I took my Lyndwwod dragster up to the old Vargo Dragway to re-create an old picture and took a few good shots...I wish I had an old dragstrip on my property Paul
Please correct me if I am wrong but were the Lyndwood dragster ch***is made in Lyndwood, M***. back in the late 50's and early 60's or am I thinking of something else that was made there? Jimbo
the Lyndwood dragsters were made by the lyndwood welding company in wilksbarre PA between 1957-64'ish. Pat Bilbow was the owner of the company as well as the designer & driver of many Lyndwood ch***is's. He made the "eliminator" series dragster ch***is as well as Altered's, you can get the whole scoop plus old catalog pics and history on the Lyndwood social group here on the hamb or on the Lyndwood eliminators facebook page. Paul
Very nice shots. Were you tempted to make a p*** in it? Have you run the car or is it display only? Either way, its a beaut...
I ran the car after I first restored it in 1/4 mile vintage exhibition from 1991-1995 along with Ej owalski & Bob Bilbow till NHRA said "no more". It was an injected 331 then. after that it was relegated to the corner of the garage but occ***ionally fired up and smoke the tires in the driveway. I started bringing it back out in 2001 to the York US-30 reunions & the vargo dragway reunions 2X a year, then in 2006 I had the itch to get blown so I built a new powerplant and ,actually have not even fired it yet? (I know I'm gonna get heat for that comment!). Its actually a waste of a great engine as it and the blower are prepped for racing? to my defense I was in no rush to fire it as I had no where to run it & I don't fit that well in it anymore + I had a 9sec fox body mustang that I was running in a 10.0 index cl*** to fill my racing void. I actually am preparing to fire the engine and see what she does, just waiting on a new hilborn fuel filter to come in. Oh and by the way i have been turning the engine over a few times a year while it's been sitting. as for making a p*** on the vargo strip.... those gr*** strips you see are about 2-3" deep and they are every 4 ft or so,very bumpy ride if you tried in a solid mounted suspension car. the owner willlet you do short smoke burn outs but no runs. If I could I'd put someone else in the car and go up to beaver springs to larry's event, it's easy to say I would but tough to let someone else take you pride and joy down the strip. too many "what if's?" cross my mind? thanks, for the comments guys!! Paul this picture was my last run down the E-town 1/4 mile in the dragster with an injected 331 1995. still have the fire suit,helmet,gloves & boots hanging on the wall of the garage
Can't really say I blame you Paul on maybe not running it ,being the price of the early parts has skyrocketed , I'm still picking up a few parts for the funny car I'm restoreing most seem to have turned to gold over the years, Cool pics ,car looks great as always, Tim Jones
That is a super cool dragster! Congrats, Paul. I hope you get to take more blasts down the dragstrip in it. Your thread brings back some memories. I can still remember wondering as a kid if that downhill dragstrip helped the et's. Back in about 1962 to 1966 we used to go to Vargo with my best friend's dad's Henry J g***er. By about 1966/67 when we were old enough to drive we'd "borrow" another friend's dad's new Buick Wildcat and take it to Vargo.
I was told by the late 1960's NHRA did not sanction the track because of the downhill nature of the last half of the track? Haven't been able to confirm it yet? Paul
You might be thinking of Lindblad Ch***is in Northbridge MA. Quite active with drag stuff back in the day. Just did a quick search and looks like still in business. Ed
what an amazing story and car Paul. Im so hooked on this stuff lately. Im going to build one but I guess I'll have to check the current teck requirements to run it while still keeping it nostalgia looking. I'll be in touch. Nice ride. hope to see it get some use again!!!
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