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

And the foot safety brake.

 

"The problem with cars firing up by push start was not unique to the actual racing. Believe it or not, that problem was even worse in the pits, where teams would sometimes try to test-fire their repaired engines by push-starting them between the rows of trailers. You could see how that could get ugly really quickly.
https://www.nhra.com/news/2020/roll-players-look-back-era-when-cars-were-fired-roller-starters"

 

Howard Cams Special running the Scott injector...

 

Similar to this:

 

That looks like VW stabilizer.

 

Hello,

I was a regular from 1957 to 1961 at Lions Dragstrip. The close by facility made is an easy event every weekend for a couple of young teenagers and friends. In our junior high school days, the dragstrip was viewed from the berm of the railroad tracks from the nearby harbor. When we crossed the farmer's field, we were able to get up close and personal with the race cars. It was still on the farmer's property, so the dragstrip guards could only warn us not to step onto their property.

It was a different time when the race cars involved all types of early hot rodding, as history has provided from various sources. The roller era was from 1964 and Lions Dragstrip closed in 1972.

In reading about C.J. Hart, he was responsible for those rollers at Lions. It was an electric motor starter. A lot of other dragstrips used SBC motors to run their rollers. The Lions version (which was the very first) was electric. Needless to say, the huge load on the motor often resulted in a power outage or at the very least a dead roller.

Jnaki

By the time I went back to Lion’s Dragstrip in 1961 for the last time, they were not in place. Sorry, but, thanks for thinking of me and our experiences at Lion’s Dragstrip during those old days. The history most remember is beyond our time line with the fuelers/funny cars taking over the dragstrip and the coverage of normal drag racing as we knew it was fading and or most classes were gone.

The time line was usually after 1964. Lions closed in 72 and OCIR took over for that particular racing without all classes other than fuel dragsters and funny cars, to name the headliners. Those years after 1965 are not HAMB appropriate.

But, as a lot of photos posted here are older than 1965. But, there is some lee way as to front engine race cars versus no allowances for rear engine versions. Since this is the HAMB, we all know the timeline rules. So we need to know the year of the photos taken through research to be accurate and not just jamming in as many photos as one finds online...YRMV

sound from 1959
This represents our era in the timeline at Lion's Dragstrip. The films recorded from 1958 to 1960. The racers were connected to the spectators throughout all phases of entertainment and racing. It was fun to watch the push trucks help fire up the race cars and it was a preview of things to come.

 

^^^^ Yep, good memories of the cars being pushed to start, turn around behind the starting line and pull up to stage. We would be in the small grandstand on the left-hand side of the track as close to the fence as possible. The cars swung out wide near the fence to make the turnaround, giving us a blast of noise and nitro fumes. Unbelievable experience for us kids. It was as close to a running fuel car as a spectator could get.

 

Right on Bob!
Man, those were the best of times, though I sort of wish I had been born a few years earlier as I've always thought how cool it must have been to have witnessed the early 60's drags and how the cars evolved, I do feel fortunate to have caught the end era of the front engine cars.
I did witness some of the first rear engine dragsters run here in the Northwest at Portland International Raceway, Woodburn, Madras and Balboa (Eugene) in the very early 70's.

 

Well, I've told this story here someplace before -- so let's see if I can duplicate it. The roller starter would the car when it got up to speed and then the roller would go into a free-wheeling phase and the driver would brake it down to stop the rollers. Then they'd lock the rollers and the driver would drive off the apparatus.

Billy the Kid Scott drove the Beacon Auto Parts dragster. One time he had an accident that was caused by brake fade and parachute not opening. The fade was because, I believe, they were still using drum brakes at the time. Any who, he went into the sand box that hadn't been smoothed out from the week prior and, with rain in between, the surface had hardened. He ended up in the hospital with back injuries.

 

The early Nostalgia Drags at Fremont, push started the top category cars on the fire up road, in front of the spectators. They required starters around 1987, as the field of cars grew, and the program ran more swiftly. Push starting was a thrill !!!

 

My friends and I were often dropped off by my Dad at Lions around noon Saturday or Sunday and picked up out by the big sign at the main entrance at around 10pm. If Dad came with us, we had to sit in the right-side grandstands, much further from the action and we usually didn't get pit passes - more food though. (chili dogs, cokes and Carnation frozen malts)
Dropped off and on our own, we would run in from the main gate. We couldn't wait to get our pit passes (even if it meant sacrificing some food money) and we literally ran around the pits at first to see who was there. We would hang out in the staging lanes to hear the Stockers and lower-class gassers start up and pull forward as they were called.
I still get that uncontrollable excitement as I enter Bakersfield or Sacramento, I have the urge to run through the parking lot....

 

Having started attending drag racing in 1961 in Oregon, there was also the "other side" of push starting. While I also loved hearing and watching early "rails", they would often push down for their turn around and push back (start-up), get manually turned around at the starting line, get staged and then the fire would go out. Then, the process would start all over again. Sometimes this would happen 2 or more times with the same car in the same race. Due to the big delays in schedule and (usually) in the heat of the day, I started liking other classes more in the earlier days.

 

Yers - VW.
A Fiero unit is also compact and easily mounted. HD units are available from fierostore.com

https://www.fierostore.com/Product/Detail.aspx?s=58026&d=324&p=1

 

Approaching the traps, butterflies still wide-open and just starting to reach for the chute...

 

Bet that would make Livingston tear his hair out!
Hey Greg, how's things going?

 

Not sure if it is a universal term, but locally when a racer misses the return road and carries through to the sand trap it is referred to as “going to the beach”.

Cheers,
Harv

 

I’m getting too old to run, but the kids and I do this too. Spend as much time in the pits and staging lanes as up in the grandstand. Open pits are one of the best parts of drag racing.

cheers,
Harv

 

Hugh did narrow the '25 Chevy body -- I think when he reproduced it in fiberglass. He knew that the inspectors would never know the dimensions of the '25 Chevy so wouldn't catch his slight breakage of the rules. I think that is Stone, Woods and Cook before lettering in the far lane.

 

Crossley, Williams, and Swan

 

Hello,
In 1959-60, I took a break from filming and wandered around the whole area having a less intense moment with a viewer's standpoint of the racing going on in front of me. The excitement was there as the race cars were inches away from where I was standing. The noise, the aroma of gas and exhaust were strong and a reminder that those motors were modified to go fast. The short individual headers were loud to say the least.

This pose of a teenager in his Red Pendleton shirt, Levis and desert boots was the closest spot I could get to the action. Other than inside of the fence at the starting line. It was one of those times that the spectator’s stands were loaned out to another organization, like the Pasadena Rose Parade in late December.

There were times that the fuel aroma was evident up in the stands when they returned from the community loan program. the fuel aroma was strong and made most folks' eyes water and stung inside of their sinuses. Yikes!

But as close as the fence allowed us to stand nearby, this spot beyond the orange tower was the place to be for the closest action to the racers and their cars. It was next to and in front of the white Pontiac Ambulance always parked there for quick responses when needed. YRMV

 

Doin well Doug. How about you and the projects?

 

Malise & Lipori Top Gas Englishtown circa 1968-69, Michael Pottie photo.


Current situation...gathering parts.

 

Tony Cerulli's Disturbed Griffith at Dover...

 

That is an excellent name for whoever designed the body. Killer!!

 

1965 Griffith 400...

 

Trevor Wilkinson was the founder of TVR. The Griffith was based on a Grantura (same basic fiberglass body and tube frame but with various 4 cylinder engines) of which the car in the picture is cut-up and modified in a few areas. I owned a 63' Grantura RHD and a 79' Taimar. Fun cars.

 

Amarillo...

 

Make Drag Racing Great Again…

 

Pomona….