There was a '29 roadster at TROG WEST in Oct. that closely resembles the '29 in the above picture, down to the exhaust pipes, sunken license plate, and a great sounding flathead.
I was fixing to contact you about this thread since it involved the Pasadena Roadster Club. I am expecting to see Grandpaw's roadster as I delve deeper into the thread.
Not only did W W II vets make rodding SO popular for the future, they made up the greatest generation to ever live. My Dad, a veteran, was one of them.
So cool, thanks! Well these 3 coupes really do show just how blurry the lines can get between customs and hot rods. Where do I save these photos, in my Customs folder or my Hotrod folder? Might forget which folder I put them in (hotrod). Will say it again, Don, you keep hitting the HAMB bullseye, this is solid gold!
It's taken me a few days to get to this point in the thread. I'll add my thanks to the list. These are terrific, particularly with the excellent captions.
The Pomona Drags were started with the local club - Pomona Choppers - working with the Police department. They were able to start operating drag races in 1951 at small strip in the Fontana area up around Baseline Ave. The goal was to get a strip paved on the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds parking area. With lots of help from the local officials the Pomona Drags were in operation in 1952, running every Sunday except during the County Fair. This first photo shows a look down the strip. Note where the spectators are and the Pump House on the left near the finish line. The large relatively clean parking lot made the Pomona strip the "neatest" place to drag race in the area. These phots are from 1953
Here is another photo from the Pomona Drags in 1953. This shot was taken from the right side of the strip, looking toward the east. In the background the large pit area can be seen. The modified coupes seen here are getting lined up for a race. Note the lack of spectator stands; they would come later. The races were flag-started then.
One more - Because of their light weight motorcycles were compe***ive with hot rods back in the early drag racing days. Pomona ran several cl***es for the Bikes. Initially it was typical for a fast bike to run off with the top car for Top Eliminator. Here are a couple of bikes accelerating off the line. Note all the spectators around the starting area. You are looking about north-west towards the mountains which are hidden in the haze. The building on the left is across the street and is still there today. However, today this view will be of the huge NHRA starting line structure. Also note that Elapsed Time clocks were not in use then. It was a "simpler" time back then, but fun. Don
Don, Was it Chet Herbert or Howard Johansen that had the fast bike, that was always compe***ion for the cars ?
Don, as others have rightly said.....many thanks for posting these pics and being able to collate and do your books........thanks and regards, Andy Douglas
My opinion is that since drag racing started with most of the compe***ors racing their street driven cars, hub cap were considered acceptable. However after some instances of hubcaps flying off rules were made to eliminate all except screwed on caps. It was a safety thing. I believe the rules against normal hub caps came in around 1954 for real drag cars. Perhaps stock cars could always run them at the Drags, but not at the Lakes. Don
Chet Herbert built a modified Harley (said to be 80") called the "Beast". At Santa Ana in 1950 the bike hit 121.92 mph which was a little faster than the fastest car record of 120.38 mph. It was really interesting watching Chet adjusting the engine on the starting line, from his wheelchair. He was running floatless carburetors and fuel seemed to be running all over the place. Chet Herbert was a talented guy. Don
Here is a nice color photo of a typical '29 roadster hot rod from 1947. I had used a picture of this roadster in a book before, but here is a color shot. This photo was loaned by Bob Morton (Road Runners). The roadster shown here is an excellent example of the basic 1929 roadster with the flathead V-8 engine. It was an easy transplant. The roadster still had the stock '29 frame. Note that the cowl gas cap setup had been filled and the front frame cross bar had been chromed. Motorcycle tires were mounted on the front rims. The license plate was mounted directly on the grill.The "stance" was normal for that period. The roadster was owned by John Kelly of the Glendale Stokers club. It was powered by a 1946 Mercury flathead with Edelbrock heads and manifold and a Winfield cam (lots of Glendale guys used Winfield cams as he was local to them). In regards to the running of hubcaps you can see that they were acceptable at the lakes in 1947. This photo appears to be from the October 19, 1947 SCTA meet. In 1947 this would be a great street- hot rod. Roadster no. 277 (background) was Kenny Yenawine of the Southern California Roadster Club. Don
I have enjoyed that lots of guys have been interested in the early hot rods and many of you are very knowledgeable. As I have been doing this history stuff I have also learned from some of the information added here. So now, just like in school, here is YOUR TEST. What is the engine in this '32 roadster. This was taken at the 1947 SCTA meet and loaned by Bob Morton. There is no cash reward for the correct answer. Don
I don't know but its looks a mix between Calori and Khougaz's cars and things look pretty full in the engine bay and it must have sounded great... Thats my losing with an explanation...
@Rockerhead that is one orphan of a cool Hotrod. There is as much info on that car as there is pics...zilcho. I found this based on @Jimmy B's ***ertion but I believe it to be @KKrod's V-16 guess. It may be neither...Only you know...looking forward to being enlightened. Whatever the outcome of this one thing is for sure...anyone who searched for this would love to take this Hotrod for a buzz down the flat and dusty... Posted by @HEMI32 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/hot-rod-heaven-circa-1948.426205/#post-4660147
Stan Jones Cad-16 was a shortened A roadster with a super long engine bay. If the Blue '32 has a v16 a good portion of the engine would be under the cowl, a possibility. That water pump drive, did both v16 & v12 have it?
Jimmy my knowledge in these engines is minimal. I know that car is different but the engine shared some similarity to that 32. I think the V-12 which is huge also is more likely it. I looked at dozens of V-12s and V-16s (including other big names at the time)looking especially for the modded exhaust maniflolds on that Deuce...no luck. One thing the pic I posted and the deuce share is that thing that looks like a sump pump at he lower part running fwd/aft. The nose is pretty forward on that 32. It was real full of engine whatever it is. Teacher @Rockerhead really tossed a curve ball here. Looking forward to his chiming in...
DND, This T looks just like a T Don Bell of Sun Valley Ca had in the 70's, he took me for a ride to Magic Mountain and with a nash gearbox in the drive shaft and a ruxtal rearend we were going 90 mph on the freeway quite a T.
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