History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

Exactly why my street roadster was parked and never saw a drag strip again.

 

This tactic by Graham seemed to be a bit extreme, but by the mid 70's sportsman racing was taking on a new flavor. More money being pumped into a class of racing that was supposed to fun, not cut throat. Was this the same Billy Graham who later ran the Million Dollar Baby series of AA/FC's?

 

They were lite look up the Allison & Crow car , Fred Crow worked at M/T Speed Shop and had some of the first aluminum small block chev heads and maybe even a block or two in lite metal.The lightest was Hoon & Morehouse F85 powered car ran on gas & sometimes fuel.It was so lite they had to run a very narrow tire maybe 7" to get enough unit pressure loading to get any bite (pounds of car weight applied /square inch of tire contact) wide tires would just blow smoke.Got to remember stiff sidewalls hard rubber tires and lots more air pressure then modern slicks run.
Glad to see I am stiring some brain cells , some of my labels on pictures are just from my memory the slides and prints are not labeled and things get a little confused here inside the dented helmet after almost 50 years since I shot them. Enjoy all

 

Look closer........it's a coupe, not a pickup; so it's not the Duncan & Shores truck. Still, don't think I've seen this coupe before.

 

Before & after a little crop Pomona 64 I like the after crop photo but some of the stuff in the before shot is to good for this thread to not post it.

 

Fred and Ed Allison both worked at M/T. They used MAG blocks left over from M/T's Indy car efforts.

 

Growing up In Fish Canyon in Duarte, up on the foothills, not only could we hear the drags, we would get up on the roof of our house with this big ass telescope (at least it seemed big to a pre teen) and watch the runs. It was funny because we would see the cars do the burn out, stage and then hear it. The run would be over and then then we'd hear the actual race. Ahhh, Good Times

 

Thats fellow HAMBSTER Merek Chertkow behind the controls of Ed Taylors AA/MFR.

 

You passed the test! Thought some might ID that car.

 

Here is one for the 6 popper fans. Kay Sissell was an early master of air flow technology his 6's really made power

 

Well, if 6 doesn't deo it, go with 12!
Here's Sissell at Famosa

 

Anybody ever hear of these guys

 

Ummm, duh...John Force?

 

This truck (The Burgoise & Wade pickup earlier in its life I believe) was destroyed while it was parked at a street racing site (Wentworth St. in Sunland Ca.) by a passer by who was to busy goking at the scene and not watching were they were going, they rearended the Willys at about 45mph and totaled it.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom S. in Tn.
I've had a hard time trying to tell people these nitro cars used to could weigh 800 something #. I've seen them on cargo scales. Weight was the Chev advantage over heavier Chrysler. Tom S. in Tn.

I recall a car that tried a lightweight Ford small block, but the thinwall castings and cast crank never worked. In fact, these cars in general never worked around here in my region due to the poor tracks until many years later, and then due to some pretty tragic accidents involving spectators, the underwriters to what tracks were left outlawed everything accept gasoline and methanol, and in some places even superchargers. Had to leave the region north, out west, or much farther south Ga. or into Fla. to find decent quality tracks capable of supporting fuelers of any kind. Instead, steel bodied altereds claiming to be stockers grew out of the necessity to compensate using exotic fuels and later hi-horse blown motors.

I've read commentary of the car you mention right here on this site a while back. Those cells are stirring, but sadly they've gone from light dove gray to a darker charcoal color. Couldn't be tire and exhaust fumes, must be all those years listening to Skynard. Tom S. in Tn.

 

That looks like a Willys Coupe door you see through the windshield. I dont believe its a pick-up.

Pat

 

How cool is that.

 

Although the Sissell cars are restored and shown and ran, Mr. Sissell passed away several years ago at less than 60 years of age.

 

Old super 8 drag video, I'm guessing around '61


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=20X_zM8Tl4M

 

I just wanted to thank everyone for posting all the great pictures because I sit here looking at picture after picture of cars I have not seen in years.

It's funny how just looking at the old pictures brings back so many wonderful memories from a time when everything just seemed so much better and we all had so much fun.

Many Thanks Jimbo

 

Mike Kirby, Kay Sissell's partner for many years is still machining parts and building straight 6 Chevrolet motors. He still owns the twin dragster. I saw it less than a week ago, sitting in his machine shop in Covina, California. Mike appears to be the driver of the car pictured in post #30569. He has run the car locally in the NHRA nostalgia series for the past few years. It's still in beautiful condition and really should be preserved for what it is, automotive art at its best.

c

 

This car had some Sissell parts in it back in the early 70's

 

Yes

 

This thread is solid gold.

 

Anybody else need a Fiat fix?

 

The black car just doesn't look right,front wheels look odd, could it be photoshopped

 

Thanks for the Fiats Rick. The only thing I love more than Fiat altereds is that old blue Ford whipping up on Pat Helmick in Gary Slusser's candy orange Fiat in the first pic! Yep, Jungle Larry got him two straight, I was there.

 

here's another one, hopefully hasnt been posted already

 

nanook on a bad day,,


hemi blues, never seen this one before