History Real Blood Sport: Old-Time Demolition Derby

That picture I sent looks like the track is part asphalt but the mud is just really dark and packed down really hard. Man some of the guys out here that run caddies have them nailed good, the aren't bending in the lowers at all and a couple of guys have taken out some uni-body Imperials with them, but they ain't stock in the front by no means!!!! Since alot of cars are getting way harder to find I have seen alot more LTD's and mid 70's mercurys being built stout as hell. Me and my bro consider ourselves lucky sometimes, we can still find late 60's to late 70's cars around here for decent prices and our best buddy that owns a wrecking yard still manages to get some good cars in through out the year but they don't come in as much as they use to so we figure we'll keep smashing **** untill we run out, then we can drink beer and lie about all the money we won over the years!!! See ya, JOKER JASON.

 

They have 2 asphalt derbies here in California, 1 is in madera and the other is at Stockton 99 speedway....hard hitting s.o.b's!!!!!

 

Jason, I did not KNOW that Demo Derby had gone to dry conditions, buddy (at least in a few locations). WOW. I used to get frustrated back in the early '70s when the fire-dept. boys would put TOO much water down.

 

Yah man it's getting to the point to where some of the tracks only water it once during the day and then maybe a liitle bit before the heats....makes a good fast track but at Orland this year the track was almost 100 yards and dry....damn hard hitting, the guys up that way like to build the old fords and mercs and the rules let you do quite a bit to the cars so they hit like tanks, I'll find some pictures of that derby, I got my axle ripped off in the heat by a 62 Ford wagon....my ears are still ringing LOL see ya, JOKER JASON.

 

My little brother ran only 1968,69,70 white Chrysler Imperials with 440's. The front bumper would bend up and make this tall steel wall to protect the radiator,along with the huge front cross member.
He ran open zoomies through the hood for the flaming fear factor at night and all were called the "Imperial Storm Trooper". Only Chevy wagons were a problem.

 

Lol i know of one that ran against 13 imps he got 2nd but took a broadside and the floats or something in the carb stuck and she started runnin on 4 instead of 8.

same builder running an imp this weekend i'll try to get a few pics fore and after for you guys it looks very VERY Scary.

 

YA i had watched some televised derby's in california that were on asphalt I think one was on that monster garage show. I personally have always ran on dirt, mud, sand.

 

JokerJason, that's hilarious (except for the ears ringing, of course!). Good post, bubba!

 

30Dodge, I ALWAYS thought wagons should run only agianst wagons. You have the ROOF as a brace, which OTHER cars don't have.

 

Originally Posted by Happy ******
I know of a Cadillac that will destroy a 100 cordobas before the bumper wrinkles on the front or the back.


And for our NEXT bedtime story, children . . .

 

I dont get it??

 

actually depends on the year and make of the wagons,as my name says i didn't need a wagon to be a WagonKiller! I used a 74 riviera GS!

 

Lol the one i was speakin of was and is no bedtime story,it won at painsville on asphalt a week or 2 ago.it is a beast!and still looks almost the same as it did when it was done running the first time!

 

Yo, Happy ******, no offense meant, bro. I was just horsin' with ya a little, 'cause I just can't imagine any car, Caddy's included, NOT BENDING some after a few hard hits, tht's all.

 

BUT, then WagonKiller came back with: ". . . the one I was speakin of was and is no bedtime story,it won at painsville on asphalt a week or 2 ago.it is a beast! and still looks almost the same as it did when it was done running the first time!"

So I guess I stand convinced (well, almost! LOL).

 

The next derby car in our shop is a 1975 Dodge Royal Monaco Brougham.

One run on this car so far and the next derby is OCT 10. Currently pulling out the sheetmetal damage, rebuilding the rear brakes, installing a better fuel cell and changing the gears from 4.88 to something in the high 3's. The track we'll be at is more like beach sand rather than muddy clay AND you have to run P-rated street tires...can't even have "aggressive tread." We actually take the worst tires we have and run them on the rears. The theory being that with a flat, shredded tire we'll be getting more traction than an inflated tire. You never get the BIG HITS at this track and it's more of an enduro than a derby.

 

custom by crunch !!! Lol

 

In some of the upper mid west tracks the would ban Imperials and Chevy wagons except for the special derbies when every thing else was restricted. The Chevy guys would try to team up to protect their front ends from the guys sitting comfy in his leather seats.

 

I never said the hits were hard.

 

Hey Demo Derby X....nice yard man, looks like my house without the trees!!! Oh yah.... and I am fresh out of Chrysler wagons, except for a 62 Chrysler wagon that has been seasoned for a while!!! See ya JOKER JASON.

 

Hey Jimi'shemi291, heres some pictures from Orland this year, my wife is a photographer so she usually always gets some good shots, check my axle going to ****!!!!! Damn! See ya, JOKER JASON.

 

Yeah, super nice shots!

 

Happy****** & JokerJason, STOP! You guys are KILLIN' me! Are you car guys or comedians??? LOL

 

DemoDerbyX & JokerJason, I guess ALL this thread just shows that Demo Derby is alive, well AND at the very LEAST as hard-hitting as it ever was (MAYBE, though, even more "scientific"?). You guys have been FUN to gab with, especially every week talkig about current heat results and hearing your enthusiasm, brags, etc.!

I have always KNOWN that Demo Derby is joined at the G-D hip with rodding, customs and racing of every type. One thing that's cool is that (like rodding) guys have always worked with whta they HAD and what little money they might be able to spare, little by little.

I REALLY APPRECIATE THE HAMB-NET ADMINISTRATORS LETTING THIS CRAZY THREAD RIDE. I DON'T THINK ANYBODY WANTED TO SUBVERT THE THEME OF TRADITIONAL HOTRODS. I JUST BELIEVE THAT RODDING, CUSTOMS AND DERBY ALL COME FROM THE SAME ROOTS AND DRIVE TO COMPETE -- AND WIN!

God bless the HAMB and rods & customs!!!! RIGHT ARM!!! (old JOKE! lol)

 

BW, guys, I don't know who put up some votes on the star-system on this thread, BUT I APPRECIATE IT! Before now, I have not asked another poster in an IM to go to the top of the page and vote a rating. That said, I think guys (and girls, too!) have enjoyed LOOKING and reading. THANKS again.

 

This is a great thread man!!!! You know, one of me and my brothers good friends is a guy from Hanford Ca. that started drag racing in 1956, he also started doing derbies in the early 60's and said that most of the car clubs in his area back then all use to build a club derby car to run at the fair, the funny part was that he said some guys that owned a wrecking yard and midnite auto supply in Fresno use to hang there car off of the crane and pull it up in the air and drop the car on the front end and then raise it back up and drop it on the rear end and then put the motor in.....a little old school pre-bending!!! Here is some more pictures of the hardest hitting derby I have ever been in, most of the trucks were all early 60's Fords!!! See ya, JOKER JASON.

 

Back in the Summer of 1959 and 1960 at Gardena Stadium in Southern CA., they would have 2-hours of demo derbies on Sunday nights after the jalopy racers cleared out.
These events would pack the grandstands. Local TV station KTLA channel-5 would tape the shows and play them in prime time later in the week.
If you want to see a 2-page picture spread in book form of these demo derbies I recommend my nostalgia book "Memories of the California Jalopy ***ociation." 288 pages and 1,550 photos. Just had the second printing. I think you would like it.
Sincerely,
Thomas Luce

 

Too cool. I could only imagine what it was like before the sport was getting neutered by a bunch of ***gots, with thousands of dollars in their cars, driving around "tapping" everyone so they don't hurt their precious "***gotmobiles". We lose more and more hard drivers to this ***gotry every year.

 

Cool Man, how much are the books and where can I get one??? Thanks, JOKER JASON.