Fantastic collection Ryan. So glad you were chosen as the caretaker! Some bad *** cars and some great replies identifying many of them. I'm wondering where the car show with the Kopper Kart and Tony Lamesa roadster took place? It looks to be a large permanent tent structure with utility pole supports. My guess is it's the large tents that were at the Pomona fairgrounds before the steel exhibit hall buildings were built?
This is the Daddys Autobody Dragster, built by Burbank high school auto shop kids at Daddys auto body with the first Kent Fuller body ever built. Saw it run many times at San Fernando Drag Strip and the reason that Tommy Ivo fell for Buick powered dragsters and built his "T" with a nailhead. History!
Just to help your memory ,the flamed bike is a Triumph pre unit. I'd be keen to know if you have photos from that era ,as I am writing a book on show bikes from the 50's thru to the end of 67 and any input would be greatly appreciated esp the 50's,cheers RM I should add that the disposable paper plates used as the race number plates on the bikes is a Lion's drag strip thing.
Daddy's Auto Body Hello, In the early days of So Cal drag racing, San Fernando Valley was considered one of the hot beds of hot rods/drag racing. There were plenty of builders and manufacturers for speed shops to buy/sell their hot rod parts. Whether it was for just hot rod cruises or for drag racing, the speed shops turned out some pretty spectacular cars and trucks. The early Tommy Ivo Buick motors were well respected and being hot rodders, the motor got installed in different cars, just to see how it would perform. When the TOMMY IVO GROUP was starting, it was known that the Buick motors, big and powerful with carbs or later on Hilborn Injection would end up in someone’s project. In 1957, Daddy’ Auto Body was such a recipient. The colorful yellow full streamlined FED was pretty advanced for the times. There were only a few race cars that were streamlined. Back when Kenny Safford moved to dragsters from stock car racing. He experienced the thrill of their performance at the wheel of Don Johnson’s streamlined, Daddy’s Auto Body top gas car. That first ride in 1958 hooked Kenny on driving. (from that experience, in 1960 he teamed up with Don Gaide and then Don Ratican to run as the famous Sour Sister’s FED ) Jnaki A multiple carburetor version of the Buick motor was installed in the Daddy’s Auto Body streamlined FED. To keep it distinct, new header pipes were made. When the years followed, another Buick motor was used and the definite Tommy Ivo up swept headers came into play. old Friday Art JAN 5 1958 POMONA Daddy’s Auto Body winning the A/Gas Dragster cl***. Look who won the A Street Roadster Cl***!!! It was a Road Kings outing at Pomona Dragstrip January 5, 1958. 1958 * means cl*** record Here is a great story on Daddy's Auto Body, Buick powered dragster from 1958. They were very successful in So Cal and then ideas started flying around in the San Fernando Valley. Then, up pops version two of Daddy's Auto Body dragster: old Friday Art This time with an Ivo stroker motor (including the famous Tommy Ivo, up swept individual header pipes...) in Daddy’s Auto Body FED, and some new colors... late 1958
Early version of George Cerny’s 1932 Ford Altered Sedan Hello, Well, going over my files from Lion’s Dragstrip and other photos I took back then, I seem to be slightly off key. I kept seeing something in the background, but thought it was just scratches or a bunch of fluff on old photos. So, I had to do some research. The above post said the "55000 Words" photos seem like So Cal somewhere, but not at Lion's Dragstrip as we remember it in most photos. I edited some “50000 Words” photos and in the background seems to be a tall electrical steel structure. In those early days, we used to walk up to the railroad berm to watch the racers at Lion’s Dragstrip zipping by, making a ton of horsepower noise. Then as we got bolder, we trekked across the farmer’s dirt field (off planting season) to get right up to the return road. In doing so, we walked under those high tension electrical wires supported by the tall steel structures. After the trek across the dirt field, we were now standing on the farmer’s field and not on the actual return road. The Lion’s Dragstrip safety patrol could not tell us to get off of their property because we were on the farmer’s property line. We were not scared of the Lion's safety patrol, but scared of the farmer and his salt pellet loaded shot gun. He used to blast the flocks of birds and notorious seagulls. As we heard and saw while sitting on the railroad berm watching from afar. (and also, us if we got too close or he came after us.) Jnaki Tapia Brothers with their small SBC "Almost Grown" FED, coming back to the starting line after a "down the strip push start." The electrical towers in the background that ran from the harbor area all the way towards the LA region past the later built, 405 Freeway. So, it depends on the angle of the photo, whether it is in the pits or staging lanes, during push starting procedures, or even on the return road after a run. The first photo of the Eldon Dye Compe***ion Coupe shows the “Gold Star” Apartments, angled from the Lion’s Dragstrip pits. The next photo is showing the Dragmaster SBC FED with the background of the steel towers, in another electrical powerline field, similar to Lions. I take back the post on whether it was Lion’s Dragstrip location for some of the photos. Most of the published photos show the white apartments as the angle of the camera shows in the background. But very few of the published photos shows those tall towers. (some in San Gabriel, too. )Yes, there are some great 1958 Lion’s Dragstrip photos that shows an early drag racing scene from So Cal in the 55,000 Words packet. 1958-59 season Lion’s Dragstrip As far as the 1932 Ford Altered Sedan is concerned, here is a later version of the same George Cerny Sedan at Lion’s Dragstrip. George Cerny Altered Sedan
You know your drag racing history Junji! Thanks, good stuff. Interior by Tony Nancy . . . Downtown Coolsville.
I had forgotton your handle here @alanp561 there's been a few midnights since your post, has the name dropped into your head?? & inturn help out @Ryan & @RM-Special out in their endevours!
Hello, The information for a book is interesting as to the inclusion dates. Why are you stopping at 1967? It seemed to me that a lot of old bikes were not the typical show bikes that we all came to like at one time or another. Most of what everyone thought of street bikes came from the one percenters and that is from 50s to the late 60s. Actual show bikes in the 50s were rare and into the early 60s, began to show up at car shows as a floor or corner section for themselves. The drag bikes at the local dragstrips were cut down street bikes and could be used on the street. Not all motorcycles were like the big Harleys. The low slung Triumph TT style bikes were for the high performance crowd vs the radical custom springer fork guys/girls. Some of the drag bikes were single modified Harley motors and some dual Harleys/Triumph motors. Jnaki The mid 50s drag bikes were fast enough to compete with the other dragsters and roadsters for the top eliminator trophy at most local dragstrips. But, the writing was on the wall, just like the disappearance of hot rods for the legal street cl***es, the bikes were a novelty. Jack Chrisman vs a drag bike at :04 sec
Only name that comes to mind is Speedy, skinny older Chicano dude from East L.A. Pretty sure he was a Coffin Cheater. Biggest reason I remember the bike is a run we made down to Ensenada. I had to listen to those pipes right in front of me all the way down and back. M*** quan***ies of cerveza to make the headache go away [emoji6]
The Daddys Autobody dragster, built by kids from Burbank High School at Daddys auto body, Kent Fullers first body, inspiration that got Tommy Ivo into nailheads, and driven by Don Perdome. Very big piece of drag racing history. It ran at San Fernando Drag Strip on a regular basis. It was yellow and black.
Gotta love this incredible machine, thanks for posting these excellent shots. If I were to invest money in a new project, this would be the direction I would go!
Hello, This is such a beautiful dragster that it is too bad that no matter what photo programs are used, those blips cannot be removed. old Friday Art But we captured the color action at Lion’s Dragstrip in 1960. Manuel Gonzalez Here is the same FED race car called “The Californian” by Manuel Gonzalez. Jnaki Manuel Gonzalez “The Californian” SBC FED in front of the Phineas Banning Residence Museum (built in 1854) Wilmington, CA on PCH. We got a certificate for walking 5 miles with certified results for a leading up to a Boy Scout, continuous walking merit badge. Since the museum is just 3+ miles away from our house in the Westside of Long Beach, it was 5 + 1 for the resulting walking trip. The scariest thing was not the amount of diesel trucks rolling by at their normal obnoxious speeds, crossing two major intersections, two bridges, or an elevated roadway, but having to walk by the “alphabet streets,” once we got into the residential areas surrounding the huge park and Banning Museum. YRMV
Sam Parriot Cad powered, Kurtis Sports Car Sam Parriot sports car at Lion's Dragstrip vs a modified Corvette Hello, Much has been written about Sam Parriot and his fast Kurtis Sportscar. He usually took home the trophies at the end of the day. We saw and filmed his Kurtis Sportscar at Lion’s Dragstrip in 1959-60. @Dean Lowe and his trusty camera took this cl***ic photo in 1959. Great shot... It was quite a build, all top notch stuff, including that bright Tahitian Red Color. It also went fast. In the film, he is behind at the start, but comes from behind to win against the Corvette, easily. Jnaki Starting to pull ahead... Whatever the background, good or bad from the City of Industry, that is just a part of history of drag racing in the 1959-60 time line. Not too many people knew about the history, except for the fact that the Kurtis Sports car won almost every time he raced. 1959
TOMMY IVO TWIN Hello, The whole Tommy Ivo history is fascinating. We were able to follow his exploits at Lion’s Dragstrip almost weekly starting in late 1957. When he arrived at Lion’s Dragstrip pits, it was a show in its self. Every dragster was pristine, the workers had matching club t-shirts or red jackets. At the time, there were no drivers protective fire suits, so the red car coat material club jacket (Road Kings) was the driving suit. From the time of the first, Red, single engine injected Buick motor FED to the series of changes to it over the next year or so, they were all record setting FED race cars. at :48 But, when we saw the dual injected Buick engines in a similar ch***is firing up and approaching the starting line, it seemed like the whole world was watching. I was able to sneak over to my friend, Mr. Childers' ambulance location for some early filming of the historic runs. That is until I was yelled at by the security guard, despite Mr. Childers nice words about me being there. Early Tommy Ivo Twin at Lion’s Dragstrip. Then as he was getting used to driving the twin injected Buicks in compe***ion, the unheard of record was broken in drag racing circles. February 7th 1960 TOMMY IVO TWIN ACTUAL SOUNDS 1960 Thanks, Mr.Nailhead… Jnaki The final twin Buick adventure for us was to watch the races at the 2nd annual Bakersfield Smokers March Meet in 1960. Two brothers at Bakersfield March Meet 1960 A wheelie to start, but pure power kept in won the race. 1960 A wheelie during eliminations usually means a loss. But sometimes, pure power and quickness overcomes an anxious foot stomp. The results were good this time… Tommy Ivo Twin VS. Adriance Appliance. 1960
Hello, With a ***le like in the adverti*****t, what is next in the line of race cars for this team? Every weekend we would read about the Ted Cyr and Bill Hopper team using the famed ch***is research frame and components winning some ***le of sorts. Top eliminator was the most seen in ***les from So Cal to the northwest and even out of the comfort of So Cal dragstrips. To meet new challenges, the ch***is research FED went just about everywhere to race against all comers in their cl***. 1959 Riverside Raceway Pits Then, several months later: Jnaki Then the popularity and great design had additional followers with big time drag racing history behind the team that set up a purple colored Dragmaster frame. APRIL 1960 One big surprise was that the team of Cyr and Hopper went from a big Hemi powered FED that won almost everything possible in drag racing, to a Dragmaster ch***is with a Potvin supercharged SBC motor. Then, it was, Cyr and Hopper, Dragmaster, World’s Fastest Chevy powered FED. (DRAG NEWS 1959-60) The new challenge was a Potvin styled 671 in front of an SBC motor, in a lighter, Dragmaster frame. Instantly, it became known as the “Worlds Fastest Chevy.” at :30 in the above film...
The Jalopy Journal
