History 1933 - 1936 Willys, picture thread

Rocko,
You actually made my point. Thanks! Draglist? You mean the site where anybody can put any ET or MPH without confirmation, and post all kinds of self aggrandizing bullshit? And they do! Internet history revision at its finest! Again, thanks for making my point! The Bizio truck was a high 8's car. But on Draglist it is 8.40's. Nice write up and stats on your cars! See ya! Ed

 

Ron Bizio's times were 8.48 at Lions and a 166 mph record set at OCIR, both these were suppose to be on gas. Most of his times over the 2 year span (68-69) were in the high 8 second range, then if running NHRA rules (OCIR) would add weight and run in the BB/A class turning low 9's. During an event featuring over a dozen blown gassers "Run What You Brung" (Nov.23,1968) at Irwindale Ron ran an 8.40 @ 166.05, but Manual Herrera in the flip top Austin ran 8.26 @ 172.41 in qualifying followed by Densham's 8.38 172 blast in his roadster. Using Drag News, National Dragster, Drag Sport Illustrated and Drag World papers for reference, btw both the Drag News and DSI full volumns are available on CDs listed for sale on the internet.

 

I knew if anyone knew exactly what the times that he ran you would, vintagegasser!

 

Eddie,

Actually you make your point every time you post! Your true colors come out time and time again....lol I'm really happy you enjoy all the stats and write ups on my cars.....! I can't wait to see your car when you get it done..... I'm really hoping you and Kenny can make it to Beaver Springs for whats shaping up to be the biggest AA/GS race ever.... Should be a lot of fun...!

Rocky

 

Vintagegasser,

Thanks for clearing that up...lol I don't remember where I heard about the 8.20's...but then again, I am getting old..lol Didn't the Herrera flip top austin run in the sevens in late 69/early 1970? again, this is coming from memory, but I remember reading about it in Drag News.... might have been a run on fuel...??? Just for clarity...THIS IS FROM MY MEMORY..lol

Rocky

 

Rocky, Manuel drove John Lombardo's topless Corvette at times and that car would run against the gassers and by "tipping the can" enter a funny car events, perhaps that's where the 7 second run might have occured. Best reference for what the vintage bodied gassers would run was to look at the results pages from a NHRA National event such as the Winternationals or Indy and in proper weight, engine, fuel the times were way slower. The 8.26 at Irwindale was the quickest I had found for the glass fliptop Austin and that evening they had the "pop" within those cylinders. Those last few years were hard on the gasser group, Funny Car programs were putting a large dent into their programs, so to keep the fans coming back the "run what you brung" events were brought to life. Running different fuels and larger motors created problems for those short wheelbase rigs as they had a tendency to do a little more dancing around from point A to B and sadly some ended up in a wad.

 

Shot from the early sixties at lakeland in Memphis,TN.
Was known as Witchcraft and weighed in at one ton period.

 

Tom,

Thank you for the response. My recollection of the flip top Austin goes back to when I was a ten year old kid....I might be way off base with my memory of what I read. I do thank you for the history lesson, I love the AA/GS cars, but have never been into the quoting of ET's and MPH's, I learn something new every day mainly because of guys like you and Mark Ott who really took the time to keep track of all those numbers. All I do know is the Bizio truck was a hitter back in the day and you did a great job on the restoration of her. Before Jeff Cryan brought her back east, I had the chance to see the truck at one of the CHRR's I spent HOURS going over every inch. The truck is a work of art. Since the time Jeff has had her, he has done a great job of keeping her in beautiful condition. Its been a lot of fun and a honor to line up against a true piece of history.....

Rocky

 

Dammmm... That is one COOL photo!

 

Rocky, the CHRR in question was no doubt the "Ring Of Fire" year, had two cars in the Cacklefest, Bizio truck (as a former owner) and the rear engine Chassis Research Coleman Brothers dragster. I was also selling in the swap meet area, we had to have crossed paths once again, first time was in '88 at Englishtown when I ventured East to pick up my all steel chopped '33 coupe (project 2012).

 

My true colors?

Huh?

 

Spectator here . . . sitting in the stands, simply observing . . .

Pretty obvious that "Eddie" has a large axe to grind.

Don't know what Eddie's problem is . . . don't really care, but please shut the fuck up and let us watch, listen, and learn from Mark's great thread without you bringing all your fucked-up baggage to the show.

 

I am sorry I offended you. I have no axe to grind. I am really dig'n the photos that have been posted on Mark's cool thread here.......and was simply confused by the inconsistencies.

 

Although not a 33 Willys (just to set the record straight), according to the Oct 69 issue of Hi-Performance Cars, the Herrera's ran alcohol on one occasion, and ran 8.10 @ 175. Pretty darn fast for "gasser" back then, even if it was on alky.

 

Damn! That is fast! You'd swear it was on pop! Maybe Mark should start an Austin gasser thread too! LOL!

 

LOL...BrerHair...you got it figured out! Eddie has been a shit stirrer forever...even managed to get himself thrown off the Gas-Fx list for the same bs YEARS ago...some people never learn......

 

All right back to some photo's and stories....I'll do my best to ignore "Eddie"...lol

Here's some photos of my Dad's original 33 Willys when it first ran back in 1967.....



That's my Dad and his partner Eddie White...Eddie still comes and hangs out at our race car shop....

 

The Old & The New,

 

When my Dad built the car back in 1966, it had a steel body.....he thought it was way too heavy and bought a Cal Automotive body for the 33 chassis. The Boss Hydro came in at a slim 2000 pounds when done....

 

Some more detail shots of the original.....



In 1966, he used a 392 HEMI....in the winter of 67, he installed a "Late Model" 426..

 

Some more detail photos....the original Boss Hydro was a clean piece!






Real 24 kt gold for the trim lettering!

 

Some later shots when my Dad installed the "late model"....

 

cool picts! thks for sharing them!

 

Rocky:

Your dad's car was very cool. I can't believe how much gold leaf was on that thing back in the day. Your Boss Hydro tribute car really nails the look.

 

Jimmy "Tinny" Tinsmith's truck....this truck is absolutely gorgeous... Tinny builds these things for a living and does a unbelievable job!

 

Thank you! When we did the tribute car we wanted it to be as close as possible, it was tough finding someone who could still do the gold leaf... The guy we got to do it (Dave Weyth) is a artist! He started doing the work and when he was studying the pictures I gave him, he got all teary eyed.... The guy that did the original work was named Gene the Brush.... As it turned out Gene taught Dave! Small world eh!

 

Another shot of the beautiful Ron Bizio truck..!

 

Rocky, Is Tinny the guy that makes custom size straight axles? Micky

 

My Dad running K.S. at Vargo dragway in Pa.... I remember this like it was yesterday! (No..I don't know the ET's or MPH's...lol)

 

Micky...YES..! He does some nice work..I recommend him highly!

Rocky