Hemi is that "very early photo 62" taken at York dragway? I think I saw that early version there and also at Cecil County in 64ish during the Div. 1 points meets. Pat
@elgringo71 This slightly used ’37-’38 Willys Coupe was the post entry at Bonneville in 1955 of Doug Hartelt, Glenn Minder and C. J. Hart, so we have no real info about the powerplant under the hood but suspect it was a Hartelt Chrysler. The Class E Coupe and Sedan record was set in ’54 by Bruce Crower at 151.95 mph, so the Santa Ana Boys were quite happy when they finished first in class with a speed of 156.52 mph. They were even happier when they proceeded to up the class record to 156.656 mph. Today we’d call the tape job streamlining but at the time it was A-OK. The car also ran at Hart's Santa Ana Drag Strip in the 120 mph range.
@Speed Gems, that’s great information on that one. Here is a little more about it from earlier in the thread
Nope, they are Firestone racing ribs originally for sprint cars. Most gassers and street roadsters ran them until Pirelli 145x15 radials came out.
In front of K S' house in La Puente. My friend and I used to ride our bikes down there and peer into his garage trying to see what he was doing. A long, long time ago..........................
Hello, From a couple of old posts from a long time ago, shows the Pittman-Edwards Willys at one stage in 1958-59. John Edwards Lions pits ( :12 Some kid in a black 58 Impala as the red Pittman-Edwards Willys makes a power run.) The Pittman-Edwards Willys Coupe was the inspiration for our 1940 Willys Coupe build, despite the fact that we would have to race against them at one time or another in B/Gas. They improved, got more power and moved to the A/Gas class. We rebuilt our motor, added a 671 and more weight to go to the C/Gas class. Jnaki Those were the early days... https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/earliest-willys-racecars.1024775/page-22#post-12342025
Hey EG, Thanks for the heads up. The video is close to me as it was the Grist Brothers and little Eddy that were on the return road at Lions in August 1960. They saw the lead my brother had on the class champion and then the explosion with the resulting fire. I cannot remember, but as Atts Ono and I were at the burning Willys, there were several racers with their extinguishers and a spectator or two also spraying. It probably was the Grist Brothers helping out. We all, emptied a lot of big canisters. Then I was told to go back to the finish line where the white Pontiac Ambulance was parked. As I got there, they were loading my brother into the ambulance and were off to the local hospital. The hardest thing was to tell my parents about the accident and that my brother was in the hospital. Jnaki Many years later, in talking with Eddy Grist, who was 9 at the time, he saw every thing and was the closest family to the actual accident. It was chilling reading how he described what he saw. The one thing I noticed in the film were the fences up at Lions on both the return road and the spectator side. Back in 1960, access to the drag strip was open on the return road and there was a small chain link fence separating the spectators and the racers. most of the film That fence kept our 40 Willys "locked in place," until it burned itself out, after everyone left the now closed dragstrip. Atts Ono stayed until the security people made sure the fire was out and everything was locked down. The Grist Brothers were pretty famous for their exploits and was a hard charging A/Gas Class Coupe. Also, it had one of the sponsored C&O Stick Hydros and a Reath Automotive designations. Those were keys to making that coupe fast, along with the whole family participating in the Willys build and racing. Thanks for the film clip. It was great seeing the family adventures from that time period at Lions and elsewhere in So Cal. There are very few films left of that time period in So Cal. It is good that the few left are still around. Maybe there are others still packed away in boxes of old attics somewhere. If there are old movies from that 1958-61 era from Lions, I would be willing to get them digitized, only if they can prove it is actually Lions Dragstrip and that 1958-61 era. So if anyone does not have an old projector to show the films, pull out the film to a point where Lions is identified and there are some racers. Put the image on a pure white background with your camera's spot light or high beam flashlight. The color image will show up on the white background and now, take a photo. The image will be able to enlarge on your camera to identify Lions and the racers. I have done this to identify another old film reel I found in the attic to see what was on the whole reel. It works and then we can decide if it is damaged or clear enough for digitizing the whole reel (s). Thank you in advance.
Hello, While doing some research for a drag racing story, something caught my eye. the information came up with some interesting facts from the real world of 1960 drag racing on the West Coast. When we all think of a 1940 or 41 Willys Coupe, the brain jumps to the street legal, Gas Coupe and Sedan Class. Over the years of filming at Lions Dragstrip, we saw only two Willys Coupes in the Altered Class. We found out that any small modification to a street legal coupe that made it not fall under the list of rules for the class was moved to the Altered Class. Didn’t bring a front bumper? Working headlights or taillights? A license? Simple things made any hot rod, fall into an Altered Class to compete with full on race cars with 25% motor set backs and individual headers. If any street legal requirements were missing or altered, then competition against other fully modified cars was going to be the route. Lions Aug 13 Pomona Aug 14 Al Hirshfield/Howard Cam group had many fast street legal coupes and sedans in the Gas Coupe and Sedan Class. But, in looking at an old Drag News paper, it shows that they also had a Willys Coupe with the designated B/A insignia on the side of the doors. Sometimes it just works out that the car was fast and set records. This was one of those cars. Jnaki In further research, the Willys did not last long or was relegated to garage storage as other forms of racing took over. The Hirshfield/Howard Cam Willys Coupe was a record setter in the B/Altered class. The motor set up would be nice in a Gas Coupe and Sedan Class, too. Where is it now? Still in So Cal? Extra: There was always a question as to the competitor on our final 1940 Willys C/Gas elimination run. After an extensive search, my memory of a racer named Tom Sturm was in the next lane as the reigning class champion in C/Gas, against my brother in our 40 Willys Coupe. My brother’s pre-race prep was to get out in front and hold the competitor off into the traps. He knew he had to have a great start. And, a great start helped him out to a 1.5 to 2 car lead by the time they passed the orange timing tower. After all of these years later, thinking about whether Tom Sturm was in that lane, out pops this result from the fateful day. They gave him the B/Gas trophy despite losing to my brother before our Willys blew up. But, we had more important things to worry about at the time. Lions Dragstrip August 13 1960 The B/Gas listing was given to Sturm despite the fact that we crossed the finish line first, while on fire. It was the C/Gas class, not the B/gas. Our time was 12.60 theirs was 13.26. So who won that race? Politics goes a long way.
That is the first time that I have seen the Hirshfield Coupe that ran in the altered class. Here is another coupe that they ran. It’s very strange that they gave the win to the other car if your Coupe crossed the finish line first unless they disqualified you for some reason.
Looks like the one in the willys thread that was lettered Stone Woods Cook and Finders that I posted a couple days ago. Is it the same one maybe? https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...s-picture-thread.537794/page-94#post-13613334 post 2799
These were posted elsewhere by John Morehead who knew knew the guys that built the car and raced it. Above he is racing against Johnny Loper from Phoenix driving his Coupe Ole Hoss
@elgringo71 Not to get O/T but I think this is the engine your talking about. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/402-cubic-inches-from-a-283.1004739/
@Speed Gems, I believe that you are correct. In the Willys article it says it was done in Michigan and the magazine article that you referenced is also in Michigan
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