Ridgerunner just sent me this link to an incredible racing site,but this picture was a real shock. Here's where a lot of great hotrod material got destroyed. These bodies must have been rust-free since this is So-Cal racing. What a shame. www.coastal181.com/cool_photos.htm
I just look at it as part of history. Every old car ever made can't still be around now. That just makes the ones that are even cooler. Plus, I like racing, and that had to evolve too.
In 40yrs do you think we will feel the same way about all the Camaros and MonteCarlos being chopped up for dirt track cars now? NOT!
a hundred years from now someone will see a tape/video/dvd/bluetooth/whatever of jimmy johnson running a 2009 "Monte Carlo" or whatever into a wall and say "what a waste"
man i bet that was an awsome race to see, if all those cars were still around then ours wouldnt be as special.
They were living life and not worrying about what their cars were going to be worth. I build my cars for driving and enjoying. I gave my kids my Match Box cars when they were little to play with even though I knew many were quiet old and rare probably worth a few bucks. They were made for little boys to play with, not old men to set on a shelf and look at. Now I let boys drive my old trucks with the rule that they must take care of them and they will help fix whatever they wreck. My trucks and cars are there for us to enjoy, not just to wash and stare at.
I'm still trying to figure out how a picture of 'new at the time' cars racing would make me sick Or is this one of those 'Man I'd save everyone of those and hot rod it' threads
No way, back in the day we got most of our cars for racing from the junk yard. Those guys were racing, having fun and putting off the crusher for a while longer.
And they probably paid about 25.00 each for them at the time running and driving. Plus at that time a lot of hotrodder with street cars didn't consider coupes or sedans to be very exciting for their use.
We used to flip '55 Chevy converts over in junkyards to get the frames for our '55 2 dr sedan stock cars.Just old junk in a junkyard and we were racing.Cant recall ever wondering...gee....I wonder if I'll regret this 35 years from now.
Every time I see a GM G Body get whacked up for racing it makes me sad... G Bodies are bad ***, I know a guy who wacked up a 2+2 Grand Prix because to him it was an old car... a rare old car. I've heard of 442 and H/0 Cutl***' getting destroyed too... Never a Grand National though... lots of Montes though, lots of 'em...
Thats was just plain fun back then. Get 'em from some old lady, strip 'em down and race 'em. Cheap good old fashioned fun. Back in the late 50's dad and I would go almost every weekend to Western Speedway in Gardena, a wonderfully primitve joint with old wooden bleachers that would guarentee a splinter in your Levis. They'd race the jalopys, sometimes "sportsman" cars and stock cars every few weeks. The crazy thing that they did was have a "hooligan race". Now some of you guys relish being called hooligams, but 50 years ago hooligans no different that "dip****s" or "dumb****s". (you may want to re-think the whole "hoodlum" thing...we older guys laugh at that one). The hooligans were the ones that were such ****py drivers that they could not qualify for any of the heat races. So, rather than send them home to ShameVille, they'd let them race in thee 'Hooligan race". That was always great fun for us kids. Its was the first race of the day and there'd be sheetmetal everywhere. It was so bad that at the end of the race the whole 1/3 mile track was just a junkyard. The fans would't root for anyone, they were too busy laughing. Another weird deal, in the main event, the fastest qualifier started LAST and the slowest driver that made the field started on the pole. All the slower cars occupied the front of the pack while the hot dogs were in the rear. You can just imagine how many driving lessons were dealt out to to slower guys that day. Here's a demolition derby where the "target" was a Model A... these are photos that I took as a kid... the jalopys were everyones favorite...the drivers, too..."The Candy Cane Kid", Termite Snyder, Art Atkinson, Jim Rossler....the first of my car heros from 50 years ago....damn those were fun days...thanks Dad
Traded my first licensed car , 40 ford coupe V8 columbia 2 spd for a 29 A coupe. Guy made a dirt track stock car out of it and had good record. Bill.
If you were friends with the guy who owned the used car lot or the local service station or junk yard these cars were free. all you had to do was just have their name painted on the side. over the years I have helped make race cars out of 32/34 fords and chevys 37.38. 39 chevys 46 fords a few lowery 53 studebakers many 55/56/57 chevys and fords 3 or four 60 fords/ a lot of 64/65/ 71 chevelles and 69 novas.69 barracudas several cameros plus all the extra cars used for body and frame parts and a few impalas and imperials were used in demo derbys. all I did was slow thier way to the crusher.. This way they went out in glory plus they were just old cars that no one had a intrest in..and I had a lot of fun and have somthing to talk about.. Bobby... to see more vintage race cars go to AARP..
The Jalopy Journal
