Current photos of modern day "Nostalgia" race cars

my 64ply

 

A/G - Naturally aspirated gasoline
BILL MARTIN brought his exceptional 41 Willys coupe from Gettysburg, PA to Denver in '94 to qualify #1 in A/G at the World Gasser Championships. John Little drove the brand new Memory Maker to a class win with injected Pontiac, Lenco, Mark Williams rear, driveline. Car also competed for "King" of the WGC. The beautiful red paint job covered, but did not hide a unique thru-the-front-of-the-hood air inlet system. Looking for better pics and current info on this car. These are from Gasser Gossip #37. They'll remember this one.

 

A/G - naturally aspirated gas
CHARLIE BAUCOM, Athens, AL, brought his CBI 41 Willys out to Indy and a few west coast events. Driver Jeff Wilkerson used the pro stock power and consistency, his advanced chassis set-up knowledge, and quick reaction times to hand it to the Best of the West at Bakersfield. Pictures coming.

 

A/GAS -naturally aspirated
VALIANT EFFORT was the name given to the '65 Valiant 4 Door driven by Sean Renteria from Morgan Hill, Ca. This hard running sedan was an extended family "effort" and a beautifully painted and prepared business card for their body and paint business. A Dusty Renteria 500" wedge twisted the Lenco 5 speed. This car ran hard and, just in case you didn't know, competitors were up against a REAL quick-draw artist behind this wheel. Mostly competed at Goodguys Vintage Racing Assn. events. Please help with pics. More info coming.

 

If i am not mistaken there are pics in the book "california hot rodder" by jay carnine.

 

Thanks Enloe, I will check it. I am also hoping others will throw in pics of these cars as we go along. I would love to have owners, drivers, crew, or fans to post what they have. I seem to have misplaced a box of pics, but will keep looking. This was the time period when I was transitioning from fan w/camera to announcer, so availability of pics changed.

WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT, IS AN ENTRY SHOWING A BEAUTIFUL AND QUICK HENRY J OF LOUIE CARNINE FROM OJAI, CA. THIS ENTRY WAS DELETED, AS WERE OTHERS, AND I CAN NOT FIND OUT WHO DID IT OR WHY.

 

A/GAS - naturally aspirated gasoline
LARRY BIRDSONG drove a drop-dead gorgeous black '41 Willys, which I called the SONGBIRD. The car's beauty and the music of the Dave Riolo prostock BBC thru the Lenco earned the name. Mark Morrison did the chassis and traveled to some of the VRA events where it ran in A/G Eliminator. Home base was Birdsong Auto Sales in Red Bluff, CA. I was told that the front end was repainted whenever a rock chip was seen. It was that nice! May have been sold to a racer in Boise, Idaho.

 

A/GAS -naturally aspirated gas
MONTE GRUBB built and drives a '33 Willys pickup from his home shop in Tacoma, WA. A Willys Works body covers the owner built chassis. Powered by a Pro Stock BBC and Powerglide, this metallic blue tribute to Ron Bizio won many fans at the VRA events it participated in. It ran at the Gateway Gasser Gathering '99 in St. Louis in this configuration. Shown staging there against WS Tracey. Watch for it later in blown alcohol trim.

 

A/GAS - naturally aspirated
JIM HOPPER ran a bright red '40 Ford in A/G Eliminator at VRA events in the mid 90s. I remember this to be an evolving street rod to race car deal. Nice car, not such a good pic from Sears Point.

 

A/GAS ELIMINATOR was a Vintage Racing Association class run at Goodguys west coast events. Until about 99, the class pitted naturally aspirated cars and blown gas cars at 5 lbs/cubic inch against blown alcohol cars at 5.5 lbs/cubic inch. Somewhere along the line a 7.50 index entered the picture. Commonly referred to as a "fruit salad" class and with the gate cut-off of 1972, interesting combinations appeared.
One such naturally aspirated car was the almost pro mod 57 Chev of CHRIS and ANNE ABBEY from Clovis, CA. The 57 was a proven winner purchased from Art Hodges. Trick chassis was built in the SE and the pro stock style BBC stormed. Chris was lethal off the line and car qualified very well. George Goshgarian from Fresno became a partner, or vise versa, somewhere along the line, to form a tough team to beat for years. Help with pics greatly appreciated.

 

A/G - ELIMINATOR
Here is great story with a sad ending. RON DEES from Napa, CA. had built a bad blown '37 Willys street rod, seen thundering thru the streets of Pleasanton's fairgrounds during the Goodguy's 92 event. Dean Pappadeus followed Ron with his Main Event cameras. Ron entered the sedan in the next drag racing event and ran high 10s in street trim. The hook was set and Ron began the transformation to race car. First pic shows BBC with new injector and tanks under what previously was a hydraulic tilt hood. This pic was taken at Sears Point in '93. Tragically, Ron was killed enjoying this car. Something was mentioned later about not having seat sliders in a race car. Take a lesson.

 

A/GAS ELIMINATOR - - BLOWN ALCOHOL CARS
Well, Here We Go. How did we get to Gassers on Meth(anol)?

When nostalgia drag racing was becoming popular (roughly mid 80s) and guys who had gassers from "the day" brought them out to have some fun, some teams decided to run theirs on methanol, as was common during the days of match racing and no "fuel check". The thought was "it's easier on parts", meaning, the tuning window was wider than on gasoline. Burn fewer pistons, have more fun. By the gallon, alcohol was far cheaper. Even then, the idea rubbed purists the wrong way. Let's look back at teams that made this choice.
The Street Rodder magazine coverage of NDRA's drags at Baylands (Fremont, CA) seemed to reignite The Gasser Wars. One of the first legendary gassers to show up at these events was called Flirtin with Disaster. Don Dunham had found and rebuilt the Brasher, Cummings, and Rose '33 Willys. Ownership had transferred to JIM TIPPER by the mid 80s. Iron blocks and OEM transmissions were mandatory at this point in time. The 392 burned alcohol and turned a torqueflite and Olds rear. Flirting continued until 1987. Massive work returned this revered race car to a recognizable shape by Denver in '94 and to the beautiful show piece it is now.

 

Heres mine. had a great day , even made 3rd round $$

 

looks awe sum. love them old gassers.yruhot...doug

 

Love them all.yruhot............doug

 

A/GAS - - BLOWN ALCOHOL
Remember they are gassers that run on methanol. You can look at them and tell they are gassers, but they are set up to run alcohol. I know.

JACK COONROD, Vancouver, WA found and restored his old car, put in a Chrysler and torqueflite and showed up at Baylands. I believe these were the first two legendary gassers to race on alcohol since nostalgia racing was born in the late 70s or early 80s.

 

Another significant alcohol burning car was the Canadian Indian '41 Willys, owned and driven by Ontario resident BOB BEAZER. This car was built by S&W and ran a blown/injected Donovan. Draglist shows it as the 1st "gasser" in the 7s in 1986. Well-known for his no-rain dances on the starting line at NHRA national events, Beazer was another of the earliest hitters at the Baylands events.

 

DOUG and MIKE COOK brought this version of the Stone, Woods, and Cook '41 Willys to Baylands to the delight of the NDRA crowd. Mike replaced his legendary father behind the wheel and provided some smoky burnouts and exhibition runs. Museum time was in this car's future.

 

TOM WILLFORD had purchased Ron Bizio's '33 Willys pickup and was rebuilding it with the help of Marty Strode in Washington. They brought one of the most significant gasser pickups in history out to one of the most publicized events in nostalgia racing's young history. The first year in primer, followed by the beautiful blue, this truck was powered by a blown gas burning 392 and 727 trans. The Chuck Finders chassis was updated at S&R by Steve Pleuger. Driven at first by Willford, then Strode, this piece of history was sold to JEFF CRYAN, NY and is very competetive in an east coast AA/Gas Series.

 

By 1987, NDRA's gasser class was heating up. Another legend, JUNIOR THOMPSON had built a Prefect (Anglia's 4 door model). One of the original proponents of methanol, Junior built and tuned the the 450" Chrysler and turned the driving over to his son TOMMY. Torqueflite converter problems dictated the change to a Lenco within a year. The Burgundy Bandit soon became a car to beat, running 7.96 at Fremont in 1987.(Claimed to be "the first 7" in a nostalgia gasser, I believe they mean with a "class legal" iron block.) Watch this run on the Jackson Brothers video, Gasser Files. Pictures from EnFo newsletter by Dean Kirsten at Anglia Obsolete, Vista, CA.

 

Gasser legend WAYNE HARRY and his wife JACKIE built a '41 Willys pickup to run at the "oldies" events Jim Livingston had been putting on at Woodburn, OR since the late 70s. Jack Coonrod found a blown Chrysler to replace the flathead and the Vancouver, WA teams were off to play at Baylands '87 with two serious blown alcohol entries. Run at first with rounded rear fenders, this pic shows a later fiberglas Chev style. This truck was run hard til the Harrys built a glass 41 coupe in 90. Now dark blue, this truck still runs in the northwest.

 

Sox & Martin Tribute car, now in the Rick Hendrick Museum, just before the motor went in...

 

Another serious blown alcohol car showed up at Baylands. JAY SOUZA bought a '41 Willys coupe out of Omaha, NE to run from his home in Danville, CA. The panel painted coupe had been run by Ron Regier and Tom Grasso. Jay's blown BBC and Lenco3 speed exercized the modified stock chassis w/chromolly cage. ERC Race Fuels and Rick Gold helped run this portly entry at west coast events until it's performance crowded it's ability to pass "quicker than 7.50" tech. Color set from GASSER WARS magazine, by Phil and Dee Morris, shows Grasso/Mills, Souza, and Dennis and Henrietta Johnston, Lake Havasu, AZ. Current owner lives near Salt Lake City.

 

Just to add, Bizio sold this truck in mid 1970 after blowing the motor in it for the umpteeth time. A pair of siblings bought it, added their own blown 427 BBC , painted it metalflake brown and dubbed it Mindbender. I have yet to see a shot f the truck under that guise.

 

WCD, Your knowledge is astounding. Thanks for all of your input!
Blown gas and burning pistons certainly speaks to one of the reasons some of these nostalgia guys felt it would be easier on parts to run alcohol. WILLFORD was not one of those guys! They ran gas, as had the legends they were emulating. I just spoke to Tom the other day and know that he pays attention, as does Marty. Maybe they can jump in and fill in the blanks.

 

One of the most publicized categories of the early nostalgia days was Super Street or "Fastest Street Rod". Jerry Moreland's 40 sedan, Fat Jack's 46 Ford coupe, and Castelli's Hot Rod Willys got lots of ink and video drawing other crossover "street"/race cars. See Jackson Brothers' catalogue for GASSER FILES and Mike Nordahl at Willys Replacement Parts for James Elzingre's It's A Gas series.
KEN McCANDLESS brought his candy red blown 41 from Seattle and made the videos with massive trans failure. This beautiful car was one of my favorites at The World Gasser Championships in Denver, first in a line of others staging there. Help w/pics appreciated.

 

To give you an idea how publicity spreads popularity, take another look at a super famous gasser making the trek to Fremont. BURNS WAGGENER, San Antonio, TX, built one of the 10 Baddest Street Rods of All Time, according to Gray Baskerville and HOT ROD magazine. In fitting tribute to Tom Prufer and Brian Burnett's NDRA/Street Rodder magazine success, here it is in the pits. See his LOW black 41 p/u in Denver staging lanes shot above, several years later.

 

Plain Jane Biscayne

 

Here's my 57 150.

 

A few other gassers showed up at Baylands before it closed in Nov 88. PAT STEWART brought out the Costa and Stewart 41 Willys, an unrestored survivor. This car would resurface years later to much fanfare, proudly wearing it's well-worn candy red.


RON TOMISELLO (RIP) and team had been working on a 33 Willys which featured the unbelievable fab skill of Frank Schoenig. Still unfinished, this Bay Area car was last sold by parts-guy, fuel racer, Brendan Murray. Thanks to Willford for pics.


KENT KELLER ran his channelled 33 coupe at least once at the mid 80s events. Called Shaky Proposition, his coupe moved around the NW for years, til purchased by current owner Brian Fitting, WA.