like to know in what era or time spann the flathead engine was used in dragraces. and also want to get every info on slingshot and fed dragsters available... i'm considering a build but want to do research so it will be period correct. thinking a '60 era dragster... thanks
I would say the 40's and 50's. By the time the 60's rolled around the days of the flathead were almost non existant. Some of us diehards still ran them but the overhead was king about the mid to late 50's.
Last flathead top eliminator at the nationals was the Rice dragster in 1956...maybe 1955? The dragster had two sets of engine mounts and was campaigned with a Hemi at some meets and flathead for others. Owner said flathead for ET, Chrysler for top speed...he chose the flathead for the nationals. After this period, the flathead was slipping waaay behind on displacement in comparison to the modern engines and slipped rapidly down the cl***ification scale, soon getting a special cl*** reserved for it and obsolete 6 cylinders...usually cl*** D for the oldies, cl*** X for bangers.
if you ck out the post that lucky 77 put in a few days ago of pics of henery ford museum pics, you will see a very good example of a ch***is research dragster,running a injected flat head. this car won bakersfield smokers event in 1961, in d gas dragster cl***. great story on this car. to youngsters on the farm in lockport illinois built it in the chicken coupe. and its now on display at henry ford. built from a original kit from scotty fenn. im building one of these myself.
I was at Half Moon bay when John bradley won top eliminator with the Gene's Brake Shop Special. A 9 second fuel flathead dragster. About '57-'58. When the diggers got into the low 9s and 8s, the flatheads were finished as Top Fuel cars
Stan Lomelino was one of the last hold outs. He was running and winning into the 60's with his all home built cars, motors and injection. I heard a story once that one of the big name injection guys gave him a set up to run on his car for them. Which he did most of the day then, when the finals came he put his home made injector back on and ran even faster.
I guess flatheads were basically done when they got their own cl***. I really don't know exactly what year that was, but it was before 1964. I'd guess around 59/60. Larry T
Hope this helps. http://www.draglist.com/Danny/fordfuel.htmPat Atkins raced a rail for Harold Nicholson in early California Top Eliminator with a nitro Flathead. We do not have an elapsed time or speed clocking for him. Don Yates drove his Yates & Mikkleson 275 cubic inch flathead to a 10.59 at 144.85 in 1954 using low doses of nitro to win Top Eliminator. John Bradley is known to many as 'Mr. Flathead' and rightfully so. He raced top fuel flatheads way into the early sixties at outlaw tracks that would sanction fuel races when NHRA thought nitro was a taboo subject. The Gene's Brake Shop car that made Bradley a fuel terror across the country ran 9.66 142.18 in 1957. Bradley had a dual-engine flathead dragster with S.C.O.T. blowers that ran 8.97 at 171.08. The car last ran during 1964 in outlaw fuel and flathead-only races. Stan Lomelino was Bradley's main rival during the 1960s. Stan also ran nitro in his flathead but probably should be listed somewhere other than the Top Fuel list in DragList.com. We do not have an elapsed time for Lomelino, who last ran around 1965 in California.
They were still running them in the '60s. I don't know how competative they were but there were still diehards around that ran 'em. I don't know if they had a cl*** specifically for them.
There's a bunch of flathead dragsters on here seems like new one's pop up every month START BUILDING!!
Stan the man Lomelino is alive and well. I see him almost weekly. He is an inspiration and a legend the likes of which most only wish they knew. he has stories that cons***ute a book He still holds national records and I'm honored to say I know him! Rs59
The Jalopy Journal
