History Fremont Drag Strip ... PICS from 1964!!!

Sensational pix and documentary film. I never got to Fremont but it looked like a way cool spot in the day. What a thrill to se all these historical diggers. Yeah, love the white pants on the crews, a very classic look from the day, when Omaha legend drag racer Gene Kidder came to my hometown track, I would be knocked out with the white pants and chain stitched logo crew shirts. Thanx for this historic glimpse of an important era. ~sololobo~

 

Just a bump to the top. Can't let this one go. Still looking for friends of Al Jewell. Thanks.

 

Goodnight-Keith-Williamson 1st week debut at Fremont, Ca. Ron Love (RL)
and another familiar face checkin it out. Fuller chassis Jack Hagemann body 1965. Soon to be Courtesy Chevrolet BIG Block Chevrolet after U.S Drag Racing Festival in England.
Head Wrench and "Shoe" Bob Keith. My Job.....Helping pack the parachute, getting in the way and Chief Hamburger, Soda chaser. I was good at all of the above!

 

Can't believe I missed this thread. Made my evening. Back up top please!

 

I remember watching the drags here as a kid. remember seeing Sprint cars too. Same place? Seems my fuzzy memory wants to say it was called Baylands or something.

Those pictures are amazing!!

 

Very Cool - the land where the actual strip is still there, just dirt now. plans to develop on it never happened. what a waste.

 

Right you are. 'Baylands Race Park' was its proposed new name, they dredged a man-made lake in the '60s, ran weekly boat drags.
And later, (1969) a trans-terra course for off-road racing. (we ran some fast VWs and a Cortina under the J.B. Beetle banner from Santa Cruz at the time...)
The Snarr family was track champ then, those boys ran fast and consistent!

Anyone remember the 'ripples' at the end of the original Fremont strip shutoff area? Shivers!
Like to shook the axle out of our channeled 'A' Coupe...(1957)

 

Yep. A contingent of local racers (and Wally Parks himself) met with the Fremont city fathers after it closed...cited the 'Grandfather clause' of a historic site, as it was opened in 1957.

Their cries fell on deaf ears.

 

ahh cool thanks I lived a block away from the booby hatch In Newark as a kid circled the building a few times. ;-)

 

Just a bump to the top.

 

Considering the popularity of these pics on @M.Edell's "Fremont Dragstrip facebook page" ... I thought I'd give this old thread a bump!

 

Thank You

 

... and Thank You for adding the watermark to all of my father's images before posting them on facebook ... much appreciated!

 

I cant take all the credit for that."Skid" Mark Johnson is the one who has really been an asset to my page.I made him the Page manager and he has taken it to a whole other level.He really devotes a lot of time and effort to that page and it shows.The numbers have gone through the roof and Im very proud of the page and what Mark has contributed.Mark seems to know and be able to ID most of the race cars and their owners and background which blows me away.We are trying to put on a Fremont Reunion Car Show, it would be excellent if we could do it this year since its the 25th anniversary of its closing in November.That page would be nothing of course if it weren't for the fans who contribute pictures and information as well.Its about time Fremont Drag Strip gets the recognition it deserves.It managed to stay open for 30 years, almost twice as long as Lions.

 

Thanks for bringing back this thread.

 

To cool. Must have missed this the first time around. Thank you HEMI32 for your post and to Brinna B for bringing it back around! Dave.

 

damit.....thanks....and happy birthday....

 

it's my birthday tomorrow....and another link to the 195hr that ran Fremont....

 

where can we buy the tapes ?

 

Just a bump of an old thread ... 'cuz I spent a couple hours fixing all my posts with images hosted on Photobucket ... and replaced them with higher rez versions of the images.

 

Thanks Hemi 32....my avatar is the builder of the original late 50's 195 A/H fuel roadster which held the 1320 record for a time and the later nostalgic - late 80's 195 A/H fuel roadster - with me..........he was my Uncle Lawrence Brocchini.....out of Sacramento.......

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that is the old GM plant in the back ground shadowing the drag strip which later became NUMMI and is now the Tesla plant. Wasn't much out there then.

 

You are correct! ...

1962-1982: General Motors Fremont Assembly Plant


General Motors Co. opened the 5 million square foot assembly plant in 1962. Over the next 20
years, Fremont Assembly turned out midsize GMC trucks alongside some of today’s most highly
prized muscle cars: the Pontiac GTO, Oldsmobile 4-4-2, Chevrolet Chevelle and Buick Skylark.


1984-2009: New United Motors Manufacturing Inc.


In the early 1980s, both General Motors and Toyota faced obstacles. GM had to build small cars, but
they were lousy and lost money, and Toyota was facing import restrictions from the U.S. Congress so
it had to start building cars in United States. It wanted a U.S. partner who would teach it how to deal
with American workers (i.e., UAW union members). Toyota settled on the rough bunch in Fremont.
The partnership, which lasted a quarter of a century, ended with GM’s bankruptcy in 2009.


October 27, 2010-Present: Tesla Motors


​

 

@J.Ukrop’s TJJ Blog for today (Peak Obscurity) prompted me to bump this 10+ year old thread.

 

Great thread, Fremont was a special place, got me back into racing in 86, after an 11 year hiatus.

 

Wow forgot about this one.

 

Mid 1967 - I was there when one of those twin engine Olds was running. Can't remember if it was Smyser's "Terrifying Toronado" or the other one, but mid track, it either caught fire or filled full of tire smoke … the driver bailed out, threw his helmet as far as he could, & walked off …..
1985 Inliner's & Flathead nostalgia meet. Saw Jerry Moreland's '40 Tudor run 140 first time he'd ever driven the car since completion.

 

Thanks for the bump, managed to miss this the first eight or nine times. Simply outstanding!

 

Jerry Card’s swoopy, streamlined Competition Coupe

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/friday-art-show-5-1-20.1192441/#post-13562367 Jerry Card’s Competition Coupe

The later version of Jerry Card's Competition Coupe was based on his fast short wheelbase car from March 1960.

JERRY CARD AT BAKERSFIELD 1960


After the 1960 Bakersfield race, despite the “rolling start,” he was a little “BLUE…”

Hey H,

To keep the theme of Red, White and Blue going on this 4th of July weekend, I thought of my red 1965 El Camino and its history in Northern California. Thanks for the nice thread on the Fremont Dragstrip story from 1964. Don’t forget the GM Factory plant in Fremont also made the 1964/65 El Caminos. When I had my 1965 El Camino on the dealer’s ordering desk in Long Beach during the fall of 1964, I asked where it was being made. He said up in Fremont.

So, when the El Camino rolled into the dealer’s lot ready for me to drive home, I told it (the El Camino) that we would be going back up to his birth place very soon.
SF Bay Area photo shoot

Three months later in 1965, I drove approximately 420 miles to San Jose to go to college. Within the first month of January 1965, I was sitting in the stands at Fremont, just up the freeway from my apartment. On the way home, I stopped at the GM Factory to introduce my new El Camino to his birthplace. What stupid 20 somethings will do to keep the car satisfied and nice. Ha!

Jnaki

We did that drag race scene one more time, to try and keep the spirit of drag racing alive after our accident. But, that was strange, sitting in the bleachers and not being in the pits working or getting a race car ready. So, I was satisfied with the drags visits. The visit to the GM Factory sealed the car ties and closed the door to that whole chapter in our lives. Within a year, I was enrolled in Long Beach State College in So Cal until graduation.

The early prep talk and visit to the GM Factory must have worked as my wife and I drove over 100k miles together in the El Camino, all over So Cal, the mountains, deserts, Northern California bay/ocean coastlines and into Baja coastal areas several times. The only repair we had to do was a month before we decided to sell it in 1972, with over 125k miles on it. The water pump needed replacing at 125k. We sold El Camino to a gracious surfer guy from Dana Point, who immediately mentioned that the interior was brand new.

The Sure Fit Plastic Seat Covers were necessary for our desert motorcycle racing years. The clear seat covers paid off as it did look brand new when I took them off for the sale. He was a happy camper (surfer) and within a year, I saw the El Camino tooling down Coast Highway painted a different color, blue.