Gassers with the 4x4 stance...

Being old enough to have been there, the idea then was "the higher the center of gravity, the quicker the weight transfer" can't say if it was true or not but we thought so at the time.

 

http://www.gassermadness.com/

 

I love that car.

 

Just noticed it is a narrow "C" piller Caliente model, not many of them around.
how about this one set up for the East African Rallye

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.atspeedimages.com/csrg_2005/1964_mercury_comet_caliente/1964_mercury_comet_caliente_rear.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.atspeedimages.com/csrg_2005/1964_mercury_comet_caliente/&h=1536&w=2048&sz=716&tbnid=hSw6DO3UQvUJ:&tbnh=112&tbnw=150&hl=en&start=2&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcomet%2Bcaliente%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN

 

some sky jackers in competition,,

 

One thing few have considered about this whole Hi-Rise, and radiused wheel-well 'gasser' thing is how expensive and difficult it was to get a rear axle narrowed back in the '60s, if there wasn't room to fit in a big set of slicks, the only practical ways to fit them was to jack 'er up, or to cut out the offending sheet metal. Nowadays you can just place a order with Currie, et-al. and voilà! you get a nice narrowed race ready rear delivered to your doorstep.
When I put together my '61 Tempest in 1966, I used a complete leaf spring equipped '57 Pontiac rear axle to replace the original trans-axle junk, no decent sized tires would fit within the tiny stock wheel openings, and the '57 springs sat 'er up high enough that there was no need to cut the sheet-metal to clear the wrinkle-wall slicks, and the wider track was also an asset to handling.
I was running a hot 389 in a 2800 lb. car, but with the nearest strip over 100 miles of two lane roads away, I never did get it down there for a run.
Now I suppose that some here would call my old Tempest a "poser" because I built it for the street, but they done got shit-fer-brains if they think it wasn't fast. Latter had a '63 LeMans, basically the same story.
Also have put together a couple of early Falcons with 9" rears, both got the radiused wheel-well treatment, because to me nothing looks stupider than trying to fit big tires under or within stock early Falcon rear quarters - always looked like Ford had designed them to be radiused.

 

I was talking with a friend about these gasser-inspired cars and he sent me this one as a comparison. He says it runs on gas, but I think it looks too low to be a traditional gasser...

 

That Corvair is insane. I want one just like it. I claim "Nader's Nightmare" for my side lettering!

One question, though: Would this setup, back then, have been a street-only deal? How would a formerly rear-engined car have flown in the gas classes with all the rules regarding engine setback, etc?

 

The corvair was a street driven car around 1969 with no race history that I could find. I would assume it would have been an altered and probably would have been severely outclassed as such.

 

Another possibility is that is might have been built as a match racer...anything went in that realm, and there were several early funny cars made out of Corvairs.

Either way, it's awesome lookin'...

Here's a few...

 

Here's a pic I found today, a prime example of a super high street machine. Stinkbug stance, Montana wide tires, no hood....

 

taken in San Antonio Texas circa early to mid 80s.....

 

So how fast does have to go before it's not a poser? Is there a cut off?

I just got done narrowing my front axle('66 Econoline) for my '63 Falcon. And I've already opened up the rear wheelwells 'cause they do look goofy! If it goes 10's when I'm done am I still a poser? Or do have to run 9's or 8's or 7's?

I just call them 'gasser-style'. People get the idea.

AND I LOVE STREET FREAKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

AND I LOVE STREET FREAKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/QUOTE]


I just got done watching Corvette Summer on the Speed Channel. I love the 70's cars and vans. They are nuts.

 

ok so I was in the local grocery store looking at the hot rod mags, and i see this "rides" , magazine and it has this article on "Da Dirty South" and "High Riders"
(sound familiar?) what they are is 80's sedans that are jacked up as high as they can be, with like 25 0r 30 inch rims under them, not skated out or anything but the car is riding level on the damn things, looked like a roller skate.. crazy paint jobs, and lowrider style interiors, crazy thing was that I couldnt figure out how they ran the driveshaft... it didnt drop down (like on a lifted truck) to the rear....just open space between the tires, also no front on shots so you could see how the front was done...
Wonder where they got the idea to put their cars in the air like that...
anyone else witness this disturbing trend?
definatly not gassers or street freaks, or gasser style....

 

There were several around Kalamazoo when I lived there. I heard 'em called "b-donk-a-donks" or something to that effect. Mostly they were boxy '80s Caprices with just a sprinkling of same-type Bonnevilles. I never noticed how they were jacked up, but I assumed it was 4WD style.

Me, I want one of those cars (Caprice/Bonnie, not a b-donk-a-donk), but with black steel wheels and a nose-down rake and a 396/4-speed combo, ala my "Cool Winter Beaters" thread. Alas, all I can find are similar-era Ford Crown Vics.

 

Dig! I didn't set out to hurt anyone's feelings with my comment about posers. The nose high stance was abandoned in racing because it DIDN'T WORK. I haven't seen any info to disprove the return to sane suspension in racers.

IMO, a car that is built to look fast that isn't fast is posing as a fast car. A car that is posing is a poser. Simple, no?

FWIW, we are all posing with our modified cars. Early customs were posing as luxury cars, street rods are posing as hot rods and so on.

But form follows function. If your form follows a poor function, it's OK with me. IMO, the car that puts the power to the ground best is following the superior functional idea.

In sumation: If you're posing, be proud of it. Be the best poser you can be. When others like what you've built, you're doing a bang up job of posing.

If you meet a simular car on the back street or race track and it has about the same engine, trans and gearing as your raised up car and you beat it to the finish, you ain't just posing. If your car yaws all over and uselessly spins the tires while the other car hooks up and leaves you in the dust, you didn't build a hot rod, you built a sheep in wolf's clothing.

chili

 

time has prven that if you want to go really fast you do the strut front and narrow the rear and use the 4 link coil overs etc, but I been there done that and went fast, but you guys didnt notice cause you all hate new shit. I like the way my 55 gasser hooks up 1.58 60 ft and 11.90's poser ,? maybe but it aint a pro street or modern race car it is old style and YOU and I like ..............

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that is
VERY cool

 

I don't think that holds around here. But that's also DEFINITELY okay with me.

It's like my tagline says...

 

Oh yea...I love it. very gassery. You can come and play with us anytime.

 

.......your 55 has a similar story to mine , it was street raced from 62 - 68 in the seattle area then stored until about 2000 . i am leaving the stock front suspension for now ,i like the early 60's d/g look.mine has about the same style rear radius. steve

 

AND THEN THERE WAS THIS!!! WHAT THE FUCK

 

ttt