Back in the summer of 69, here in Wichita, a bunch of us had rear window decals of Black and Gold, a club we called the Wichita Streetracers. We were a bunch of rowdies then, with Burdette's 68 Camero, Mike's (some knew him as Shakey) 69 El Camino (El Kabong), Bruce and Vici's 69 Camero, Bruice's 69 Road Ronner, Jeff's Vette, & Chevelles (both 66 and then his 71), Gary's 70 Chevelle, the orange 55 Nomad (don't remember his name, CRS syndrome), and a lot more I can't think of now. Where are all of you today? Remember that green 69 El Camino and my silver 68 SS396 Chevelle, the one that towed El Kabong out to the strip every saturday night? Or the time we had to go downtown and find many strong bodies to help us load Burdette's camaro on a trailer out at the strip after he fronze up the rear end doing a burn-out from the starting line in reverse? I know a few of you are still around here, but what about the rest of you? Mike & Carrie El Kabong & Bobalouie
I remember seeing those decals when I was a kid, always thought WOW, I want to have a fast car with a Wichita Street Racer decal in the back window when I grow up.......well, I didn't have a decal when I had my Chevelle, but, a few years a go a friend came over, handed me an original Wichita Street racer decal!!!!! I put it up in my garage....Thanks for posting...brings back a lot of memories!!!!
The ones we had made went on the inside of the back window. FYI, Mike was in Hall's speed shop a couple of weeks ago, found one but the sticky was on the back, which wouldn't work so good unless you put it on a tool box or something. Not very functional on a back window. Carrie
I was a little young in '69. Didn't start cruising 'til 71-73. Seems like I remember the decals. Some of the names too. I was a Mustang/ Ford kid so all I ever heard was the Ford slurs. Doo Dah was definatly a Bow tie town. Did you guys cruise Douglas mostly? I don't know if Seneca was a big draw back then. Great times.
I was still in school those days, but I remember those decals very well. Didn't some of the races take place on Ohio between 29th & 37th up north?
We started this little club in 69, it was very popular for several years, so I don't doubt you remember the names and the cars. Haven't seen some of these guys in quite some time, I know several now live out of town, Jeff lives in Little Rock, Ark, I did remember the guys name with the Orange Nomad, Doug, last name? no clue, Gary C eventually bought Burdette's Camaro, but we lost track of Burdette when he left Ted's Dyno Shop, and God only knows what Gary is doing these days. You are right about the bow ties, Mike had a little sign in the back of the truck that infuriated many a Mach I owner, but they knew better than to take the truck on. Lost track of Mike Wenke, you may remember him, used to work at Axle and Wheel, had a blue 65 Ford Galaxy that sat like a four wheeler, he used to rag my Chevelle bad, he knew he couldn't beat the truck, so he was after me to race him in my Chevelle. LOL We are part of the Draggin Douglas Tradition. By the time they closed Douglas down and folks started doing Seneca, we were pretty well out of the draggin phase, started our family by then, and so it goes. There are a few who aren't with us any more, Joe Cunningham (the Pizza man), Johnny Pate, Krammer, I think his first name was Steve, he owned a body shop at Waterman and Washington. Great guys that we truly miss. Carrie
OT but Lotsa guys from Topeka and Lawrence are still around. There's thousands of horsepower and hundreds of choice rides stuffed in Garages and barns around here- the old men just aint got the time or cash to dust them off. Hell, my machinist drives his Corvair to work on nice days (well maybe 10 times in the summer) 468 BBC frontmount with 8-71, 2x4s. i still carry this in my wallet.
25th street was VERY popular, that is till the cops got wise. Then we moved north from there. Webb Road between 13th and Central was always a good place, and the Two lane off K-42 at Shulte (Lake Afton Road). Carrie
FIFTY CENTS!!!!!!!! OMG! THAT was a bargain and a half!!! SHOOT In the Glory days we had to pay a whole dollar here!!!!!!! Bob Morrison was makin a killin now wasn't he??? LOL Carrie
Jim Burdette is still in Wichita. After he wrecked the Corvette pro-mod car his racing days were over. Currently he's driving a 64 or 65 Malibu wagon to shows from time to time. The bright red wagon has an LT1 with air mated to an overdrive transmission.
Thanks, We will keep an eye out for him. Should you happen to see him, let him know Mike and I asked about him. He is in so many of our memories of the Glory Days. If he is in the car show scene, hopefully we will run into him soon. Carrie
Been looking to hear of Jim Burdette for a long time. In 71, I attended Kansas Automotive School and worked for George T (Tom) Warhurst III at his Phillips, then Skelly gas station. Jim worked there too. I had a 69 Nova 396 and was fresh out of high school. It was pretty big stuff to work around these two big names in the Wichita racing scene. The station was constantly frequented by the drag racing elite. I was the slave/gas pumper and the business existed so Tom and Jim could work on their "draggin' racers". It was an enjoyable time in my life even though I was the object of all the jokes and tricks. I learned a lot about tuning and set up and have enjoyed the hobby for many years.
Boy, I remember seeing a black Nova, jacked up in back with the gold decal in the backlight. Never saw any street races (I was too young), but an older pal used to give me the low down... (Kenny Fisher, I think?). Dang, that was a long time ago.
I remember seeing the sticker but it was in the late 70s and early 80s when I was street racing. And my car was fast but not fast enough. But I still cruised Douglas a bunch. Had a lot of good times down there. Just a couple of weeks ago a friend told me I needed to call Jim Burdette up to turn up my new car. So he's out there some where's. Anyway there was still some cars around with the sticker and everyone knew they were bad ass!
My '57. Five of us in the mid 90's ran around together and had the stickers from Hall's. The sticker was front glue so that it was inside. I am proud to have had the affiliation. It is still on the car.
I was in Hall's Speed Shop awhile back. They have a bunch of "Wichita Street Racers" stickers for sale. Sticky on the back like mentioned. But cheap enough you could buy a few and run them on the window. Still cool to me. The sticker brings back good memories even if it is a re-pop.
Wichita street racers are now called the "316", just like OKC street racers are of the "405". Check out Street outlaws on Velocity channel.
My Grandpa had Nate's Barbershop a few doors down from Hall's, and as a kid it was like heaven to me. It is great to hear the name again.
wow this is cool I still have one of stickers MKW auto had some that said Wichita street racers I still have a Armstrong Dyno stickers
Hello everyone, My name is James. I live in MN. I recently bought a 1966 Chevy El Camino. It's yellow-ish in color with a red interior. It's got a small block with a Holley carb & intake on it with headers. The real jewel to this car is that it has a "Wichita Street Racers" decal on the Inside of the rear window. Once I got the car home, I really thought that was unique. So, I've been looking into it. Can anyone tell me any cool stories involving this car or the prior owner?? I'd love to hear them. P.S. You should know, the car was sitting in a shop since 98 in southern MN. I bought it last sept & moved it north to my shop. Thank you all. James.
When I got my 34 Ford coupe from Albert Hitt it had his WSR decal in the back window.He was on Douglas every Saturday night and Anywhere else he could find a race.This was 1979.
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