In the early 1960's a go-kart craze was sweeping the nation and Rod & Custom Magazine was hell bent on covering it. So much so, in fact, that I often find myself ignoring that era of the magazine simply because there doesn't seem to be as much... w... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
I do believe there's a '33 or '34 Mopar coupe body for sale in the cl***ifieds, and it's rather easy to find those '51-'53 extended bellhousing early hemis...I'm not saying, I'm just saying...
The spoked wheels and lack of headlights lend an evil bent to it.... I'll be staring at this one for some time.....
Paging Mr. Norwell.......paging Mr. Norwell. Are you seeing this??? Subs***ute the coupe body for your roadster body and BAM!!! Match made in heaven!!!
Can I just say, I love spindle mounts on full fendered coupes or sedans really. That Bronze colored Model A always makes me weak in the knees.
That was a a subtle hint from me that an all Mopar version would have been better But, I guess there's no accounting for taste
Simply perfect. 1960? That car was pretty advanced for 60. Those top speed numbers indicate some serious HP. Can we speculate how well it'd do with some updates? Some traction and a driveline to support a sticky track, my guess would be some low 9s, high 8s perhaps. What say some of you?
This car is proof positive that not every altered ran without fenders, and not every car with fenders was a G***er. The early 60's were times when we were all figuring out what the best combo was for the various cl***es. By the late 60's or early 70's when we pretty much had the G***er, Altered, Comp cl***es dialed in, NHRA started combining everything into eliminator groups and sportsman racing has never been the same.
Ryan, My first hot rod was a 392 Chrysler powered '34 Ford coupe built strictly for drag racing. It ran at Chester Dragstrip back in the Fifties when Chester was THE drag strip. Bob Ocieki ran the track. A father/son team in my neighborhood built and raced it. It had been sitting for a couple years when I purchased it in 1962 with plans of putting it on the street. But with 6 two barrel carbs and an Isky roller cam it was too radical. I was only 18 and didn't know **** about mechanics. I sold it and bought a 270 Chevy powered '53 Studebaker Coupe. If I live long enough I will recreate my old '34. I agree with you that someone needs to recreate this one too.
That thing is Crazy Cool. Kind of a more 'mild', full-fendered version of the 555 Mooneyham & Sharp Coupe. Love it! Malcolm
Ryan ... yet another cool find ... thanks for sharing. On a sidenote: Jim Miles was an original member of the Road Kings of Burbank CC ... In the mid '60s thru the early '70s, Jimmy ran the "Magic Muffler" (Topolino & Bantam) AA / Fuel Altereds ... Here's the famous "Magic Muffler Explosion" photo taken @ LIONS in 1965: photo by Ron Lahr
Ignoring the go-karts must have been how I missed this one too. That's an accurate description of their kart coverage, Ryan...someone there must have owned stock in Go-kart, Inc!
You my friend are far too cool for me not to know....seing how you only live 10 minutes away. I would love to check out any pics you have of your old car. Lets get started on the clone!!!
They're not exactly spindle-mounts per se, they are Harley Davidson wire wheels. Pretty damned cool car. I posted it up a while back...
I was under the impression that the Harley type wheels mounted the same as Spindle mounts. Huh.....I am learning each day which is good. Love them both!
I saw this car run at Fontana, noise was incredible...wondered if Miles bought it from Rizzo and Gray, who ran a very similar car in the late '50s...as someone else noted, Miles went on to fuel altereds, ran a '29 roadster on gas before building the Fiat...he not only left the crankshaft on the line at Lions, but was seriously burned in the pits when a fuel can he was pouring from caught fire...(I'm sort of fuzzy on the details, someone else may know more)...but left terrible scars on his arms...
That's one bad *** 34. It has the gotcha factor. Exhaust exits under the running boards. God, I love it! I'm dying to know; Did the car survive? What became of Jim Miles beyond his early 70's Fuel Altered days? He's be 75 if he's still above the sod. How the hell did those spokes and '37 rear take all those 11 second runs? If you have to explain this car to anyone, they "don't get it"!!!
This car is exactly why '32s don't do it as much for me as '34s - Awesome! Not in your face awesome, but told you not to kid yourself awesome. And to the hot rods have to be fenderless crowd, please note fenders.
Burbank drag racer Jim Miles is still enjoying street rodding with his '38 Ford coupe. He built it quite a few years ago with a SCOT blown flathead engine. Later the flathead was replaced with a DeSoto V-8 and recently the coupe received a 383 SB Chevy engine. Jim is a machinist so all the installations are neatly done. He is one of the original members of the Burbank area Road Kings club and is still active with them. The '34 was not the Rizzo and Grey car. That '34 is still owned by Ben Rizzo. Also Jim is a really nice guy and a good friend - Don www.montgomeryhotrodbooks.com
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