I have a 40 Dodge coupe that I want to put together in the style of the old circle track/ dirt track cars of the past. Who has one completed or in the works? I need ideas! I tried the search but found alot of posts that dont have what I'm looking for. something like this...http://pitgear.com/home/photos/1062.jpg
Here's my '37 Chevy Coach bodied dirt modified. I've also got a slightly OT Gremlin bodied vintage mod powered by a 292 Chevy 6 almost race ready but you probably don't want to build a Gremmie..... I've got quite a few other eastern modified pics from the '60s and early '70s. I'll have to dig 'em out though, so hold on a day or so. Jan
Here's another...Paul Deasey's Big Donkey. Plymouth bodied with 500+ cubes of Lincoln power under the hood, this coupe won races all over the East Coast with drivers such as Al Tasnady and Gerald Chamberlain. A later version was powered by an injected Ford 427 Cammer. BTW, if you have any construction questions, ask away. Old circle burners are about all that I do know about....
Is there a standard build style for these cars, or sorta anything goes? I ***ume the fenders either were never there or fall off in the race. I was thinking of a ch***is swap for mine, and big motor of course. I have a stock 40 Dodge coupe, someone elses F'd up channel job, stock frame and suspension. Not really restoreable, so I think this is a good use for it.
my neighbor has a 35 Dodge vintage modified he races loally. I'll ask him if I can get some pics and try posting or p.m.-ing them . sbc. full cage,sits low,wide and fast. the kids in the 'hood love it when he brodys in the middle of our intersection and all us guys go out and watch him load up for a race on friday or saturday nights. {I like my nieghborhood!] R.R.
That's Al DeAngelo waiting to go out onto the track at the old Islip Speedway on Long Island. The Ace of Spades was a fixture in the modified division at Long Island tracks like Islip, Freeport and Riverhead for many years. The car still exists and is at the Himes motor racing museum in Bayshore NY. Marty Himes still takes the car out for some of the old-timer events. Al was always playing the "bad guy" at the races with the skull and crossbones flying. It definitely played well with the fans at the time.
Here's some pics of my '36 Chevy Coupe, Northeast Style Modified. Was a real car from the late 60's - early 70's. In the pic where it has the asphalt tires on you'll see my '40 Ford Coupe Modified. It uses a '37 Ford hood.
Heck Frank, it's old enough you could throw some lights at it and get a tag. Then you could go "Tuner Hunting". I love the look of the old modifieds.
This mid-late style '60s Eastern dirt track car would be era correct for what you're considering building. The rules requiring "fenders",matching make engine, body and ch***is and such were pretty much gone by that time except for NASCAR mods by then. Most of these cars had buggy or parallel leaf spring front ends with a pair of leaves in the rear. Almost all were straight axle. Some used stock frames, but the hot setup by then was the '49-'54 Chevy p***enger car with the front crossmembers cut off and channel iron added to hang the suspension. Some were cross steer, some weren't. Popular motors for these were the SBC, but quite a few guys ran Olds, Pontiacs, FE Fords or a very occasional Mopar. Frankland was the rear end of choice. Here are some links to show you what the mods looked like by era: http://www.3wide****turevault.com/index.html http://midstateantiquestockcarclub.com/index.html http://www.midstatevintagestockcars.com/ How 'bout keeping me up on how this project goes. Any questions, just ask. I love the old coupes and coaches WAY too much..... Jan
Yeah, my wife sez my mind is full of useless information (at least what she considers usless ) This place is a treasure trove.
QUOTE=Brian C]That's Al DeAngelo waiting to go out onto the track at the old Islip Speedway on Long Island. The Ace of Spades was a fixture in the modified division at Long Island tracks like Islip, Freeport and Riverhead for many years. The car still exists and is at the Himes motor racing museum in Bayshore NY. Marty Himes still takes the car out for some of the old-timer events. Al was always playing the "bad guy" at the races with the skull and crossbones flying. It definitely played well with the fans at the time.[/QUOTE] Here's my oval track Modified Roadster that is a tribute to Al DeAngelo if he had driven pre-war west coast modified roadsters. I grew up watching him race at Islip and Freeport, and like Brian C said, he loved playing the bad guy, in fact to many; he really was a villain. On a trip south to rob the southern modified boys of some loot in the early 60's, Al roughed up a southerner while en route to the win. At the payout window, the guy who Al layed the bumper to aksed him if all yankees drove that way, to which he replied something to effect of; "just guys that win. " The guy that Al gave the driving lesson to was Ralph Earnhardt, Dale's dad.
Thats the one. Maybe I'll put a floor back in it on my side. Jan, the pics in that 3 wide site are great. That has given me all sorts of crazy ideas!!!! I hope to see some of these cars in person so I can really take them in.
Ray, let me do some checking for a vintage racing club out your way. That way you could see some modified coupes up close and personal. This stuff is big back east here and in the midwest, but I'm not sure about California. Here's the URL to the local club that I belong to: http://www.vintageamericanracecars.com/ This club exhibition races, where the Midstate Vintage Club in NY races compe***ively. Hopefully I'll run my Gremlin bodied mod a bit with both this summer. Fatabone, I'm guessing that the pics of those cars indoors were taken atEastern Museum of Motor Racing at Lattimore. I may make it over there this summer. Judging from your location, you live right smack in the middle of where some of the best dirt tracks in the country used to be. BTW, that roadster in the boneyard is a "30X90" and I'll bet the bank it ran at Silver Springs Speedway.. That would be a cool car to restore. BTW, that Al DeAngelo Tribute roadster is awesome! I'd better let this go for now or I'll be convincing myself to put my '37 Chevy stocker on the street... Jan
Junkyard Jan we still have some great dirt tracks running three nights a week. I took a trip to Arizona and saw the two dirt trackers sitting in a yard full of neat cars and parts. The indoor show was the Jalopyrama and the outdoor was the Jalopy Showdown where the Eastern Museum of Auto Racing is located. Try to make it to the Showdown in May and have Lynne Paxton give you a tour of the museum he is full of stories.
Anyone from SW Ohio remember the guy in Fayetteville Ohio who had a huge warehouse full of 50's dirt track cars and parts? They did do a small write up about 12 years ago in Rod & Custom. I heard after he died (at a somewhat young age, I do believe) they auctioned it all off. I will post if I can find the article. Dennis
I got a old modified out on the trailer right now headed down to Oklahoma for another Hamber. its late 70's era home built but this thing is bad ***. my first time getting a up close veiw of a roundy round car. You can relate so much stuff to hotrods with them.
There's enough room in the '36 Chevy and the '40 Ford for a p***enger seat. I even have some race mufflers for the '36. Put on some lights and a horn (yeah, right ) and we'd be ready to ride. That locked rear would be a little tough on the street. Several years ago I had the '40 at the Charlotte Good Guys and did the track cruise with it. We ran it around there so many times, it was like a carnival ride. Always with 2 people in the car. Had **** Spadaro drive it with me riding. Lotta' fun and it drove great. That car has (had I blew it up sky high) a FE Ford 406 in it. I need to build another. I might have better pics of the '40. It looks just like a race car from the mid-60's. I raced them both hard. None of this follow the leader exhibition stuff. I rolled the '36 over at a dirt track in Toccoa, GA. That's why there's primer on the roof . Here's a couple of links to see the '40 Ford, it has a '37 hood on it, so it confuses folks: http://www.nvraracing.org/gallery/Original-NVRA-cars/Frank_Hager_s_60 http://www.nvraracing.org/gallery/Original-NVRA-cars/60_at_Laurens
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