Hot Rods of the dry lakes era. Then & Now picture Thread.

Thank you for posting. Love it!

 

cool thread!

I love this '32, it's perfect (even the missing louver is perfect, character abounds!)

 

Great Post Jimmy,

I grew up in Anaheim CA and saw many of those cars run and knew some of the owners pretty well.

Dick Kraft, ( see my post on Dick Kraft Passing). I think that picture was after Dick had sold the car. I was with Dick a lot when he was building it and cruised in it with him many times. Don't remember it ever having a roll bar when Dick owned it

Creighton Hunter's 25 T roadster. Creighton ran the car off the end of the strip once at Paridise Mesa and banged it up a bit, but repaired it OK.
I used to ski and hunt ducks with Creighton. Creighton was a distributor of Kendall and Sta lube Oil in Santa Ana. We would haul a few cases of oil in his pick up to a shop in San Bernardino, I think it was Otto Rysmann's, but not sure, then go up to Snow Valley near Big Bear and ski in the afternoon. Creighton would deduct the expenses on taxes as a business expense.
We would hunt pintail ducks in the barley and bean fields near the Santa Ana drag strip. We would stand next to a telephone pole along the road as a blind. and step out to shoot when a flock came close.

Doug Caruthers sold the car to Art Christman and Art ran it a lot at the Santa Ana drags, for a short time with the short wheelbase then he stretched it out and really made it a beautiful car with a bronze paint job & Von Dutch striping. Art ruled at Santa Ana for quite awhile. Art also ran a beautiful bronze C or D modified '29 A coupe, chopped and channeled and very low profile with a streamlined front end and full belly pan. I saw it run it at Bonneville in 1953, don't remember the power, could have been a Chrysler Hemi
Doug Caruthers owned Viking Trailers in Anaheim. He ran Indy cars. He had a little oval track at the trailer plant out next to where Disneyland was built to teach his very small boys to drive in little micro midgets Both became Indy Car drivers and were later killed racing.

The Pearson Bros car was the cleanest and most beautiful of all the coupes running at that time. I think ZZ Top owns it now with his collection of '34 3 window coupes. Loved the '34s beautiful lines and suicide doors. I owned 3 as a kid, one 3 window and 2- 2dr sedans.
I saw it run at a Rusetta meet on my fist visit to El Mirage in 1951 when I was 16. That same day I got to sit in the timing stand and saw a bit of Micky Thompson's legendary temper. Mickey was hauling ass heading for the timing traps in his full fendered '36 3 window B coupe when his engine blew. He pulled off and coasted to a stop not far from the timing stand. He was really pissed and bailed out of the car while it was still rolling, flung his helmet on the lakebed and stomped off towards the starting area cussing a blue streak.

The Lakes were truly a great experience

 

Ike Iacono also ran a fenderless '34 altered coupe with that same orange paint job and a Wayne head GMC at the Santa Ana drags around '53-54 He was usually quickest in his class. Ike was a real nice, kinda quite kid with real thick glasses, but his dad, who was always along, was a real hothead. The Iacanos were commercial fisherman from San Pedro and I think his dad ran a purse seiner, so the story went.
Ike's number one competitor was the little yellow,fenderless, chopped and channeled '29 A, 3 window altered coupe running a flathead 3/8 x3/8 Merc called "The Tortoise" owned by a couple of Santa Ana locals I knew, Harold Dawson and Beryl Wilson. Once when Harold whipped Ike Pop got ugly and he and Harold duked it out in the pit area.

I saw lottsa crazy stuff during those early days at Santa Ana.

 

Any more info on this car / chassis?
I am diggin' the torsion bars.
From what year would these pictures be?

 

Chassis was from a 1920s Willys
The pictures would be from '49/'50

scroll down and you will find a feature here http://users.bigpond.com/designjp/hotrodmags.html

 

Excellent stories Derlogi, I'd love to have a beer (or a few) with you.

 

thank you for sharing your memories with us younger folks. i could sit and listen to stories from the guys that were there all day long. by chance, do you have any pics of any 28-29 coupes that ran the lakes back then? i am building a 29 coupe that i want to look like it just rolled out of 1949-51.

 

Great thread and even greater photos! Anyone here currently running El Mirage?

 

Great thread and very inspiring indeed
Wouldn't happen to have any pics of any 27 T roadster pu available to post?
thanks again for sharing, love this era!
grace and peace†
cab

 

AHH .... Now this is why I signed up for the hamb,for threads like these.This is REAL hotrodding.It wasnt a fashion show then it was about the horsepower and the slickness of your car. What I love today is that it is still only the pure hardcore out there at El Mirage I cant get enough of it,about a month till the season starts!!! This seperates the Hotrodders from the posers right here,you wont find a pompador contest out on the lakebed!!!!!!!

 

jeff you gonna drive your merc out to el mirage? i'll have my roadster out there all weekend. billy

 

So true!

HELLMET, can't wait to see a vid of your roadster under power.

 

I have pictured my roadster before. In fact you can see it just to the right. But somebody posted an older picture of it when Al Holoway owned it. So Here is a before and after.

 

The "Sidewinders. King and Hanson" Tank

 

These are from an Album on E-Bay that I couldn't afford, maybe someone out there in H.A.M.B. land can supply info? I just love them and think people who appreciate them should see them.....

 

Man they are great pics!

 

Awesome pix !!

Rat

 

Real kool pic's, keep them coming,Thanks 'KUZTOM'

 

great post.thanks for sharing

 

Great thread,that Tommy Lee Offy powered boatail at Muroc in July 1938 is totally restored now, really nice car.

 

Thought I would give this a bump.

 

bringin back an old thread, but I LOVE this photo!

 

Proving once again that most real hot rods didn't have roofs. Awesome thread!

 

This thread Rules I have been cracking out on Dick Kraft history

 

two of the nicest t roadsters from back in the day. fred carrillo streamlined roadster and barney navarro roadster.

 

sorry didnt mean to put that first pic in. wasnt sure if it was the same car but it may be an early version. maybe an expert can chime in

 

firingorder1
I raced a El Mirage last year and will be there in May weather permitting. Ran World of Speed at Bonneville last year also. Rookie at both places. I was anyways. The car I raced has been raced out there since 1963. Holds two El Mirage records and a Bonneville record of 239.208.
Dan