History Stock-S/S-F/X 1959-1966

Bill,
I was in contact with Jay a number of years ago and not for too long sorry to say. We covered a bunch of stuff at the time. I've since lost contact with him. It'd be great to get him and many others to join in here.
He certainly was an influential force in those days and has not recieved the recognition he deserves. He made the LRW really work. It intially as I understand it, was run with a solid rear. Jay did some changes among them adding Mopar S/S-F/X leaf springs and the truck turned around. It was not concieved as a wheelstander ... as the Hemi Under Glass wasn't either.
I'd like to read that interview.
Joel

 

There was no H/FX class that I'm aware of in the big scheme of things sanctioned ... C/FX being the lowest I've ever heard of ... but that doesn't mean some track didn't have an H/FX class. That said, I'm not so sure that that class (?) on there IS H/FX ... may be H/PX whatever that might mean ... maybe not a class at all?
Joel

 

One strage piece Dean. It is '65 Dodge back past the doors into '62 Plymouth. Strange. Do you really think it is Dave's Chevron car?
Joel

 

The first of three shots from Sidney Foster's scrapbooks ... all are his T-bolt in it's early AWB stage. Sidney said they ran this car in '64 -'65 with a best of 10.33-134mph Injected on alchohol.
The first is at Hub City Dragway, Biloxie, MS.
Joel

 

Here's Sidney Foster and the T-Bolt at the NASCAR Winter Championships.
Joel

 

Last one on Sidney Foster for now ... this I beleive is not long after the car got the AWB and solid front end. The quality of the original photo was poor.
Joel

 

From the AHRA house organ Tach, the 1965 Nationals Program.

Before the more radical body alterations were done to the car. Colors unknown to me.
Joel

 

This shot is from '65 I believe. Jerry Stien said this was Al Olster's car before it was re-named One-Step-Beyond. Island Dragway, Great Meadows, NJ. Island has changed very little since this shot way back when ... and that's a good thing!
Joel

 

I think this is a Mopar press release photo but not sure. My apologies to the photographer if I'm stepping on toes.
Check out the seat mounting and belts.
Joel

 

nice shot, look at the cars in the background...

 

I'll dig it out and send it to your web site email as a jpeg if I can. I have the copy without the pics, so I'll try to find the original article, scan it, and get it to you.

Bill

 

Joel, Nice shot of the "Spitfire" at the "Patch". Here's another of Downings car and an S/S Mopar, also at Island, sorry for the quality of the pic as I took it with a crumpy old "Instamatic".

 

Another Island shot; this one of the Grump's SS/C Camaro

 

More Island.Another poor quality shot. This one of the Melrose Missile from the spectators side.

 

One more from Island. The Virginia Twister and Fever going at it.

 

Joel/Anyone, do you know if Kenny Warren is still around? Also does anyone know if Matt Fenton is still around? He drove the Hill & Sanders T-bolt and later owned/drove Dyno Don's '64 AFX Comet. I believe he is who altered the wheelbase on the '64 Comet. I think he was from the Washington D.C. area.

 

I'm pretty sure the Mopar is Bob Brown from northeastern NJ, Montclair as I recall. Brown later ran Fords, a 68 Cobra Jet out of Dockery Ford in Paramus, NJ and later the SS&DI project Maverick P/S car. If I'm not mistaken Brown was runner-up at the NHRA Nationals in one of the eliminators with the Plymouth ... to Jenkins maybe? I always wondered if that Mopar was the ex-Leal S/S car.
Downing & Ryan ran a CJ Mustang in '68 and were involved with Brown in the P/S Maverick too.
Joel

 

Anymore Beswick pics?

 

Good stuff Bob, thanks for posting them even if a shot may be not the best quality.
The MM roadster ... I always thought it was a shame they whacked the roof off of it but once I saw the car run in person at Cecil Co. it was a whole different thing. That thing would literally rocket off the line (no pun intended) in an instant. The rosin burnouts with this car were exciting. Yother had these intense eyes that you could see even through the narrow goggles they ran then.
Joel

 

Kenny Warren's VT car vs Chick DeNinno in the Fever Dodge. This most likely was a NASCAR or Ultra Stock circuit meet Bob? DeNinno was close to Sam Auxier and Ronnie Sox. DeNinno ran a number of cars, this Charger going through a couple of revisions and built Ronnie Sox's last P/S cars in the 1990's.
Good pics Bob, thanks.
Joel

 

Kenny Warren used to show up at all the S/S Reunion events and I believe he was inducted into the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame recently. I'm pretty sure he's still around. Nancy Wilson (ECDRHOF event) should be able to get you in contact. Find her email at the ECDRHOF website.
The ex-Nicholson '64 Comet was owned by Matt Fenton but at least in the beginning, was driven by Ivan Jordan who had previously run some S/S lightweight Fords in the VA-MD area. After some appearances in early '65 I never saw that car run again. THe car never showed up at any of the big S/S-F/X meets I attended. I wasn't aware that it got the AWB treatment.
Joel

 

Thanks. My apologies for not always getting dates correct ... at the time I shot alot of stuff I rarely noted dates (should have though). There were always a ton of '55-57 Chevies and such at Island. Nothing in the background gives a clue as to the year. The Spit Fire Mopar is definately not in '63 season setup trim. By later '66 the Olster car was re-named and repainted in a more "trick" paintjob. The main reason my guess that this is '65 is because of the other slides I have that I shot in this set are '65 era.
Joel

 

this is a little 'new'...a shot of ONE STEP BEYOND II...
a '69 camaro
tom kasch photo

 

New to the forum but I have quite a bit of info on Downing & Ryan. Here are just a few photos.

 

Joel,
I recall the day I took that photo and it was the first time they ran the U/S cars at Island.I remember the announcer making a big deal of it. Here is another of "Bowani" that same day.

 

Another shot of the Virginia Twister U/S car at Island.

 

Mr. Guffey, I'm gonna take a shot in the dark here and guess those altered 64 front fenders now on the ol' Cyclops car are from the black&yellow Maverick's 64 which later became the black&red "Prosecutor" AWB Dodge.

Last I heard about that "Prosecutor" was somebody found the remains and brought it to a shop for restoration and then ran out of money. It was cut up real good; nothing left of it but the roof, quarters, and portions of the cowl/firewall.

 

I also thought of the Maverick '64 as the source but as I recall Maverick's '64 car got the 2% treatment in late summer '64 (fenders cut long like Strickler-Jenkins' '64 A/FX car)and these fenders look like original stock aluminum ones that had been altered in a different manner. Did Golden have two '64 Dodges?
Joel

 

I don't think they are off of Mavericks 64 also no signs of black paint and they were painted a red or possibly a pink shade before the yellow.