Art & Inspiration Traditional images that need no explanation.

And the rest is Hot Rod history , they still don’t get any better

 

At first glance I thought the above was the Frank Mack roadster, I noticed the E&J projector headlamps and Michigan license plate. It’s not, but it sure is a nice tribute to the Mack style.
Here’s the Mack car-

 

This car is up by Kansas City. It's always at World of Wheels in KC, and I've seen it at Pete and Jake's. It's beautiful. I'd love to own it.

 

Hello,

Nice video find. This is one of the most interesting of the videos saved. But, for the cost of using top notch movie camera film and equipment, the color and action shots are not as high a quality one would expect from a big time sponsored film.

As 8:18 rolls around, this is the best capture of drag racing seen so far. The pre-staging, the set up, the race, the end and the tow back. One complete racecar presentation. Of course, the Corvette is the Bones Balogh and John Mazmanian famous Corvette. One of our favorites...

Jnaki

But, the sound is the worse ever. It sounds like my mom’s lawnmower on its last legs, after we did some porting and polishing and modified the head. Or my neighbor practicing his saxophone in the beginning… blaaat…. With the sound off, the presentation is one complete showcase of one of the historic race cars on the Westcoast. Ending with the drive off to the pits… completes the film.

Thanks for finding the film. By this time line day, we were finished as drag racing participants, but were still racing late at night at the Cherry Avenue Drags. So, we still kept a sliver of our old antics. This Great Western Exhibit center was a short drive for us, but it was a good car show and others like them in our So Cal neighborhood area, still attracted teenagers to them. In 63-64, we attended as many as there were, locally, at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium and elsewhere. By 1965, that too was behind us for being participants.

But, visions still dance in our heads, including driving a custom Corvette to the high school parking space in front of the school… YOWZA!!! "Where were you in 62?"

Old Friday Art...


Note:

“Bones then met Big John Mazmanian at a local drag strip. They were both driving B/Modified Sports. John was king then but Bones' big 671 would always get a hole shot, always out of the gate that first low gear. He went to the 62 Nationals in Indy and won. When he returned and ran at Irwindale he was beat by Big John. They then became partners and John bought Bones' transmission, motor, blower, and injector for $500 and put it in John's car. Up till then J&J Muffler were friends of Bones' and they had sponsored all his cars.”

We knew of both of the racers in their Corvettes. One was similar in power to our 292 SBC 671 supercharged motor we used in our 40 Willys Coupe build for C/Gas. My brother had his idea of the next build if there was to be one. A modified Altered Roadster was one choice and a modified Corvette was the other. Those were the closest to reality that inched closer in our conversations prior to all of the drag racing stuff “gone in 30 days…”

Bones Balogh had a Chevy sedan that ruled the gas classes and when the Corvettes came into the picture, still ruled those classes. But my brother just could not get over the butchering of the John Mazmanian Candy Apple/Tahitian Red Corvette’s rear wheel opening for the big slicks. It looked as if a kindergarten class was allowed to use their skills to open up the wheel well. Square lines on a round body design? Where did that come from in the archives of smooth car designs?

Someone is bound to say who cares, it was a record setting sports car that ruled the roost. The combination of Bones Balogh and John Mazmanian was a team like no other. But, in looking at the two Corvettes, the purple one of Bones Balough was the coolest looking. IOHO

By the way, how did such tall people drive those small compartment Corvettes with getting cramps, even in the quarter mile? (Rich Soroonian drove Mazmanian’s Corvette later…) My friend was 6’3 and I was 6 feet. We felt like two sardines in a 1960 Corvette 283 with dual quads and 4 speed. It was good for a weekend of cruising, but for us, it was a nice car, but not one to cruise around and perhaps race. Even for 11 seconds at a time. YRMV