History Stock-S/S-F/X 1959-1966

We set the engine back about 6 inches. I didn't want to go back into the cowl for the simple reason that I already had an 8 pt bar in it and didn't want to have to move the main hoop. So I stopped at 6. It won't have atunnel ram on it, but either Hilborns or a 6:71. I'm going to run a max wedge in it, not a hemi. I love this period as funnies evolved; they were slowly taking the gassers place, and it was truely run what you brung. Remember, NHRA did not recognize these cars back in '66, the outlaw tracks are what fueled the interest with match races. NHRA, as usual, was late to the party. Notice no fancy full chassis car here, it's all stock floor pans, just well braced, just like most of the cars back in the day.

 

The car looks great Storm King ... thanks for posting the shots. Looking forward to seeing more progress and the finished car.
Joel

 

Joel..Old dear friend..

The late Carl Theobald (Endwell,NY)
A great Z-11 powered ChevyII...(Harrell)
Carl and his wife Linda loved "Snoopy"..thus the "Sopwith Camel" name.
Ken "Beatle" Bailey (Bailey's Atlantic in Endicott,NY was a long time sponsor,crew chief on Carl's cars ( 409 powered 55 Chev, Z-11 64 Chevelle (Houston platt's old dixie twister..named Misdemeaner ) and the pictured
Z-11 Chevy II.
Carl & Linda moved to Az. after retiring from IBM.
Both have passed (Sadly)

I miss them....Linda BTW/ was Jerry Hotchkiss '('63 Z-11 Chev)
Sister.

 

That thing is bad ass!!!!! An injected Maxie would look perfect in there!

 

Billy was good!
Reides in Fl. these days..
We got together at the SS/Nat'ls reunion in Va.

 

Hubert Platt

 

Thanks Joel..Jim & Jack

 

Thanks Wally, You Da Man!

 

Great looking job, Storm King. The front fender is done so well it's very subtle. So, you're stretching the wheelbase forward then, rather than shifting both front and rear? Nice garage, too!

 

Thanks for the nice comments guys. I've got a great guy that works for me who did all this. I am still toying with the idea of altering the rear wheels. I don't need to with todays high traction tires and over preped tracks. I figure just stretching it will make it drive real nice. We may move the wheels forward between four or six inches in the rear just to say we did it, and open the well forward and just make a forward offset spring mount for the housing. I want to run pie crust slicks, ten inches wide if they will hook at all but never more than 12 inches back there. I don't mind if it spins a bit, that's what they did back in the day. I'm just looking for low nines/ high eights with it.
We did have some room in that shop, didn't we? We just finished moving out of it today, looking for something a little smaller. it was 133,000 sq ft! Utilities were a killer. I need about 20-30K at present.

 

I think it'd look great with the rear axle moved forward a bit and the openings stretched a bit like they used to do it ... really add the flavor!
Joel

 

Thanks Wally! I was hoping you'd fill us in again on the Sopwith Camel. Now as long as this site is alive that information is here for all to see. Sorry to hear that both have passed away ... I'd loved to have learned/seen more from them.
Joel

 

Thanks again Wally. I'd always thought this was one of Hubert's cars but it was never verified. Hubert ran a bunch of '62 409 cars! He had a yellow one like this, drove both of Dyno Don's '62 cars, the BelAir and the Impala. Love that stance and look.
Joel

 

I was corrected on this one ... was told that it was Vic Ferris and not Al Oakes. My aplogies.
Joel

 

Keep the heritage and great happenings of those days alive Joel!

....................................................................


That is the goal of The National Nostalgia Drag Racing Assn.
Thank you Darwin Doll.

 

If some of you haven't visited the Double H site in awhile go take a look. There are a number of recent images there, one new one of the ex-Bonner '62 Ford.
Joel
http://www.doublehdragstrip.com/ghoststrip/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

 

Herb McCandless! Cool. Got any more shots of "Mr. 4-Speed"?

 

Good eyes, Old Gearhead! You spotted Herb's horn-rimmed glasses to i.d. him. He used to race at U.S. 60 and Owensboro rather frequently. You might find some more pics of him at www.olddrags.com.

 

Action sequence of Pee Wee Wallace in the Virginian at Chandler Raceway Park (IN)

 

Cool! I saw Herb race that car many times at Lakeland Drag Strip in Memphis. Even before he took it out there I spied the car on a trailer at a Pure oil gas station (thus the flying eagle on the fender). I stopped and checked it out. When I saw that big Hurst shifter in it my eyes got even bigger. Herb was sitting inside the station with several other guys and I actually said to him "That thing gotta Hemi"?

 

does anybody have picture of the 1965 super stock nationals at york, pa
if so do you have a picture of dave harshman in the 1965 Mustang running b/fx and beat doug nash in the final. the car was cared THE NEW BREED.

 

By the way, that 65 Plymouth Herb ran wound up with Hilborn injectors and I think a slightly altered wheelbase and ran in A/FX. But he still shifted it himself. Not long after that he ran a 68 Dart. Then after that he went to work driving for Sox & Martin.

http://www.mr4speed.com/

 

More Herb McCandless. Herb always got plenty of air.

 

I was at the '65 S/S Nationals at York and didn't take any pictures but I'm pretty sure Doug Nash wasn't running there and I know he didn't get to any finals if he was there. There was no B/FX class at that meet. The two big finals were won by the TASCA Ford A/FX Mustang and Bob Harrop's AWB '65 Dodge. Maybe you're thinking of another event? We're interested in more information.
Joel

 

Sure wish I had gone to the 1965 race! I was working in Rehoboth Beach, DE and had to work that weekend.

While attending Bruce Larson's gathering a couple months ago, I ran into Jeff Tinsley and got a chance to catch up after about 15 years. Jeff told me that the 1965 Super Stock Nationals was his first drag race. He was 18 years old and had a camera. Jeff said that there was a large crowd around the starting line and it was hard to get good photos. He noticed that Wally Bell's trailer was parked in a excellent location and asked Wally if he could shoot from the roof of the trailer. Jeff said that Wally gave his permission, but asked him to not get a growd up there.

A group of hometown guys attended as well and one of the shot some 8mm movies. We are going to transfer them to DVD soon.

 

My brother went to the first S/S Nat'ls. He still talks about people standing right next to the cars on the starting line so they could see the tachs because they were betting on what RPM the cars were launching at. Also a crowd so unmanageable that race cars could hardly move. I think he said it was Sherewsberry who just stood on it anyway with his wheelstander, and the crowd parted like the red sea as he went through it, and closed back up behind him. No one was injured! That was a once in a lifetime event.

 

i was there also
there was class run

 

Yes, there were classes run but not the NHRA type with A/FX-B/FX etc. The rules were set up by weight and whether one ran gas or fuel. There were not alot of classes. That format remained but was tweaked each year for a few years adding S/S and stock classes and adopting some of the NASCAR classes and race format. The '65 meet in August was the best drag meet I ever attended. We were on the starting line and it is true about looking in at the tachs of the cars as they launched. We were also out on the edge of the track by the traps when the last run of meet was run. Kinda stupid but what the hell ... it was Bob Harrop winning over Bud Faubel, both in factory AWB Dodges.
Joel

 

Here's a photo taken by a Mustang/Ford magazine at Columbus' Ford Expo in '88'. The COE is a '57' C-600 with a 390 and the 2-speed rearend.

 

Here's a photo in it's heyday running a 4V-TP 427/454ci (Ford)., about 1995. That's Dennis K in the blue T-Bolt.