The name "dago" axle came from shortening the name of San Diego. Kolbeck's on Market Street in San Diego was the first to drop the ends on Ford I beam axles. I had a friend (now deceased) that worked at Kolbeck's during that time.
Photo and text from The American Hot Rod Foundation- This 1940 shot of one of the McNatt Brothers' Racing Tub Phaeton certainly has a down-in-the-weeds Tude. It was later run into by a big dump truck and disposed of. Sad. ©AHRF/McNatt Family Collection (MCN_238)
Yes there were white lettered tires in the 40s. Since it was a racing model I pulled this image of a 1940 Indy car. Note it has the same white letter tires.
This is what we considered the stink bug stance in the 70’s. Many of these were used in my high school parking lot.
The letters on those tires were painted, and race tires still have the name painted on today. From a tire engineering standpoint, a whitewall or current white lettered tire has a built in defect, and no one would build race tires in the way that those tires are constructed. A whitewall or white lettered tire for street use has a strip of white rubber around the sidewall, and that strip has to be wrapped in a layer of non-staining rubber else the carbon black in the remainder of the tire would migrate into the white rubber when cured. The problem with both white rubber and non-staining rubber is that they have near zero structural strength. IOW, they make up a purely decorative area within the tire that adds no benefit but also creates a discontinuity in the tire's construction. Okay for street use, but would never be used in the construction of a race tire.
1965 Chevelle two door station wagon to El Camino hiding in plain sight Hello, One of our favorite cars that always kept crawling into our conversation was a two door 1965 Chevelle station wagon. It had the look as a newer Nomad, without the “Nomad” exclusivity or price. Since it was a standard Chevelle model, (not an El Camino) it could be ordered with stuff we wanted back then. And now, if it were our daily driver for all sorts of short or long distance road trips. A two door station wagon with a 396 motor, A/C, 4 speed, Positraction and bucket seats were the items we wanted in our original El Camino in 1965. But, as “dumb” factory rules were, although they were in the factory parts departments and installed in the Chevelle lineup, it was not available in the El Camino. What was that “stupid” reasoning? Perhaps, it was all for the better in our situation, the 327 4 barrel + automatic + bench seat + Positraction gave us 125k miles with only one water pump replacement at 120k the only thing necessary to repair. Jnaki So, if we were to have purchased one found with all of our above requirements, it would have also been red in color. Level 80% of the time and with the added “air shocks” to the rear and a pump + this handy device to allow us to give more support in the back in place. (custom air shock gauge) it would have been a great touring vehicle. A slight rake, secure area in the back, plenty of room for our little dog to run around while we were driving on our road trips. Plus, with the touch of a button, air would be added to the shocks prior to adding heavier loads, like small leather sofas, custom chairs and trees/large plants for our backyard activities. Yes, those all fit into the El Camino bed with ease, but they were not secure unless tied down and covered with a tarp. Even two or more heavy longboards (plus necessary beach supplies) would have necessitated some air in the rear shocks to keep the driving line straight and level. Note: Prior to loading up the back with camping gear, cooler, beach stuff,chairs, umbrella, three/four longboards, air would have been added to the empty station wagon area. Then the “stink bug” definitely would have come into play, as we loaded the necessary supplies for an all day excursion to the beach and waves. A red “stink bug” sitting in the driveway ready for some action… The good thing would have been the look of a serious “rake” versus the normal rake as the items were added to the rear compartment. The air shocks taking the brunt of the heavier necessary items for a good day at the coastal area playground. YRMV
From Andy Southard's home movies posted on Youtube by Speed and Kulture. The full video, someone really needs to go back in time and tell these people everything they are doing wrong! I see four doors, patina, and bare steel wheels everyone none of these things never happen in the past on hot rods and customs!
The Jalopy Journal
