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

I'd always heard this from other people as well. I recall when the new slant front Vega's came out, there was a lot of cuttin' goin' on the egg crate grilled cars.
The Radicci & Wise body was bought from them in St Louis and got the front treatment in Nashville and put on another car. Confusing? You bet!

This is what prompted my questions about the CandyMatic Dart and Miller a couple weeks back. Unless you were in the shops to see the work, there is no way to know whose car you are actually looking at. If truth be known, folks would be shocked at pieces of history cut and scabbed into ECONO cars.............
Thanx Rooman; Tom S.

 

This photo is post 74'(or 73'?). Who knows why?
Tom S. in Tn.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by RAT "T"
Man, a hot rod reunion at epping, that sounds great!!!

Did they have muscle cars at burlington again this year, or did they put the cut off date back to '48?

I concur. And I think there needs to be some fresh blood thinking about old school ladder bar/straight axle technology on common cars found in scrap piles today. The altered wheelbase thing needs to go to the next level where working class folk can build a car using common scrap instead of ever increasing rare and costly 50's & 60's iron. Tom S.

 

Cruising through our big photo files a I tripped over this ...Classic Dover Drag Strip Shot from sept. 1962. C/A trophy run...

 

These are the kind of images ^^^ stuck in my mind. Tom S.

 

Well I found another picture that you may not have seen. I think I have shown all photos I have of the Blue Hell cars and will submit other funnies of the era. I also added a photo of the corvair body found in S Dakota. Ron and I met the guy in Bowling Green who has all the parts and is rebuilding the corvair. He asked if one of us would like to drive it. Both of us said we would cackle it in the pits but, would be reluctant to make a run in it. We were lucky we didn't kill ourselves the first time around.

 

Tom,
the LA Hooker Vega (which became the first Brute Force car) was originally the John Lombardo square grille car before Gene Beaver and co purchased it and made the clip change.
On pieces of history becoming an econo car I was lucky that my Don Long car survived that fate in reasonably intact condition--it even still has the original 3 point roll cage--with just the engine bay portion of the frame being butchered to allow the installation of a big block Chev and 'glide.

Roo

 

Tom,
the LA Hooker Vega (which became the first Brute Force car) was originally the John Lombardo square grille car before Gene Beaver and co purchased it and made the clip change.
On pieces of history becoming an econo car I was lucky that my Don Long car survived that fate in reasonably intact condition--it even still has the original 3 point roll cage--with just the engine bay portion of the frame being butchered to allow the installation of a big block Chev and 'glide.

Roo

 

Atlants Speed Shop Dragway

 

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by Tom S. in Tn.
I'd always heard this from other people as well. I recall when the new slant front Vega's came out, there was a lot of cuttin' goin' on the egg crate grilled cars.
If truth be known, folks would be shocked at pieces of history cut and scabbed into ECONO cars.............
Thanx Rooman; Tom S.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
There were more than just a few that did this body modification. I know of a couple of others that were done, and there were a few that had "odd" primer spots on them after the new body style came to be.

Mike

 

Sure seems I have been on the blog a lot lately. Here newspaper coverage of a car show I coordinated when I went to Carson High in Torrance. The show featured George Hutchison who brought his FED Stone Age man car, Dee Keeaton, John Mazmanian, the Orinal Backup Pickup, Blue Hell (this one was easy to get), and numerous students hot rods. Growing up in L.A was really bitchin. I grew up spending time with the likes of Jack Chrisman, Mike Kase, Dale Armstrong Gene Conway, Marv Eldridge, Joe Pisano, Don Kirby, Dale Pulde, Don Biggers, Jungle Jim, Don Madden Harry Schmidt and every other icon's of the era. I was very fortunate to have a brother like Ron who put me in every car from the 67 vette to the corvair. He and drag racing guided me. I could have gone the route of so many of my school mates that either ended up either a guest at Terminal Island prison or Forrest Lawn. The airplane photo is what I did for 20 yrs after Drag racing. Yee Hah

 

C-5 or the KC? Pilot? Nav? Load Master? Flight Engineer? Crew Chief? or Boom Operator?

 

Boom Operator on the old Kc 135a steam jet. Best job I have ever had.

 

The ass end of the truck to the left of the pic makes it AT LEAST '69 or later...the fuel system fittings, the slicks, the mask (that's a total guess), the cage over the top of the blower drive belt (another guess)...is there a true tell-tale?

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom S. in Tn.
This photo is post 74'(or 73'?). Who knows why?
Tom S. in Tn.

The big red part in the center of the photo is a mount for a starter.
Kind of looks like it could be a Culberson Auto Engr. part that first used big DC aircraft style starter motors, but in no way hold me to that fact.
Suddenly, I can't recall if it was 73' or 74' when the sanctioning body did away with fire-up rollers, push starts, and required every car to be self starting.

 

The top photo shown below actually appeared in the science text book I had when I was in the 7th grade. For a kid who spent the better part of class time sitting in back drawing dragsters and hot rods, this really got my attention. But, not quite enough to make me pay closer attention to the teacher.

Nice try text book!!!

 

You were indeed a fortunate youngster,Mike.Always feel a little down that I did not go to socal in '66 when I got out of school.

How many of those 20 years did you spend in my backyard at the frozen tundra,Plattsburg AFB?

 

Photo of BIG racing unidentified dragster is actually Porter and Reis. And like you, I had a text book in school that used a picture of a mid 60's top fueler launching off the line to illustrate a point about something that was contained in the chapter. Speaking of high school curriculam and drag racing, who here ever saw an industrial movie about the evils of drugs wherein Tony Nancy played himself. It was a story of sorts about Nancy and another racer who was known to indulge in the use of narcotics, ultimately resulting in the drivers death. The scene of the ill fated dragster pilot crashing was actual footage of a rail rolling at Bakersfield.

 

Now that would be interesting, a film about the evils of drug use starring Tony Nancy!

 

My Mr Lucky/Soapy Sales car had a starter (and reverser) in 1970--first time I ever saw a fueller that did not have to be push started and also the first one that I saw back up after the burnout.

Roo

 

Bucksnort, sure glad to hear from you. I came to Plattsburgh from Okinawa in 88 and stayed until 2005.

 

Those orange trees are long gone, and there is a self storage facility there now. But the tracks are still there for the Metrolink commuter trains.

 

Huston Platt .......

 

That first photo is really cool with the sunset and check out the painted stock valve covers! They reminded me of the 427 in my Dads grain truck. Corvair funnys are very cool! Blue Hell and The Assassination Corvairs are 2 of the best looking 60s funnys IMHO.

Is that second photo takin at Gary US30 in Indiana?

 

ZOT IV was lettered on one side with Atlanta Speed Shop & on the other side with Honest Charley

 

jetboatmama:
"ZOT IV was lettered on one side with Atlanta Speed Shop & on the other side with Honest Charley"



Really! Wow ... learn something everyday!

Thanks for the correction, Elaine.

 

Been on the road lately with little time to scan. Here's a few more from the '66 Nationals. Not all prize winners but a fun look back. This first one is of an unidentified street roadster and Shroyer's Shaker pie wagon Anglia during time trials. As always, corrections and additions welcome.

 

This one is probably an altered class run that some of the funny cars wound up in.

 

More gasser elimination action. Can't tell who's in the 33 that Paul Frost in Brockmans Speed Shop is going up against.

 

There were a few aircraft starters around alright, but darn few until the mandatory self start rule. I saw one on a high dollar championship car I can recall, but never any out on the saturday night circuit.
Was your starter brackets fabricated yourself, or purchased like the anodized one in the photo?
We had just completed our rear engined car after 2 years in construction (engine photo to the left) when the self start rule came about, and sitting here this morning, I'm confused as the actual year though,...... 74'?
At any rate, cutting a brand new car in half to add a few inches between the cockpit and motor to add space for a starter, and not to mention purchasing brackets and a belt drive for an unblown motor, was out of the question for me. Add to the reasons I decided to quit.
Thanks Roo; Tom S.