Hot Rods Help ID: Vintage Old dragster thingy!!

Headed to pick this up tomorrow and wondered if anyone around the Oklahoma area has seen it run or remembers it?

Looks to be 303 Olds, with a manual trans and a late 50s Olds rearend.

 

look's like a "home made" dune buggy....

 

I was thinking this too! I saw a similar contraption at a police auction a few years ago that was made from a mid 60's car and used on the sand dunes.


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Duner

 

That is a Rat Rod's Rat Rod..

 

Side rails look kinda '34 Ford-ish.

 

How you gonna get traction in sand with those tires?? I'm thinkin' early drifter!!

 

Dune buggy for someone with a DEATH WISH- I'd hate to land after a good launch with that front end setup !!!

 

lot car

 

I does resemble a dune buggy.....but is that a draw bar across the back, maybe for pulling a spraying trailer on a farm? Those do look like agricultural high floatation tires and the transmission looks like maybe a 1 1/2 ton 4-speed truck setup. What kind of farm land is in your area?

 

No that's a grader blade on the back... and I think those are push bars on either end.

We've got all kinds of farm land... soybean, corn, turnips... etc.

 

Field buggy.

 

I wonder how you steer it ? Dont see a rudder

 

Throttle appears to be of Farmall linage. I'm thinkin' this one may have been abandoned before completion. Probably a good thing.

 

bolt on another set of rims, tabs already installed on rears

 

Not to mention that cardboard scattershield. Hell the more I look at it, the more I like it...in some kind of twisted way.

 

Very early Olds 303 with that 1st series valve cover, and the Olds rear is 49-50 with Olds trailing arms.

(I'm not sure what year 4 bbl carb it has.)

HotRod magazine did a tech on how to use that rear setup in old Fords back around 1960. There are a few old time survivor rods on hamb that have that rear & arms.

Olds standard shift parts like flywheel and Ford flathead trans "plate adapter", are popular,too.

I'd agree with it being built to drive on sand. Someone did a thread on these rail jobs in the last year or so, and these desert rails did get magazine coverage back then.

 

Kinda makes sense... there's a river close by with a lot of sand around to go ridin' on!!!

 

here's one I had couple years ago, 322 nailhead motor

 

Wow CJ!! Looks like it needs wheelie bars!!!

 

I haven't been able to think of who did the desert rail thread. I almost think it might have been a blog like Ryan does? It showed cool old pics of these rails out in the desert, maybe mid 50s or earlier?

like it or not, they are a piece of hot rod history worth saving IMO

 

believe it or not with me and my nephew in it, (220lbs each) climbing a pretty steep hill, it was only dangling the front wheels about a foot off the ground.

 

Yea post it up if you find it! I'm interested.

 

My neighbor has something similar he kinda uses as a tractor... Weve always called them boogers...

 

That's a 3 speed Jeep trans, T150 type. (same front pattern as a Ford dual-pattern, '60s thru '70s)
Pull that tower off and the gears are 1-1/4" wide...

 

No dunes in OK. but the red river is almost dry most of the summer and not very deep.
Don Ross

 

The builder had skills, that's for sure. Love the front radius rods !

I like it and would save all the good driveline pieces, front axle, etc and scrap the rest, but it is cool in a weird sort of way.

Don

 

Exactly what I was thinking!!!


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Congrats on scoring an Olds Rocket, manual trans set-up and a front leaf spring. It's nice that the previous owner threw in the engine stand it was bolted to. Even nicer that the engine stand is of such stout construction so when you scrap it, it'll pay for a good chunk of your gas to pick up your engine! Bonus points for having a copper radiator.

-Brad

 

I got it home and it cranked over with a battery!! couldn't believe it! Now to get it fired up and running!!!!