Great thread. True legends and hero's to me. These threads are great, but sometimes the comments are not totally factual. I consider myself knowledgeable on the team being that Ray Cook is my father, Doug being my uncle. What made Doug special was his natural gift of engines/tuning and building. He was self taught and lived and breathed racing. His advantage was his work ethic and attention to detail. Those who were fortunate to know him, know he was one of a kind, and all business (meaning focused) at the races. A great team that were pioneers in the sport.
Welcome to the site sean. My husband and i have been traveling with the S&S race team for the last 5 years and have become friends with joe and mike who have the swindler II car. Gasser Girl
Wow, I about peed my pants, then an overlooking co-worker asks 'who is Stone, Woods and Whoever?'...aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!
Sean, could you please identify the gentleman on the right for me. I took this photo in 67. real racers didn't care about color... it was all about go fast, be first.
I used to watch them do burnouts on park street off lakewood blvd, Then Watson took me to Cook's (the son ) in Norco once to check out the car his son has.
I asked my Dad Ray Cook to check out that picture....he said he doesn't think it's Leonard as he would have been a bit younger....and Tim and Fred would have been a bit bigger....so he's not sure. Doug is in the center on the other side of the car. The guy you can barely see on the other side could be Larry Petrich. The wrenches that traveled with the team back then were Tiny Roberts and Larry Petrich.
Also you may like to know Leonard Wood jr owens Chino Hills Ford and Leonard Wood 111 drives nascar west stock cars out west
It wasn't just Maz who made race an issue...according to SW&C, Bobby Woods refused to race them when they ventured south...Woods was from Alabama, and ran a Willys AA/GS before his funny cars...after the incident SW&C took out an ad in Drag News complaining about Woods' attitude. Both Stone and Woods were originally from Montgomery, AL (where I live now), and I think it was Tim Woods who attended Alabama State University. They both headed west and got into the construction industry.
Everyone knew S-W were black,didn't matter. Those pictures ar at Wayne Artega's garage in MO. They are K.S., Wayne Artega, Doug Cook, the big guy is Tiny Roberts mechanic on S.W.C. cars for years. I think,[not sure] Tim Woods, or the family own a Ford dealer in socal
What a great thread, came across it in a search to just find photos I could use to reference for color matching a Revell model I recently purchased. Initially went into the shop just to find a pre 40's hot rod to build but to my surprise they had replicas of actual famous rods and dragsters. Low and behold there was the SCW Swindler II!!! I couldnt believe it, I knew about the guys but until this thread and a few others never knew of their foothold in the drag scene. I grew up in Compton and had a couple of neighbors that were big into drag racing and also stock cars. They would always share info with me and had mentioned SWC but back then I wasnt paying full attention like now. Either way here are a few pics of my find...Ill more than likely post a "build" thread here as well.
Just read that Lenny Woods committed suicide. http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2010/09/29/another-page-turns-sadly-in-drag-folklore/?refer=news
When I was working at Detroit Dragway fro 1987 to 1997 Houston and Harold would still come out and test some before Harold went to Promod. They were always friendly and easy going to work with. George
I think somehow at an early age I saw an article about this car ,and I was so taken by the whole concept of the body style , stance , color and even the names on the door that the car is solely responsible for my interest in high performance.
Tech info on SWC's cars: As i was researching their mustangs (couldn't care less about the willys)---- and wondered what's the diff between gasser, afx and early, non-fliptop FC? For example why is ohio george's mustang considered a gasser while the dark horse 2 stang is supposedly a funnycar? etc. etc. etc. Then i decided it was too mind boggling and decided to forget about it. However, i did stumble upon some technical info concerning SWC's cars that you might find interesting here: Scroll down a bit to see some suspension magic revealed: http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=216334
Here's a photo of the SWC Willy's @ Fremont in March '64: © Photography by Bruce ... from my Fremont Drag Strip ... PICS from 1964!!! thread click thumbnails to enlarge
The Gassers had more rules than the Funny Cars....the orginal rules required the frame starting as a stock piece, they were then boxed and strenghtened, required to run gas and be doorcars....there were many more rules, that's the basics. Funny Cars had full on chassis, longer wheelbase, fliptops and ran Nitro. The first 'modern' car to be a gasser was Ohio George's Mustang....once it was allowed in more modern gassers followed....SWC built a mustang gasser in 68, that Ray Cook drove. The Dark Horse 2 was the first SWC Funny Car and only one that Doug Cook drove...it was a doorcar but had a lengthed wheelbase and ran a percentage of Nitro....one of the first FC in the 7's over 180 MPH....in 1967.
Never thought I would ever get to see the car. I almost didn't go to the Pileup. Here's another shot of it.
The Jalopy Journal
