History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

Can't go thru 1700 pages to see if this one's posted.

One of my favorites, don't know the name. Blown fuel DeSoto(?) and maybe a three-wheeler (maybe five-wheeler). Gee it's been a long time. This taken at Fontana. Note the caster wheels. No clutch. Put it up on the casters and push start it. Turn it around. Drop it on the ground!

 

This may be better . . .

 

Jack Doyle's Fiat with a blown Chrysler

 

From Eugene Oregon, I watched the Springer and Price car run many times around the PNW in the 70's.

 

Notice the B/alt class callout.
That's not a blower under that Enderle hat; this car was the first one I saw to ever use a tunnel ram intake with an injector on it.

 

Grant Springer (engine builder) and Barry Price (driver) moved up to an Injected Nitro, Vega Funny Car with the same induction system. the duo was very competitive in the Northwest.

 

Hello,

The most unusual coupe from Eldon Dye went through some transformation in the succeeding early years from 59-60. We caught him at three different tracks in So Cal. His (brown or maroon) bantam bodied coupe with the Cad motor at 59 Lions, then repainted a dark blue with a racing stripe and the 671/ Hemi with what looked like one of Howard Cam’s Chain Drives at 60 Riverside and Bakersfield. It was always a hard driving, fast race car. But it was most unusual as it was mentioned (296ardun) that the Bantam Body was a pickup cab made into a coupe. Great looking car and it was fast.
Jnaki

 

Eldon Dye vs Albertson Olds 1960 Bakersfield Smokers meet.

 

Very cool picture, have not seen this one before. The Cook Brothers, and Hedges sidewinder was one of the most innovative dragsters at that time ('62), with Jeff Jahns (of the Jahns Quality Piston family) driving. It ran a sideways-mounted 295" stroked Dodge, no clutch, no flywheel, just a chain running live to the rear axle. As your post noted, it had a hydraulic jack that, when released, dropped the spinning tires to the ground and off it went. It actually exceeded 180, getting close to 190. I watched it run several times at San Gabriel, and what was surprising about it is that it went straight every time despite having a wide rear wheelbase. But it did not pass muster with Jim Tice and Steve Gibbs, who first insisted that it get a body, and then later banned it altogether. The team later built a more conventional sidewinder with the same engine, but it was not successful. Here are a couple of pictures of it, from Don Ewald's site:




This shot with the body.

 

and, relative to the above post, here is a shot of the car that Stan Back posted, in action at Lions, reconfigured with four wheels, but same cage and engine/running gear setup

 

Good shot with the hat open.

 

Delete if need be - the Joe Magin restoration of the Paul Stage car.