Hmm, wonder if this thread is up my alley? I don't have any original pics to share from back in the day but will go digging for appropriate ones to post.
Hello, Not all T roadsters were Altered Roadsters that came later into the mid 60s drag racing scene. Yes, they were popular and crowd pleasers with all of the noise and smoke. Big power, small chassis is difficult to handle in most cases… when a big Hemi motor gets put into a light weight roadster, things happen. How about the same Hemi power in a street legal roadster? When the Jim Cassady’s Street Roadster was on the early drag racing scene, we were able to see the lightweight body powered by the big Hemi at Lion’s Dragstrip. In the pits, up close, it was impressive as the big Hemi filled the motor compartment and was bulging out of both sides. (remember, these roadsters were classified as street legal and they had to conform to DMV standards) Junior Thompson was the mechanic and driver. 1958-60 Some alterations and additions are a little sketchy, but, all street legal, however they were interpreted by the tech committees. Legal muffler pipe inside of a collector tube, motorcycle fenders to cover or try to cover the tires/slicks and headlights/brake lights were also required. This was, after all, a legal street roadster. Jnaki It would have been fun to drive it into our neighborhood teenage, drive-in restaurant parking lot for the teenage barrage of comments and awe-inspiring faces. HA! But, after watching and filming the street roadster coming off of the starting line with all of that power and torque, it was a wonder that Junior Thompson handled it so well. Or so it seemed. Jim Cassady's Street Roadster with Junior Thompson driving. Starting at :04 watch the black street roadster and see what is “moving” as it does its thing. The next big question is: At :33 who owns the blue street roadster or who is driving it, and finally, it looks like Oldsmobile or Cadillac power. A short description of facts is necessary if you have verifiable proof of who or what. We need the name and a short description for a large, public library project in the works. Will wonders ever cease, the blue street roadster gets out in front of the black Cassady/Thompson's A/Street Roadster…YRMV
I am in the process of building one, my retirement project . When and if I get to retire. Will be a blown SBC, but street legal.
Hello, Back in those first times we went to Lion’s Dragstrip, we saw plenty of cool looking race cars. One in particular was a Modified Roadster of San Diego’s Jess Van Deventer. (No, that is not our 1940 Willys Coupe in the background of the above photo… although, it is similar. We did not have a scoop as shown) It was fun filming those early drag race cars in all of the classes. This one stood out as my brother told me that he wanted to drive a modified roadster. Not a street roadster like the Jim Cassidy/Jr. Thompson version, but a full modified chassis center steering, modified roadster. For him, it was as close to driving a full front engine FED race car, but was sitting inside an enclosed roadster body. Jess Van Deventer had a lot of history with the roadster. Here is a post I created and it tells a lot about the history. Jess Van Deventer had this earlier version of the same roadster at Lion’s Dragstrip in 58 and 59. It was one of the first race cars I shot on film. I was trying to get a feeling for the whole Lion’s Dragstrip scene, like a real Hollywood producer. The blower came after these films. Lion's Dragstrip Jnaki It was very competitive in the Modified Roadster Classes. He traveled to a lot of different So Cal dragstrips and back to several U.S. Nationals. Jess Van Deventer, set many a national record and won many a national event with this car. The blower was an era before the 671 supercharger belt kit was invented by the Isky-Gilmer group in early 1960. “The white roadster is Jess Van Deventer or his brother,,,, they both drove the car in the very late 1950's & early 1960's. The number on the car never changed ... It is #502 California Penal Code for drunk driving.” “My father built that car in his garage in Imperial Beach, California in the late 1950's… It was originally built for a “Bean Bandit...” The T Roadster was traded to Van Deventer for a street legal 32 roadster..." Thanks, and great information on all things racing in San Diego History... By Randy Chenowith “In 1957, Jess' senior year of high school, he built his first drag car in auto shop class, a 1934 Ford Coupe. For two years he raced it at Paradise Mesa Drag Strip. He graduated to a self-built injected "B" Modified Roadster and used that car to set local records at Long Beach, Santa Ana and most other California/Arizona drag strips. In 1960 he won his class setting the record for elapsed time at the NHRA Nationals in Detroit, Michigan.” from this early fuel injected version to this supercharged version. It was very competitive in the A/R class at all dragstrips... YRMV
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