Features Corvette Gassers

I cannot get too much of this badass machine!

 

met this kid 2 weeks ago , just turned 18 and got this car WW what a nice present graduated from junior dragsters...

 

Back on page 10, someone asked whose cars these were. Could roadster be Gary Reinero's Gene Winfield-painted Oakland winner?

 

if you need me to i will come drive them enough to keep the batteries charged

 

will put you on as full time battery tender ! then you can get my 57 off the lift so we could start the build !

 

oh yeah rfraze seen it on tv when i was about 8 , went bananas for that vette , how about a lil game of chicken ?

 

Single headlite Vettes make the best looking drag cars. I remember them well in the 60's magazines when I was a kid

 

Fly United, I am kind of partial to the 1958-1962 Vettes although one of my all time favorite drag car may very well be black 57 Midwest car. I watched it run numerous times and it always seem to run right on the numbers.

Just for the record, Limelight which was from your neck of the woods was actually a 58-60 Vette. Not many Vettes ran AA/Gas.

I find it amazing all of the 56/57 Vettes that ran. I ran into a guy a couple of weeks ago who told me he had a 57 with a 409 and he told me it is still around although he is having trouble trying to buy it back. The black Midwest car had a 389 and 421 Pontiac before they put the big Chevy in it. There were two other 56/57 that ran on Woodward with 409s and one with a 427 W Motor according to the owner of Midwest Auto. Then there was the 57 Gorilla that ran out of Berkley Auto, Gianinos 57 and the guys I ran with had a 57 in B/G. That was just in my neck of the woods. It is any wonder there are any left.

The pic that Rocky posted is a pretty bare bones 57 as well. Here are a few more bare bones 57s, including Rusty Dellings cool 57.-Jim

 

Thanks Jim ...nothin but the goods no fat there !

 

Jim looks like that blue one has a different frame under it, must have been kool to watch and a hell of a ride

 

Rocky I never saw the car run although I watched Kanners drive the Midwest car he won with at Indy in 67 and it was a weird creation classified as a 57 Vette. I believe Modified sports allowed more chassis "development" but not so sure what happened to those cars in 68 when they morphed into gas.

I thought I have read Delling's car ran in the early FC when he ran fuel. I believe the car was silver or gray in 66. He ran a number of cars with Fiberglass trends sponsorship, including a later flip top funny I believe.

When I first started going to the strip my favorites were the Willys but then I got hooked on the early Vettes (the Willys are still a real close second to me).

 

i second that Jim , love them both a freind down here has the flip top vette steve korney had campaning stone woods name.

 

This is the proper use of a Corvette, anything else is a waste. Great thread!!

 

my 59,s cockpit

 

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Rocky the pictures are great. I guess you are going to lose a few points on the lack of originality of your 59 interior at your next NCRS meet.

The other two pics are great with the rollout extreme on the front tires. I recently tried a taller front tire as I am one of those nuts that like tall front tires and they come real close on turns. Those guys had to have heard the tires rub when they tooled back to the pits. That is about as large as I have seen them on these Vettes.-Jim

 

Jim, I too like tall tires. But those things are gigantic.

 

I know Doug. I think mine are right around 27+ and they are as big as I can go on my black car. They hit the fenderwell header panel on the left side of the red car on turns. Those tires are bigger than mine by a long shot. The rollout if they are around 30 would be extreme-Jim

 

Anybody have any information on this one?

jp

 

If I had to guess I would say it was the 57 prepped by Bourgeois and Wade. I am guessing Dick Bourgeois was driving Mazmanians Willys during this period possibly so maybe earl Wade drove the car. I have pictures of Wade in front of a 59 (when he won class at the 62 Winternats) and I corresponded with a friend of his before Wade died regarding a 62 Wade drove but did not find out much. Bourgeois and Wade as I understand built engines and Wade was alleged to be a super tuner and did quite well behind the wheel. Whether they owned the car or prepped it for someone else I simply do not know. I have a pic of a 57 from the West coast about this time but thought it was more stock-can't find it right now.

I have some other pics of Wade I can post later as I want to get to work-Jim

 

that one is wicked cool !

 

That would be a fun build..... who makes a cheap race weight body?

 

You guys are making my head hurt, and raising my jealousy meter to a new high! I need to get on the stick and sell my current rides and find me a first gen vette soon!Growing up in a Corvette family to the point we had to take 2 cars to church because all we had where vettes and a family of
4
Dont fit very well in a 65 396,425 coupe! my earliest car memories are in my old
Mans 57 gasser vette in 72. Man how I wish I could go back in time and kick
Him in the ass when he sold it! Hahaha


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Back on the 57 above;

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--> Not really sure who owned the 57 Vette although clearly it was prepped by Bourgeois/Wade. I suppose it is possible that it was Dick Taylor’s car sometime after 62 and I believe Ernie Porter had a 57 that may have been tuned by Nicholson and Wade and possibly Bourgeois and Wade. Wade was associated with a number of Vettes during this time. At the 62 Winternats (see the stats) there were several cars that Wade had a hand in tuning. There was the Osterman Grassman Nicholson Wade 61 Vette (now owned by Bert Brown, who has posted on the HAMB some time ago), then there was the Nelson CM/SP Vette (he is pictured with the trophy although Bert told me that was just a promotional photo as he tuned it but did not drive it). Earl drove the new Mike Lenke owned black 62 Vette (A/SP) all the way to the street eliminator win. According to Bert who was friends with Earl, he was proud to have beaten KS Pittman’s supercharged C/Gas Willys (caught him napping I guess) on his way to his street eliminator win.

The pic below was the final between Shimzer’s 58 C/G class winner and Wade in Lenke’s car. The Osterman Grassman Nicholson Wade 61 Fuel Injected Vette won class as well and the pic below is Grassman beating Hayden Proffitt in his A/FX tempest (as I understand with a 421). Bert said Proffitt was caught napping as well because street eliminator was heads up at that time.

Note also Dean Lowe’s B/SR was a class winner as well so I am sure he has some memories of this event.

Note Mazmanian’s car at the 62 Winternats did not have the wheelwells cut as of yet. There is a pic of Mazmanian’s car at the 63 Winternats and I believe Wade drove the car on that occasion. Note the 6 tailights on the black 62. Although Bert was told that car may have been owned by someone else, he feels it may have been Lenke’s car in 63.

Man if you only had a way back machine to go back and visit-good times I am sure-Jim


1962 Winternationals




Taylor vs Mazmanian




Proffitt vs Osterman Grassman Nicholson Wade 61 Vette in street eliminator


Earl Wade holding trophy in front of Nelson's CM/SP he tuned


Earl Wade in the final for street eliminator in Lenke's 62



Mazmanians car at the 63 Winternats-now with the new wheelwells

 

Jim,

Thanks for the information about the car, sounds lime it has a neat history, it was really a good looking car and hopefully its still around.

jp

 

Maybe something like this?
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Jim. You never cease to amaze me with your memory of these old Corvette race cars. Great stuff. Funny, looking at the times many of the cars were running back than.... would not be considered very quick by todays standards.

 

Exactly ! Just needs a set of Cragar SS's

 

I have the blower and injection set up for this car, with the Hilborn scoop.

Pat