For me it's all about the SOUND MAN. High winding engines with OPEN EXHAUST launching and going through the gears is visceral you can feel it in your bones. The pc muffler cars of today just don't do it for me and heaven forbid a whiny electric car even the new dragsters that go nice and fast with little or no sound just don't have the same appeal.
That strip is about 30 miles from my house and I was probably there that day. I used to run my 69 SS Chevelle there some when I had it.
I think a lot of us miss the old M/P days. When the gas classes were thinning out a bit in the late 60s the modified production guys certainly helped bring up the slack. I remember a good number of Corvettes and Camaros and other makes of course that ran really well with pulling the wheels and running good times. When they had modified eliminator like the video above I was hooked on that as well. Due to marriage and work and school I had to cut back on my times at the local tracks but had a buddy that ran modified and had him let me know when they had good meets coming up. Some of the best racing ever. Jim (vetrod) is pretty serious on running his cars. We met online sometime ago as we both had black and candy red 62s but his cars really run the numbers as compared to mine. Jim and I finally met up this week when I picked up some Pontiac rear end stuff. His black 62 looks the part for sure (and of course acts the part) and he also has his buddies black 61 that he is working on and will according to him run better numbers than his 62. Really a good guy and good to see that there are other like minded people that are keeping the early Vette drag racing flame alive. I could listen to the great sound of that Brainerd video over and over again (and truth be told have watched Jim's video as well when I need a fix). Brings back great memories.
[QUOTE=" Jim (vetrod) is pretty serious on running his cars. We met online sometime ago as we both had black and candy red 62s but his cars really run the numbers as compared to mine. Jim and I finally met up this week when I picked up some Pontiac rear end stuff. His black 62 looks the part for sure (and of course acts the part) and he also has his buddies black 61 that he is working on and will according to him run better numbers than his 62. Really a good guy and good to see that there are other like minded people that are keeping the early Vette drag racing flame alive. I could listen to the great sound of that Brainerd video over and over again (and truth be told have watched Jim's video as well when I need a fix). Brings back great memories.[/QUOTE] Yes, I finally meet Jim Dillon for the first time after many years on the forums. Wow, what a wonderful, Smart, Tall, Smart, Handsome, Great wife, Know everything about Early Corvettes, Super Guy!!! Ok, enough BS, He is Super Cool and if he relocates to SWF, I hope he can move in next door. Yes, the wife, Cindy is a winner, we should all be that Lucky. Truth be told II, I also watch those videos during the hard winter months to get the "Juices" going. Jim
Awesome stuff Jim! I was there that day (not racing) as a good friend of mine and longtime IHRA stalwart Billy Black had the yellow Corvette Coupe in the far lane (about the third or fourth set in the video). He always ran a 287" SBC & the Coupe weighed around 3150 if I remember correctly & ran 6.50's 1/8 mile! Not too shabby for a 283 Chevy! I used to go over to his shop & I'd always reach in & push the tell-tale button on the tach & it always came up in the 12k range!!! Awesome days & thank you for sharing the video...
You are quite welcome !! I love this stuff. Your guy ran 3rd round and killed the other guy. When I ran at Englishtown way back then, Like today, you had long waits in line to race again. If you were in a Gas class, you could just drive up the return road in front of the stands and race right away. I guess the track knew what the fans wanted to see. LOL noboD, and no MSD boxes or Mags for most of us. Just a Mallory 4 lobe. Still running mine, circa 1966.
Some good pics Jason (and others). Thought I would throw this pic up. Although the car in the main frame is Jack Ditmar's Lil Screamer 34 B/A a great car by the way that won more than its share for sure. But in the background is the Midwest 62 Vette that ran C/MSP with a 336 SBC. This picture I assume is 1967 as Lil Screamer had Goodyears and no more MSP after 67. I never remember the car running in the gas class which is the class it would have run past 67. Talked to the original owner on this car and also talked to Al Maynard (who drove the car) before he passed. Wish I could stumble on this car.
Jim, Haven't been on this thread for quite some time! I haven't been around, so it is amazing to see that it is still going! The photo that was posted by Brut4 was taken at our local Cars & Coffee here in Danville, CA earlier this year. Regarding the ad in Hemmings, yes I did have the car for sale simply to make room in the garage. I have a project going on and would really like some space. I passed up a nice offer last summer, so the car continues to get out from time to time, hence the trip to Cars & Coffee. Unfortunately, the car never gets to the strip, the driveline is original so I don't want to hurt things. Good to see the group is keeping this thread ALIVE!
Bert good to hear you still have the car but even if you sell it, the good thing is some of the drag racing history of the early Corvettes will be preserved in a state that resembles how it ran. I can appreciate that you do not want to hurt things as you put it; your car is pretty valuable and is in excellent shape. I have put a few cracks in my avatar car and don't want to hurt my other 62 as well. They can be a lot of fun to run through the gears for sure but there seems to be a little voice that tells us that they just may break if we push them a bit too far. Once you get them real nice the little voice seems to have more say. Right now I am trying to put together a car (from a pile of parts I have gathered over the years and am still gathering here and there-an old rusted frame I saved and some old various body parts that will be put back together etc) that I can drag race on occasion with the thought going in that if I do a little damage then that is just a part of the cost of having fun, I suppose. There are some guys that are still adding to this thread and keeping it alive. Glad to see them keep coming up with pictures as these old Vettes never seem to bore me.
Bert good to hear that you still have it. That's got to be one of a few with known early drag race history that is still the way that it was. Very cool car and it carries the torch for many that have come and gone
Finally posting some progress pics of the New ScottRods Vette Gasser, Been tied up with the Downs Performance buyout and moving all there stuff back to Ohio, Were ready for tin ,then finish up the door bars and X-Bracing and we'll be ready to mount the new flaked body.
The nose emblem is showing up as a 61 on this picture and 3 spears in the cove, I'm going to check my rear wheel wells and see how far up they were cut. Mine is a 62 and I don't know what the chances are that there were 2 orange corvettes with white convertible tops back then.
The late, great Ernie Dutre! This car with Ernie driving won the 1965 Winternationals Street Eliminator...327 4-speed! When it was white...
This car inspired me! I didn't think there was anyone more cool or a street car more badass in its day.
The Jalopy Journal
