Great Oregon Racers

More from Wayne's collection from 1951 at Scapoose. #502-B is Bo Nabb's coupe,#550 is Don Kreuger's modified with 2-port Riley power, it also ran as a "Track Roadster" on the oval circuit. The white 29 roadster belonged to Don, as well as the primered 36 3w coupe. Mighty fine trio of cars for one man to own. I am glad I got to know him, he was a fun loving guy, always had a smile and that ever present "Stroker" hat.

 

More

 

Marty! Gold...pure Gold!

This picture here...is of my grandfather's A-V8!!! (#503-B)....and is the ONLY one I have ever seen of it with the hood on it! (I bet that is grandpa at the wheel too)


...You can even see where the numbers were wiped off...






GREAT find Marty!

 

I had a buddy who was lot-boy on a used car lot back in '64-65 in Redmond Oregon when this merc [or one identical to it] showed up as a trade-in. Was all white with a white interior and a dressed flathead with all the chrome and polished aluminum...polished aluminum heads and intake with multiple carbs etc...

 

Clayton, You need to thank Wayne Miller for the pics, I am happy to post them, however you are making me look like a piker with your large photos, compared to my "thumbnails". See you around!

 

Sorry, just got so used to embeding my photos rather then just attaching them.. Not trying to upstage

Will have to get a hold of Wayne for a copy...great stuff!

 

Wayne miller will be one of the nicest guys you will ever meet.

 

I'm just amazed that so many pictures were taken by folks! In all the years I ran at Woodburn I never took a single picture. Seems I was always having too much fun running and wrenching to take a camera. Glad somebody was taking all these neat pictures to preserve history!

 

Steve, we are so very lucky to have a friend like Wayne, he is one of the most prepared people I have worked with building cars. These pics are of Wayne and his buddies building cars in the driveway in the early 50's, they show the desire and drive to get something done, without much to work with. Look at his 32 roadster, a nice car for 1956!

 

More pics

 

At the Scapoose drags!

 

We use to race a buddy's black and white 55 ford [390/3 speed] in 64-66. We'd flat tow it from our town of Redmond to Madras. We raced at the Madras airport on Sundays and when a plane needed to land we'd have to stop until it landed.
When I got home from the military in '69, Id drive my trusty old 57 Pontiac two door to Madras and run it.. Seems I almost always got lined up against some guy in a white 56 chevy hardtop with a power pac 283/3 speed with hurst linkage. I had the power advantage but he had better equiptment....my old select-a-shift 3 speed took forever to shift and he'd usually beat me...later converted to a 389/4 speed with Hurst linkage and he couldn't come close!

 

Rocky, do you remember two brothers from Madras named Ted and Mel Olds, in the early 70's they would come to Portland and race at PIR. Ted had a 53 Ford 2 dr with a 390 or 406 with tri-power, original paint (tan/copper) two-tone. It was a real sleeper. They were a couple of "country boys" and fun to watch! Come to think of it, they were from Maupin.

 

No, Marty but we had our own verson in Redmond...a blue [with black primer spots] slammed 54 ford coupe dumped in front with a 390, heavy duty 3 speed..owned by my high school buddy, Doug.

 

This looks like fun! Many of us have bought parts from Jack Corley through years, he was a "Great Oregon Racer" himself, maybe we will see you there!

 

Thanks for posting the pictures. Waynes old white 32 roadster is now red and in wenatchee.

 

Back in post #727 I posted this picture, it was my mistake when I thought this was Wayne Mahaffey's Phaeton, when in reality it was "Lady Racer" Mid Barbour's similar 35. Mid raced Hydroplanes as well, with Salem's Harry Eyerly as her builder and mechanic. Harry built the 35 Phaeton with some real trick touches for the time!

 

Here are some shots of Wayne Miller's 34 coupe at Scapoose, notice the one pic of Wayne with jug in hand, Wayne is coming to see me tomorrow, I will ask him if that was "white lightnin". The last two shots are of Wayne's son Jeff's 34, he is building it as a tribute to the car in the photos, and Wayne's other son Mike built the 55 Chev, they are both "quality builders", getting guidance from one of the best!

 

Since Wayne appears to be pouring in the 2nd picture, I'd guess his "white lightning" is water!

 

Just checking in! I'm so pleased this thread is going strong!
I do know however, we have barely scraped the surface! There are still Lord knows how many pics out there! Marty, you da man!

 

Gary, You will be pleased to know that I am going to meet with Larry Hill, twin brother to Jerry Hill, who built and raced some of the best gas and alcohol dragsters and funny cars in these parts. Larry has quite a stash of pictures that belonged to his late brother, and Larry has a solid memory of the characters and the race cars in the pics. We should get this going next week, I can hardly wait!

 

I know when I worked for Nick Harmon we took stuff to Mr.Hill............

 

I didn't see any postings here about Gary Griffiths, but had heard that he had passed away on October 20th. Here's a picture of his '40 Ford in 1966 - not sure where it was taken, but my bet would be Woodburn - this car was high points car there in 1966. Would love to see some pics of this car, and Gary, in action.

 

TIM I gave Charlie that picture. My dads friend has a photo album from woodburn around 65-66 with a lot of cool stuff.

 

Any more of this car running or parked?

 

I think this was the only picture of that car.

 

I haven't picked up the "Jerry Hill" photo collection yet, but I do have this one!

 

Here are a couple of shots of Larry Kalsch from Hillsboro. The first is his 56 T-Bird racing Chuck Tiller at PIR. The second is the car that followed the Bird.
Larry started racing in the mid-60s, the T-bird was was his "street racer" and had a series of FE engines, usually 427's. When he took it off the street,he raced it with a 427 Hi-Riser and then with a SOHC "Cammer", both were Hilborn injected. He crashed the bird at Seattle in 1973, it rolled and skidded through the lites in the 12's at 43 mph, with only 1 front wheel left on the car. His best run in it was 9.62 @152, it was very competitive.
The Roadster would follow, my brother Jerry, fabbed the main frame and I installed the roll cage and built the fuel/water tank that fit inside the grill shell. Larry ran B/SR and C/A, starting with the 427 "Cammer" out of the T-Bird. Larry is one of the most innovative people I know, he built a "de-stroked" 395 cubic inch "Cammer" engine, utilizing a crankshaft out of a 330 Ford truck. He used some aluminum rods from a 426 Chrysler Hemi, and built his own 2" "Gilmer" external belt drive for the cams, doing away with the long chain they used. The new cam drive stabilized the cam timing and made it quick to change cam advance. In a sea of Chevy powered cars in the Comp and Modified eliminator classes, it was a treat to hear him leave the line at 10,000 rpm, with an engine that was considered a "dinosaur" at that time, it ran a best of 9.09 at 150. In the later 70's he designed and built an engine dyno. It was an inertia dyno with a 600 lb flywheel, contained in a large electric motor case. He still uses it to this day in his engine building shop, it has tested everything from 1700 hp "blown alcohol" to the "Quarter Midget" engines for his Son's race cars. Larry and his son Christopher, have been racing pavement "Late Model" Stock Cars, since the 90's with Christopher as the driver. Through the years Larry has worked for Bob Tindle, Joe Colleti,Kenny Goodell, and Ken Forbes, before running his own shop since the 70's. He has always been a great resource of information and a good friend of mine for over 44 years!

 

Marty,
Do you have any more pictures of that roadster? I want to build one like that! With a Quickchange, of course

 

Neat to see those old pictures of PIR! I remember when we were low on cash and stood up on the dike outside the fences and watched the races free!