, still visit him up in Ventura, CA. He's still a hot rodder. Here are some photos of his '38 Chevy coupe.

 

Very Nice and Clean. Not much room next to that Hemi for even getting your fingers in!!

Jimbo

 

Bandini

 

There were not a lot of cammer Fords powering fuel cars, and fewer from Canada, this was Scott Wilson's fueler.


Pete Ogden's fuel roadster, before it got Palamides wheels. Ran a carbureted Desoto. Pete would go on to build some pretty famous drag cars, including Pure Hell.


From George Klass: Lefty Mudersbach. Lefty was one of the three-man team who won the '57 NHRA nationals top eliminator with the Money Olds-sponsored gas car, then Lefty took it to California, fitted it with twin Chevys and raced it for years (too long, according to Chet Herbert, who sponsored him: I remember Chet loudly declaring "I told him to get rid of that car" when Lefty lost to Nick Van Wagner). Lefty ran this blown Chev on fuel in the early '60s, notice the headers, pre-zoomie period, but looks like he configured them to do what zoomies did, warm the tires, at least. When Art Malone had his terrible accident at Fontana, Lefty loaned this car to him to run his Chrysler at Bakersfield, not much success but not from a lack of trying. Sadly, Lefty died at the helm of a fuel dragster.


Also from George Klass: No, there was no Heidelberg Speed Shop, these guys were stationed in Heidelberg when they were in the Army....Mike Snivley once drove for them...


Garlits and Kalitta...these guys traveled together when they came to the West Coast...this was back when drivers were owners, mechanics, tow car drivers, bill payers, etc....


Prudhomme getting ready to race Garlits at Half Moon Bay in the Torquemaster car, 1966. These guys became pretty fierce rivals; Garlits won this match...


Jerry Ruth...is this the car that has either been restored or recreated? Ruth ran sanitary cars, won a bunch of races overall...


Fritz Voight (O/G means Open Gas)....Fritz did a lot of work for Mickey Thompson, died recently


Bean Bandits...these guys ran almost every kind of engine in this early dragster: Ardun, Buick, blown Studebaker, Desoto, flathead, Chrysler, etc...won with most of them


Yes, it's a custom, but it's also a fuel coupe...these guys converted their street carbs for fuel, ran a dose, and raced the Bantam next to them...I don't know how this race turned out, but there is a picture in a maybe '52 Hot Rod with the same car actually winning against an all-out coupe....(this is Pomona, early '50s)


Ron Rinauro from Northern California...probably better remembered for the "Blown Hell" 55 Chev altered wheelbase car that has now been recreated perfectly.

 

Ron Snyder - still a regular at Muncie Dragway with a 57' wagon

 

Half Moon Bay


Berardini roadster at Santa Ana, really early '50s. Later it would get fenders to put into the street roadster class, where it was a consistent winner. Flathead powered.....There is virtually no trace of Santa Ana anymore except for the trees that stood at the end of the track...all airport now.


Cedarquist brothers and Ryan, Jeep Hampshire at the wheel, earlier caption corrected thanks to info from Dean Lowe...story below...


As the caption says, Shelton, WA...no ID, anyone?



I


No ID, at Oswego, IL


Art Chrisman, ready to run, Santa Ana, '53


Bean Bandits, at Pomona, '55 or '56, Chrysler powered with a Crower U-Fab manifold...they went to a lot of trouble to weld up the doors, ever searching for more speed..

 

This is the former Cederquist brothers roadster. It's way to nice to be Boyd's!