Hot Rods What type of cars make the best gassers

So I have this obsession with gassers if you guys haven't noticed. I will probably own a few in my life. Anyway up here there aren't that many cars around and I'm wondering what type of cars I should be looking for. my mother quote on quote " doesn't want us to look like a bunch of redneck with junk car everwhere" this is funny because when she was my age my grandfather had cars parked all over our yard, we still have parts for them everywhere. I'm limited to one car, I can deal with that though. Mabey I just won't drive in the winter. I have my pickup but as some of you have pointed out its not Really gasser material. Would I still like to do it yes. I doubt I will though.
Anyway back on topic, I want a gasser of course Willie 's are ridiculous amounts of money, henery j's are nearly impossible to find and I can't see myself with a t bird, there hard to find aswell.

I have looked places to see what they say and the best answer I've gotten is "gassers are usually smaller cars" I don't know of many cars from back then so I really have no idea what I should be looking for.

Any and everything is appreciated. Thanks.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

#1 - Don't listen to Mother #2 - It's your call. How will you know if the "best" ? Keep your eyes and ears open to the comments true car guys say about a so called "Gasser". Tell you what. Lets flip this around. What do you have in mind as being the "best" ? This way you'll see real fast if your on the right track.

 

Pick a '60s compact you like the looks of. Chevy IIs would probably be a little spendy, Falcons a little less, a Dart or Valiant or a Rambler American probably less. They're still out there, but you have to look for them.

Gary

 

My Chevy II was only 500, but it was pretty rough....and finding one up north like it for that little $$$ would be impossible.

Popular cars were the light ones, the late 30s American low priced cars (Chevy, Stude, Willys, Ford), early 60s American compacts as listed above, the british imports from the 50s-early 60s like Anglias or Austins, but you could also get away with some of the other small cars of that era.

 

Get Don Montgomery's book Supercharged Gas Coupes and Sedans and learn the history of what racers were trying to achieve. Come to understand all gas classes, supercharged and naturally aspirated. Understand the basics of weight-to-cubic-inch classification to even the playing field in each class. Above all, understand the basic difference in drag racing from then to now. As long as your car was legal, the first one to the finish line won.
Search gas classes here and read what was actually going on at the track, so that you can build something that honors, not simulates those cars.

 

I recently started to like gassers and i been on youtube vids looking at them and i see mainly 55 110s 210s bel air looking cars. Those to me are perfect gassers by looks anyways im sure they are hard to get now but local to me around here in the bay area there is some junk yards were there are old cars that are stacked and not been crushed could look at carlos auto wrecking over here in the bay area and there is another place down the street from there but dont know the name of it but maybe u could look into finding some type of old car to build up from in there not sure if your willing to travel to come pick one up or what type of way your are planning. But i even was looking at truck gassers. It all up to you on what you want to be a gasser.

 

49 Plymouth! Look up the high and mighty that's my favorite gasser

 

what part of the world are you in? the parts that you mention that are still on the property - is it OK for you to sell some of them to help raise funds toward your dream car? don't be in a rush to buy, unless a super deal comes along. keep your eyes on classifieds here, craigslist, etc. be open to a variety of cars/trucks as mentioned above. some of the best race cars were some of the most oddball models that you ever saw. do research on old racing, current nostalgia drags, etc.

 

The part of the world i am in is richmond california.

 

Fifty years plus ago the budget racers built a gasser out of what you could find that was light weight and cheap . The simplest was a 55/57 chevy. Not all gas class cars were equipped with straight axels. At first most were modified {engine changes most common} street driven cars that the only class they could qualify for and race in was the gas class. My gas racers were 39 chev 347 pont engine/ 53 ford frick conversion 331 cad powered/ several 53 studes with pontiac/ nailhead/fe and y block ford power next was a 54 Ford truck[ the only one with a straight axel} with a 409 chevy mill. 57 chevy 327 cid the last was a Henry J with 401 nail head. Several years ago I bought a 55 Ford with y block that was a gasser NASCAR and NHRA ..I now am building a 53 Ford with straight axel 455 buick power

 

There are a lot of decoy's out there but only one duck, 40/41 Willys coupe! My two favorites I watched at Pomona Drags were Stone,Woods,Cook and Big John Mazmanian.

 

Not all gassers were small, light cars; depending on the class, some were large and heavy. Look up Dave Koffel's national-record-holding 'Flintstone Flyer' E/G Packard 4dr; it weighed around 4600 lbs!

 

Gassers belong on the strip. I love them but don't at all appreciate seeing cars looking like gassers for everyday use. It just wasn't done in the 60's.

 

To me the "best" gassers were Willys, Henry J's, Anglia, Austin. At the end of the gasser era (before bracket racing lumped everything together) the ChevyII's and Falcon's were the cars. Mostly because there was support from manufacturers with bolt together parts. With that being said any car can be a gas class car. Not all gas cars had nose bleed straight axles.

 

yup, even though they had to have "street equipment", they were race cars.

But if your gasser is really quick, you ought to drive it around on the street, just because it's fun. 11s is pretty quick. 9s is where it's at.

 

Fast cars make the best gassers.

 

The High and the Mighty was NOT a gasser..it was an ALTERED.

 

Any car that was lite{under 2400lbs mostly as OEM an mostly 2doors] . Real race cars were not street drivers,fake race cars can be.
.

 

Real race cars can be street cars, too. Most guys are smarter than to try to combine the two.

 

Yes faster. But I believe the gassers were more popular. In my mind looking at a gasser made for just show is a turnoff. Similar to lap dances.

 

...just like so many of the later Pro Street cars, that couldn't get out of their own way.

 

Well a '47 Ford pickup would make a find gasser. its already got an axle and it already sits stump jumper high, and it weights in at a svelte 2900 pounds.

Put a stout motor in it skinny wheels in the front fat wheels in the back and go racin.

As far as gas class bodies, ideally you want something pretty light, I don't know where "up here" is that there are not many cars so I really can't help you with that one.

 

If anyone doubts a real race car can't make it on the street take a look at the hot rod drag week results. The winner over all ran an average of 6.78 at 219 mph on 5 different tracks with a 1000 miles of driving total in between. If that isn't a street driven race car I don't know what is.

 

No offense intended but gas class is a street legal class in the era that we try to emulate. Working lights, bumpers or a reasonable facsimile there of, complete interior.

That said, I am down with light and nasty wicked.

 

the winning car in B/Gas averaged in the 9.50s. straight axle 55, with a big big block. did a bunch of wicked wheelies, too

 

Yup,but you may of got my meaning a little off,I write for crap.
Well in Florida we gutted as much as we could an still looked kind of stock,things like the back seat was only a card board box with slipover covers,bumpers were held with mini brackets,doors gutted with plastic window an so on,no we did not drive on the street,we just were not stupid enough to do that,but yes it could be done,with near zero safety. Thats what I ment,

 

My straight axle altered wheelbase car has no back seat, plexiglass side windows, no window regulators, hardly any bracing in the hood, trunk, doors and fenders, trimmed rear bumper brackets, no front bumper, etc. But it has full lights, wipers, horn. And a license plate and insurance. over 10k street miles.

But yeah, I get your meaning too. There was no need to drive these things on the street, so you did whatever tricks you could to meet the class rules, and cut weight to a bare minimum.

 

If you want to build a gasser there is nothing wrong with doing it with your truck. Who cares what some one else says is right or wrong, it's not theirs to build. I've seen a few trucks built into gassers that are super cool.

 

search: craigslist/sacramento/for sale/cars&trucks/by owner: Henry J (2) $5000 (Anderson)

 

Most "gassers" other then those that belonged to the lower class guys (like D gas for example) were actually just race cars that could be driven as opposed to street strip cars, streeters that could be raced.

I actually understood you, I just don't want the kid to confuse gassers with street beasts.