Hello guys... I know it is a slim chance, but I wanted to see if anyone here has heard of an Illinois engine builder during the 1960's named Gary Brown. I have been told he did drag race motors, mostly Chevys... ANY leads are appriciated... THANKS! Hyfire
My dad was Gary Brown. He had a shop in Morton Grove named, " Engines by Gary Brown." He sold it a long while back. I think it is now called Fast Times Motor Works. My dad died in May 2005. He built many engines for many people. I do not have specifics because I was so young at the time and for some reason he did not like talking about his work. He once was on a pit crew for Parnelli Jones. I believe he did built engines for Bill Venturini and AJ Foyt amoung many others.
this....is an amazing place. Every day....every hour. Four years ago, the OP asked that question....and - voila!! a response today.
Hello Sherri, Thank you for the reply. Sorry to hear about your Father's passing. I have an old race car here in CA which your father built the motor for. I understand you probably can't offer too much info, but I will send a PM. Thank you again... Josh
I would guess by Googling his name and occupation. HAMB threads pop up pretty high on Google results. That would also explain the new registration.
Welcome Sherri to the HAMB. Yes, I remember stopping in your dad's shop many years ago. When I read this the name just popped out. Thanks for the memories. I was from the Peoria area. The HAMB and its members are amazing.
Garry Brown engines were well known in the Chicago area racing circuit. Grand Automotive in Des Plaines (Owned by Pat) was one of the big guys at Union Grove in MP class racing with his engines. I saw Pat years ago and Grand Automotive was Grand tire. Their major competitor was MSR in Des Plaines. Nova called Destiny driven by Gary Drenk. I think MSR is now ProMotor. Nice to hear the name Gary Brown again.
Just a side note about Grand Auto. Des Plaines used to be Grand, IL and it was called the city of Destiny. Later changed to Des Plalines
Good info guys! I had heard he specialized in Chevy engines. Anyone know if that's true? Although this car is a American Motors V8... and it's a beast. It ran AHRA MP Class at Great Lakes around 1968-1970. (This photo is from that time period)
I worked with a fellow who regularly raced at Great Lakes Dragway in Union Grove, WI. There were a number of cars that ran Gary Brown engines in the early seventies. One in particular I remember was Art Venturi, similar name to the one mentioned by his daughter. He ran either a 67 or 68 black big block Camaro. Being forty years ago I don't remember the cars exact year. Both it and Art were top notch, good equipment, good opponent and a Gary Brown engine. There were others but that is the one that immediately comes to mind. My friend ran a '68 SS/AA (NHRA) Dart, so I didn't follow the Chevrolet contingent closely but would agree that most or all the Gary Brown engines I remember we're Chevrolet.
The internet is an amazing thing... My name is Graham Jones, I am the new owner of Fast Times Motorworks, Inc. I was searching for photos of our old shop that used to be where Engines by Gary Brown once operated. Let me side step and give a little bit of history of how I came to be involved with this thread and what came to be FastTimes. I moved to Illinois in 2004 from Atlanta in search of a better opportunity. I was friends with the owner of FastTimes, Jeff, and began working there. After being there for 4 years, I took a position as a crew chief/team manager to go racing on a national circuit. This was my job for 3 years, and in the mean time Jeff decided to close FastTimes. After trying many things and not succeeding, deciding it was not for me, I decided to reopen FastTimes. I am currently having a new website built for the shop, and part of the site will contain the history of the shop and how it came to be. The beginning was Engines by Gary Brown. Jeff started there when he was 15 honing blocks by hand in the back of the shop. He eventually bought the equipment from Gary and opened as Fast Times Motorworks. The man that ran Engines by Gary Brown, Ed Ciccone, eventually became the father-in-law of Jeff. Jeff is one of my best friends, and I am also very good friends with Ed. I, unfortunately, never had the pleasure of meeting Gary. This brings me here. To complement this write-up, I am looking for pictures of the old shop, the Engines by Gary Brown logo, cars, engines, anything. Even if you're an old customer from that era, I would love to hear your stories. If you have anything to contribute, you can email them to fasttimesmotorworks@live.com, or you can call the shop at 847.966.3278. Thanks!
Good luck on your search... Here is the lettering on the back of my old drag car. Although it's not a logo.
Sorry to hear about Gary Brown,nice guy. Back in 1970 we had a motor built by Ed who was his main man.If my memory serves me right Gary was an Electrictian also. We'd go every Saturday to that small shop and put $50.00 toward our C M/P 66 Nova motor.He built a lot of Unit Stock motors for cars that ran at the Grove.The Camaro you were referring to ran that division.It was a black 68 with no lettering.The guy who ran Grand Automotive was Pat Sullivan.It was on Oakton right across the street from Motor Sport Research. Tony Christian who had the black 57 chevy called The Stroker worked at Grand automotive for a while also. I've got pictures of our car "Duece Money" with the "Engine By Gary Brown" on the front fenders.The car was lettered by Dexter who alot of cars back in the day.Hope this helps a little.
Anyone remember a blue Chopped top Crosley called "Lil Tantrum"? Gary built the motor for that car as well. My Dad has had what's left of the car in storage since before I was born. 30+ years. I was hoping I could track down some old photos of it when it was still running.
I worked at Motor Sport Research in 1968 for a while before joining the Army in March, 1969. I returned there in 1971 part time during school years and full time during summer breaks. I worked at the counter and in the shop with Jerry Bakker, Lou Fivaz, Willie Weiss, and Ed Brett. We built a lot of small block Chevy engines for road racing, trans am cup, and NHRA drag racing. Later, we built some big block Chevy pro stock motors. Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
MSR was owned and operated by Jim Swan. I still have some MSR T shirts. Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
Andy Granitelli used to stop by MSR from time to time to chat with Willie Weiss, who was his Indy car mechanic during his early Indy Racing years. Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
Gary Drenk also worked at MSR. He campaigned a couple of Chevy Novas in NHRA Street Eliminator classes D or E/MP, F/MP, and F/G. His first Destiny Nova rolled in the lights at Union Grove, so he built another one named Destiny II. He set a number of NHRA National Records. A few others worked at MSR, but their names escape me. Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
donchicago48, Having lived in the Motor Sport Research area since 1963 the memory of passing the shop in DesPlaines where all the storied racers got their start in racing with strong equipment from the shop still ring strong in my mind. Someone I know has one of their white T shirts circa 1970, on the front in blue is MSR and on the back in black is MOTOR SPORT RESEARCH in well used shape. Seeing your mention of still having some MSR T shirts I am wondering if any of them are for sale. From a fan, David Gervais a1002 truckman@aol.com
Jerry Bakker was shop manager. ED Brett was a very capable Machinist. Louie Fivaz worked the counter. Jim Swan's dad picked up parts and dropped off parts at magnaflux, etc.
After half a century, mine are worn or stained. It might be possible to have some made for old times sake.
Hi Sherri. This is Scott Venning. I knew your Dad very well. I worked at Gary Brown Racing Engines in late 1970 through 1973. I worked daily with Ed Ciccone, which was also a good friend. Your Dad would come to the shop in the evenings and do machine work on projects Ed and I were working on during the day. It seemed like I was there day and night. I spent a lot of time working with Gary and talking about building engines and racing, etc. If I remember correctly the shop was at your home for a while. Also before the shop at home, your dad worked at Ray Ericksons speed shop along with Wayne Shaw. I was just out of high school and was running the Machine Shop at Roselle Auto Parts and Ed asked me if I wanted to work at Gary's shop. I learned a lot from Gary, Ed, and Wayne. Your Dad taught me how to line bore, and run Stewart Warner Balancer. That was an important period of my life. The shop back then was in its prime. I have a million stories about the shop.
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