I didnt mean rear DIFFERENTIAL, I ment rear SUSPENSION. As in the STOCK GM four link and coil springs. If you have ever seen a fast Chevelle with stock rear SUSPENSION launch, it leaves like the photo of Seatons Shaker.
Yep, it did have a stock Chevelle factory 4-link underneath the rear of it. It also had stock front suspension which was unusual in the fact that Mr. Seaton didn't install a straight front axle like almost every other Matchbash style car. As far as the differential, in the photos I've seen of it, it even had the original 12-bolt rear axle that probably came stock in the car, not the usual early Olds/Pontiac rear. The Seaton's Shaker '65 Chevelle is one of my favorite racecars of all time. I love the subtle wheelbase re-location on that car. Whereas the '65 Plymouths/Dodges look like automotive embryos, this Chevelle doesn't really look too far from stock...........'til you park a stock '65 Chevelle next to it, and then you see all kinds of things goin' on!
It seems from reading the post here that different people call these cars different things. Still, I have not read anyone calling them altered wheelbase funny cars. That is what they were called in magazines by spring '65 and on. That is what I call my blown AWB Tempest. It is a funny car. Or an AWB funny car. The term 'funny car' was made in reference to AWB cars, NOT floppers. Altered wheelbase cars were the ORIGINAL funny cars and should be recognized as such. the floppers came later. Someone asked as to WHY these changes ( AWB) were done. the answers given was to increase weight transfer and traction. True but it is much more comprehensive then that. What those who do not know need to know is this was THE golden era of late model stockers. No other time in drag racing history did things evolve so fast. as an example, in late '64 most of the quickest late model bodied cars were running in the high 10s. Things started to get crazy with their popularity. Also, people need to know that match racing was much more lucrative than the few NHRA races at the time. Many of the more popular racers were being booked for well over 100 races per year! Some are known to have booked over 150 match races in a given year. That means these races were not just held on Saturdays but, most any day of the week there were exhibition match races across the country! That is about 3-4 races a week. Hard to comprehend today but it was a very demanding time. In this time, they all wanted to out do each other- wheelbases were moved around to get a traction advantage, carbs gave way to injectors, injectors gave way to blowers, gas gave way to nitro methane. By mid 1966 the quicker cars were now running mid 8s. A well known phrase at the time was "run what ya' brung ( and hope you brung enough!)". In less than 2 years, these cars went from high 10s to mid 8s. No other time in drag racing history was such progress made. Cars were hard to put in classes at independent races like York and Bakersfield. classes were set up by weight and fuel burned as there was too much diversity at the time. Each week things changed and cars went much faster. Not like any other time. This progress that brought about the radical changes of altering the wheelbase also brought its demise. The once quick AWB 10 second cars were not stable or safe in the 8s as speeds also went up considerably. This quicker ETs and much higher MPHs demanded that the car be lowered and lengthened for stability. Also as the rate of progress that they were going, the flip top cars became more dominant and altered wheelbase cars started only being used in lower class racing. It was a very short time but, a very exciting time and one that will never happen again. AWB cars started in late '64 and were pretty much done for by the spring of '66. I do not know of a really competitive era AWB car built after that time. Once this 'build up' had settled to flip top all glass bodies, there was another split and that was many of these guys went back (1967) to carbs and gasoline by switching to Super Stock classes while others stayed in the blown fuel classes. this was primarily done by factory backed racers like Dyno Don, Sox & Martin, Landy, etc. Hope this helps explain better WHY altered wheelbase cars were started and WHY they became outdated in such a short time ( in the faster classes). I can't wait to have my Tempest together to experience the thrill of a wild. blown match bash, AWB funny car. It would be fun to do some match racing! Steve Hosting- 8th annual Nostalgic Show & Go! March 27-28, 2010 Phoenix www.nostalgicshowandgo.org
i figured stock style 4 link....raced g body's for a couple years (had a small tire sbc car that would leave like that ) , currently have a 64 malibu going together was curious if they had switched to the old standard olds to take the power or the new and untested 12 bolt...
Good eye, Brandon. They actually removed the body from the frame and re-located it back about 7 inches or so if I remember correctly. Another neat thing about these 64-5 Chevelles is the fact that if you swap the engine frame mounts from side-to-side, it effectively moves the engine back 7 inches. Just about every Chevy racer took advantage of this neat trick: Malcom Durham, Pete Seaton, Mark Johnson, etc. I have a decent '65 Chevelle 300 2-door sedan that is going to undergo very similar modifications after I finish this current '62 Biscayne project.
believe me....i've eyeballed my 64 more than once with this in mind. if the car was a 300 , it would have already been " altered"
You are a sick man....nice work. I want to dup my dad`s 55 AWB, from 66-67. Scanning some pics to post.
I agree the Jack Ditmers "Little Screamer" doesn't meet the letter of AWB, it was very impressive. I saw it run at NEITA (Cedar Falls Raceway in Iowa) back in 66. I think they had a match race scheduled and one of the cars broke and had Jack fill in. He had the wheelie bars backed of and his front tires were above the roofline of the other car leaving the line. It really made an impression on this young pup. The photograph doesn't do it justice as it was painted white pearl. Stunning in person.
That's the Quarterbender Dart before it was painted light blue. It had cragars with no center caps up front (I guess they wouldn't fit with the spindles he used) and it was the only one that had rear quarter windows like a Valiant instead of a Dart. Bob Harrop had a Woody Gilmore '66 Dart too that I saw at his house being built when I was a kid that he never finished.
I can't get enough of this stuff. I went to my first drag race in '65 at Atco when I was a kid and called local racer Bob Harrop out of the phone book. We still talk, and I just sent him a cartoon of his '65 car. These cars changed my life.
thank you GENTS...that was a real treet, man i never get tired of those old wheel standers and A/FX funny cars should have been there. man that time was great! i do miss it. i guess thats why the h.a.m.b. was started? they can have the pro. classes of today, i don't give a damn how fast they are. it's just not the same. BUT HELL you know that! call me POP...or the old FART!.
hey chuck..i also used to go to acto back in the 60's...did you ever see a b/mp 57 chevy called the stinger..went thru several paint schemes but yellow with the black bumble bee stripes on the rear was my favorite..i have been trying to find a picture of it..it belonged to my uncle..he had a gas station in camden..usually a guy named harold something driving it..just hearing acto brings back a flood of memories ...and those old altered, gassers and the fx cars were always what i loved best..keep up the best thread on the hamb..when i get the 62 lancer dart finshed i'll post some pics...this is what i have to work with...
Wild Child 1966. 427 side oiler, Hillborn FI, nitro methane. Driven by Ev Rowse out of Rankin Ford, London, Ontario. In 1967 the front end was pulled back 6" and a 427 SOHC was installed set back 10" in the chassis. It still runs the SOHC today.
Here's afew of my fav's......one of my top favorite altered wheelbase runners would have to be the 1955 altered and chopped "Gold Rod" Chevy.....great topic and thanks to everyone so far that have shared all those awsome pictures.......keep them coming brothers.
I read the article in HOT ROD a few years back, and went straight to the store and bought the model kit. Built it up first like the original version, then upgraded it more and more match bash style as time progressed. That is an amazing car, and It's great to see it again!
never saw a bubble rear window.the front was originally a nascar piece then used by drag racers.dont forget the reverse light delete plates,fiberglass dash with no radio hole,door panels without window crank holes,sedan rear package tray covers on hardtop bodies,no lead in the body seams,injectors through the hood scoop,double spring hangers to change the wheelbase to fit differant rules.there is so much more
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