Gasser Hot Rods

I'm still pretty new to the HAMB and hot rods in general, but my facination is on a steep upward climb. I own a 59 Ford Fairlane and have been reading a lot in Hot Rod magazines. Here's the question: What has been the main purpose and reason behind building Gassers? I understand they would drag race them a lot and I imagine the way they are built is for a light weight and crazy speeds. Can anyone expand on this??

Thanks

 

I would think because well, other than transfering weight to the rear wheels......the just look so fucking cool!!!!!

 

weight transfer and traction thats why gasser look the way they do

 

In a nutshell, the class was originally called "gas coupe and sedan". The cars ran on gasoline, and it was a class intended for street cars, so it require lights, fenders, hood and usually at least a rear bumper. In the early days it also required windshield wipers and other small details, also to make it streetable.

To keep this from being a radically modified class, the wheelbase was not supposed to change from a factory size, and the engine could not be moved back more than 10%....as measured from the centerline of the front wheels, to the first spark plug.

In the early days, the old slicks did not offer much traction, so they raised the front so that under acceleration the car would try to tip over backwards, and put more weight on the rear tires. These cars were famous for being hard to control, since at high speed, air would build up under the car, and try to lift the front tires off the ground, reducing steering, or if the car got sideways at high speed, it was "top heavy" and would want to tip over sideways, causing further handling problems.

After the tires and suspensions got better, traction improved, and racers found out that big wheelstands actually slow the cars down, the cars came back down, and continued to go even faster.

The big confusion seems to be the term "gasser look" which loosely seems to mean anything raised in the front...and that is all people remember.

Today the broad term "gasser" can also be referring to anything that sits "nose high". True Gassers had to have fenders and a hood.

 

Check out a book titled Gasser Wars by Larry Davis, from CarTech, Inc.. Should be at any book store worth their spit, or get it on their web site (www.cartechbooks.com), or any site you favor. Should answer all your questions.

After my current project, a Gasser will be in my garage.

Loppy

 

Thanks y'all: always good to know people you can count on here

 

That's such a badass car. NealinCA emailed some pics of that car to me yesterday. Dig those friggin' headers!



I took this picture at Paso Maria. I overheard this guy ask the owner, "Is this some kind of dirt track stock car?.." My wife and kids were both laughing!...

 

heres some

 

RoyalShifter - you keep comming up w/ the coolest pics I have ever seen- I mean never seen! I don't know where your getting them, but PLEASE don't stop!!!