This is nice, damn nice!!! Gives you some perspective on how good it was then and how amazing it is that some orignal steel is still around today.
From the Bob Anderson Collection. Carrell Speedway, So. Cal 1948 #47 is Arthur "ChopPop" Galbraith (R.I.P.) getting around a nasty pile up.
I love it!! Saved those two pics of that car for inspiration! Would love to do one with a banger...(been searching for a use for my banger!)
Wow I really like this stuff... I talked to my grandpa about hot rodding and he said he did dirt track racing but I don't think it was this late, I think he got in the game around the 30's. Very nice pics.. Garrett
Rand Man, I would suggest you get the book Outlaw Sprint Car Racer John Gerber's autobiography It is from the 20's and 30's and starts with bob tailed cars. It's one of the most incredible books I have ever read. It's available from Witness Productions Box 31 Marshall Indiana 47859 765-597-2487 Zach could probably hook you up with it also from the eastern auto racing museum home of the jalopy showdown I am pretty sure they have it in stock
For those lucky enough NOT to have meandered down the road clutching the vagueness of the Model T epicyclic steering suggester.... let me tell you, there's some pictures of some very brave men here!!!!
Hopefully I should have this guy running by the Hayride ready to see some dirt action. All the running gear is 37/41 Willys, frame early Morris, grill? most expensive part tyres. Rich
They started racing motorcycles soon after they were invented also. The story on the one photo: they didn't have enough of each type to hold a race so the cars and bikes raced together.
The 28 car is a "Fronty". I think that's an overhead Model T banger conversion. Is that right? The #30 is sweet.
Here are some pics from Missouri Dirt trackin' that I thought you guys might like, too. Everything except the rear engine car... The #1 "cutdown" modified pic is of Gene"Tubby" Black from Farmington MO. He is in about his 53rd or 54th year of racing this season....driving a 410 Sprinter! He was a many time track champion at tracks in our area. This will probably be his final season due to some ongoing health problems. This pic was taken at the now forgotten Bismarck Speedway in the 1960's The Red/White #25 is my vintage coupe. We race at least a couple nights a month at various tracks in this area(MO and IL). Enjoy!
Two or three old race cars were parked in this corn field, behind a barn near Topeka, Kansas. Are they still there?
Was cutting the rear wheel wells out actually a practice for modifying dirt track cars??? I am not challenging that bit of info, but I haven't heard that before. If it was a typical practice, what would be the point of doing it?
if the body was channelled over the frame at all it was. even sometimes when it wasn't. go back a couple pages and you'll see some pics of later modifieds that had everything but the basic shell removed.
Here is a link to some old amateur movies of Jalopy stock cars at Mid-State (Morris) and Brookfield Speedways in upstate New York: http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c236/lsvtec2ivic/?action=view¤t=racing2.flv
Ahhhh...somebody finally agrees with me. Here's a bit of theory. The West Coast, where the mags were published had the dry lakes, Bonneville not that far inland and drag strips back in the day. They also had the Jalopies and the CRA roadsters which evolved into sprints. Hot Rod and others gave coverage to all, but concentrated on straight line stuff. Back east, roadsters weren't prevelent due to the climate, but every fairgrounds had a horse track so we had coupe racing. They eventually split 4 ways in the late '50s into the supermods and dirt sprinters, the Late Models and the modifieds. All of these divisions have survived in one form or another. But the mags were on the West Coast and we got little to no coverage until Stock Car Racing magazine came along in late'65. It was published in the east, so the world could finally see what we had. It's a shame that Kenny Weld got into cocaine around 1980, went to prison then died without reaching what he could've been. He was right about the many tracks. It's the same with the Batmobile driver Gary Balough and a few others. Sad...., but don't screw with crime... In my area we have quite a few drag strips within 100 miles of my house, but so many dirt and asphalt ovals I couldn't begin to count them all. I can pick my tracks on Frday, Saturday and Sunday and change every week. Even though the LMs have gone their own way...whatever that is, we still have sprint and modified racing out of the butt. I love the early and new DIRT mods so badly it hurts. Even with an '07 Bicknell and all of it's aerodynamic sheet aluminum, strip off the tin and the basic chassis concept hasn't changed in well over 30 years. Straight front axle, straight frame rails, center steering and a Q/C rear end. Want hot rods? Oval track cars are among the originals. Jan...racing *is* life
I used to watch the jalopy races from Culver City, CA on TV back in the 50's on our local UHF sattion. They were a real low budget deal and you never knew what you'd find. Great footage...would love to see those again.
Krooser! Tom Luce has a book out on the California Jalopy Association. Google California Jalopy Association and go to his website. He also has videos. The book covers the TV characters and drivers, such as "Termite" Snyder, Bob Hogle, Art Atkinson, "Steady Eddie" Gray, Ed Van Eyck, Danny Letner, and, of course, Parnelli Jones. Check it out, it's a hoot!
The Jalopy Journal
