Hot Rods GASSERS GOOD OR BAD?

It's not all bad, just some of us more die hard types like things to be closer to accurate. I have a "thing" about folks calling any rear spare a Continental Kit.

 

Most folks call my AWB Chevy II a Gasser. They also call it a Nova. Oh well. They also mostly say they like it, which makes up for their lack of historic knowledge.

The world changes....that's life.

 

My 62 was a Nova II....sure wish I kept it and ditched the first wife.

 

This explain's it all Jim and anyone else who cares to read why thing's and events become what it's become in the moment.

 

They call them "shoeboxes" too.

 

Gassers were a niche class of dragsters that were destined to disappear. Folks were drag racing stock cars from the beginning. No special designation was necessary. It was when the WWII and Korean GIs came back to civilian life and brought with them some military engineering education and in-depth experience maintain diesels with X-71 superchargers that it all changed. They began plopping supercharges on the heretofore relatively stock engines and began blowing away the competition that they had to do something to level the playing field. Sanctioning bodies designated the supercharged cars as a separate class from the naturally aspirated cars. These supercharged cars primarily became known as Gassers. They quickly evolved into the most popular class in drag racing due to probably accidental promotion. Cam grinders began hyping the most recent Gasser to win a meet using their product which became known as the Cam Wars. The ads became attractions in their own right. Pejorative names from the ads about the competition became badges of fame.

The straight axles were a predictable migration from the slightly dropped beam axles that came on the stock cars. Willys were the car of choice since they were very small and light economy cars and most importantly were dirt cheap so the GIs could afford them. The whole gasser nosebleed look was made necessary by the horrible racing slicks that were on the market at the time. They were all recaps on stock tire carcasses that were more than adequate for the carb'd cars. The supercharged Gassers were way overpowering these tires so they raised the front ends as high as the sanctioning bodies would allow to try to get as much weight as possible on the rear tires and achieve a tinge of traction. This is the only drag racing class in history to be designated as superchargers only.

This golden era only lasted a fraction of the decade of the 60s. It didn't take long for the tire companies to catch on and engineer some special purpose racing slicks that would grab asphalt with no need for stacking weight on them. As soon as this happened. the nose of gassers went from 2' off the ground to 6" off the ground. That innovation was happening parallel to Detroit unveiling pony car body styles that lent themselves to this racing class. Once Gassers became 'boring' Mustang, Chevy II, Falcon, Comet, 442, GTO, Satellite, Coronet stockers, the end was inevitable. The Willys wheel standing, guard rail to guard rail excitement was gone. These new supercharged classes were not drawing crowds so they soon morphed into todays Funny cars. It only lasted from '59 through '65 but what a ride!

Those of us who love the romance of that golden age create clones of those magnificent machines. The technology is WAY outdated, the cars are not practical (they weren't even practical back then), but it is an act of love. It is even fitting that they regularly get dissed since they were always rebels and continue that proud tradition.

 

Agreed!! Good post[emoji106] I predicted this 15 years ago when the resurgence of the gasser first started. A few Gassers were still around in the '90's but not popular until Hot Rod magazine 2000 featured some of my buddies cars in the El Monte Air Force article .My best friend and I had just finished his red Big Block tube axle '55 that was featured with story by Steve Magnante . We started taking to some of the events and drag races here A So. CA. And really blew everyone's mind. The crowd loved that car and it stole the show away from the pro street cars at the Good Guys Pomona fairground show. They were pissed ..especially this guy we parked next to with a blown pro street '57 Chevy! The '55 gasser got ALL the attention that day.
Then in 2005 Hot Rod did the Gasser Fever issue featuring my '46 Chevy Delivery and 11 of my buddies badass Gassers including Three Novas, Groucho's Vette and a beam axle Falcon. Technically those were FX and modified production cars but the term GASSER fit as all were set up with the traditional gasser stance. I believe this story and photos really helped to jump start the current Gasser trend. But as I predicted slowly the overly jacked up..."any body style with a axle goes " were now called Gassers . In reality they are street freaks !!, a term Hot Rod coined around 1967 when every true street /strip gasser was trying to squeeze the giant 15" wide Indy tires and the big 12" drag slicks under the rear without radiusing the wheelwells. The rear now had to be jacked to the moon to clear the tires and of course the front had to match and over nite the "STREET FREAK" was born. But are they Gassers ? Not in my book and all of my buddies agree. Some are cool and at the time In'. 67 even I dug the trend but now I only like authentic Gassers that sit just right. Two inches too much in height loses that tight purpose built Gasser attitude and boarders on street freak status. Its fine if you like that look but don't call them Gassers!
Damn that was an exhausting RANT.
And Todd your Ranchero is a Badass Gasser even if it a recent build. Not all current Gassers were survivors being brought back to life. A true Gasser is all in the Stance and equipment used in the build. Period wheels ,tires ,gauges ,etc. And back in the day many were street driven to the track.


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^^^Well said^^^ I like the wicked Ranchero!

 

Before the slang Gasser was adopted Gas Coupe was it's classification. Where did they get the Gas to run ? At the corner filling station.

 

Premium pump gas was 98 to well over 104 octane depending on brand and Av Gas was at least 120 octane.. it was a GAS Coupe & class because Fuel ... Nitro/alcohol was not allowed.


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Thank you for the information I have and continue to learn so much from you guys.

 

Fuel often is over assumed with making power. Back then all production cars could buy the same fuel. This does not mean all transportation available could be a race cars. Power rating wasn't the source of classes as A/G, B/G, C/G and on and on in the beginning either. Displacement to weight was how it was classed then and later modified based upon e.t.

 

I remember gas being checked for specific gravity. At least.NHRA was aware of the funny stuff back then. Pump gas would work fine .
There wasn't all the additives in it like today. You can't use pump gas anymore, because they can't tell what's in it.
It's all spec. fuels now. I don't remember racing gas being used until about 72-73.

 

• 53 Henry J by studebaker eric posted Feb 6, 2012 at 12:33 PM
  53 Henry J by studebaker eric posted Feb 6, 2012 at 12:33 PM
  I have a 53 Henry J with a 53 chevy truck front axle, 57 ranchero 9 inch, big n little cragars, and a 413 chrysler. This has been a dream of mine since i was 12, in 1983, when i got the car. I was influenced by the revelle model kit, the red someday Henry j that was in hot rod magazine, and mostly by the unfinshed Henry J with the chrome axle that sat in my grandparents driveway . By the time i got my axle mounted, the gasser trend was getting started. I figure it will be over bythe time i can afford to finish. It is just my car. It sits lower than most new builds, and is not trying to be anything more than a street car built with cast off parts from the 60s,70s and later. Its been in my family since 1961, so it is not going anywhere. To some it is a gasser, to me it is my dream car

 

The only thing I'm trying to point out is how simple this class started out to be.

 

quicksilverart46 QUOTE:
"Not all current Gassers were survivors being brought back to life. A true Gasser is all in the Stance and equipment used in the build. Period wheels ,tires ,gauges ,etc. And back in the day many were street driven to the track."

Hey QSA,
You are right, not all gas coupes from back in those days are survivors...

But, we did drive the first edition of our 40 Willys to the drags to get weighed for the Gas Coupe Class and checked out for safety items. By the time several months later rolled around, we rebuilt the motor, added on some super stuff to make it go faster, and we started towing the 40 Willys to the drags.

We could have driven it to Lions, as it was about 2 miles away. But after a long 12 mile spurt around Bixby Knolls one time for a tune up, showcase run, it was towing from that point on until our end result.

Premium pump gas from the local Mobil Gas Station made the 671/Strombergs/SBC run quite well. It was a true backyard build for the Gas Coupe and Sedan class. WE HAD FUN...

Jnaki
The word "Gassers" was nowhere to be found until many years later. That term sounds like a bad day after consuming many chili dogs at the world famous, Lions, pit row, snack bar.


(But, some gas coupes do survive and will be on display soon, locally. More on that in a couple of months, if everything progresses correctly)

 

Henry Js, Anglias, Thames panels; all Satan Spawns!!!! Everyone knows Willys are the only pure, righteous Gassers.

 

1966

 

See, this is actually the first error - Gasser's were STREET CARS that were raced. Read that again. It was part of the rules package that included stock type full interiors, Full exhaust systems, Working Lights, etc. As the racers pushed the envelope only then did they stray from the street roots and become more "Race Car" and less "Street Car", and they got more radical as they went until the street requirements were pretty much dropped. Only Then did the fad of making crazy looking street cars that weren't race cars come into being, and like so many things that went over the top and Street Freaks were the norm for that style. Now days, well the majority of street versions are just comical interpretation with a few die hards doing it right ......

 

That's why I describe my Willys as a cartoon of a gasser. It is a daily driver, fully streetable car as per the rules; it isn't a race care which makes it a fake.

 

As a kid I thought that when the Gassers got to the point that they were strictly race cars, NHRA introduced Modified Production as a street/strip class. But if that was the case, it didn't last until about the second pass they made. It also turned into a strictly race class VERY quickly.

 

In the 60's as I remember it at Lions if you took you front bumper off you ran in the gas class instead of the stock class. Of course that was 50 yrs ago and I have KRS.

 

To me to be called a gasser it has to fit the NHRA rules or whatever sanctioning body they raced under. Note the word "raced". If you piss around on the street only, you are a poser and it is only a gasser to those who don't know their ass from their elbow.

 

1) START picture.....


Ok, here in SoCal transition street to strip...
Buy/own-start with car. Couldn't afford trailer so flat TOW, flat tow MUST be a proper licensed registered with plates car, to be towed.
hence

 

2) Half way there pic...
BRB

 

3) more street 1/2 strip pic
gime a min...

 

4) on trailer, off to CARLSBAD

hang on brb with pictures...

 

Reminds me of the car a classmate had in high school. His name was Calvin Plunk, teammate on the football team. Calvin's '55 was primer gray, was jacked up in the back. Really poor so the way he jacked it up was to drive a couple of 2x4s between the axle and frame. Had no front seat, the passenger sat on a milk crate, no floor board so you straddled the hole. In his senior year he trade it for one of the first '67 'Stang fastbacks in town, 390, dark metallic green. I was in awe of his car!

 

My '50 Old's I raced in Vintage Gas, a class we had here in Australia about 15 years ago.

 

My avatar is a TRUE gasser....don't believe it? Stand in my garage when its running sometime.