History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

I posted this a LONG time ago, but...

 

thanks for posting one of faves..... all the best......

 

"OK, Bob, were almost done. All we have to do is hook up some kind of steering, which is really no big deal. Anything will do, after all, you're going to be going in a straight line. So, I guess just show up in the morning, and just borrow a helmet from someone and let's see how fast this will go.
I have no doubt that a fellow with your talent, and if you give it full throttle on the first run, you can break 300 MPH. After all, you have years of experience with Go Karts.
So....we'll see you in the morning, we'll have a couple of drinks and then set a new record!

 

Here they come.

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The scary part is that this seamed like a good idea to someone.

 

Actually, not too far off from some of the early stuff the Arfons brothers did.

 

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I'm all out of wack this morning.

I hope I won't be doing any re-post.

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I think I'm back on track now.

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The Thurmond Bros ALL STEEL 32 Highboy was beautiful. Very simple fire engine red hue was tasteful. Car won a few meets against lighter cars. Driver Butch Thurmond was quite aggresive behind the wheel. Below it we have Grand Pa Munster's latest invention.

 

I remember Gordon running at Lion's...and heard that he had died...what happened?

 

boating accident a few years ago

 

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He was participating in a 100 MPH Poker Run boating accident in TX. Two boats collided when Gordon's boat made a sudden 90 degree turn in front of the other boat. Along with Gordon, his wife, a friend husband and wife died, plus several people from the other boat... RIP ...

 

So, what is this thing? Is it a rocket car? Rocket cars are before my time. I know nothing about them. I've herd they ran E.T.s comparable to todays Top Fuel or quicker. Is this true? How fast were rocket cars? When did they last run?

 

I'm not familiar with that car, so I can't help you with that.

In a nutshell...there are jet cars and rocket cars.
When I was a kid the jet cars were pretty common at the drags. Most used the Westinghouse J-47 engines and ran on probably kerosene.
They were loud and wicked looking things but were no more competitive than the fuel dragsters of the day.
I saw four of them race, four abreast at Fontana in '65 or '66. Noisy and nuts but not all that fast. Fast, no question but a good running fueler was faster

Then came the rocket cars...some are still around today....more boring and fast...but not as nuts and chaotic as the jest I remember in the 60's.
I mean, in the 60's it was common to have them blow out windows in the timing tower and knock idiots down that stood within 100 feet behind them

Kitty O' Neal still holds the fasted speed ever recorded for 1/4 mile at 396 MPH in a hydrogen peroxide rocket car.
She had an unofficial speed of 412 MPH in 1/4 mile.

shots I took from that day in Fontana....











Kitty O Neal shown here. Kitt has been an inspiration to many who, like her, are deaf.



1979...Kitty is third from the right



Match racing between the jet cars and dragsters was fairly common in the 60's

 

Last weekend at the ONDR nostalgia races in Cayuga Ontario, Just when the motion turned to comotion
Pics by Rob Potter

 

Great shots,Mazooma.We had great cars and tracks back East but you were in the Mecca.We all wanted to go to Socal.
Trike is crazy

 

the correlation between the loss of quality dragstrips and the loss of quality of life in socal, i believe, is not coincidental.

i also do not see it as coincidental that i moved from socal within a year of the closure of irwindale raceway: i got out at the right time!

 

Plum, I'm amazed with the PS pictures, great stuff. Waiting for M as in Motown Missile.

 

I agree. We left in there 78.

 

so are we going to just start bitching about California or are we going to post drag photos...?

 

I remember being at Fontana that day! I was kind of a "wouldn't walk across the street to watch a jet car" snob at the time, and was in the pits when the jets ran. I do remember that they made a BUNCH of noise though!

 

This is a crappy shot of the Green Monster making a solo run from that day.

 

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