Features Corvette hot rods - picture thread

As always, thanks for your insight Jim. The world lost a lot of talent in that crash at Indy. I just googled Dave and saw that he only raced for 5 years. His was a common name when I was a kid. It also said he finished in the top three 70 times out of his 117 races. Pretty amazing feat.

 

Doug, I know enough about Dave McDonald to really respect him and his abilities for sure. Here are 3 pictures I took of his Z06 at Amelia Island in 2006 (I am pretty sure on the year-I think). I have seen the car a few times and it seems to give me a lump in my throat for whatever reason. The car did him no harm but I suppose it is remembering the way he died at Indy.

Here is another pic of his 62 Vette special built by Max Balchowsky. The car had a tube chassis and weighed less than 2000lbs, of course being towed by his 57 Nomad.

 

Another by tommyd in the drag cars in motion thread.

a CLASSIC

 

One of my all-time favorites.

 

I agree it was one of mine as well. Although some may not like the tires I am a fan of the tall tires.

 

I'm with you Jim, I guess it's the old racer in me I like filling up the wheel well in the side view. My 57 Belair has 31" tall tires in back 12" wide.

Pat

 

Tall front tires means more "Roll out" giving you that tiny edge Drag racing is exact you need to be precise in everything you do. I once lost by 0.003

 

Saw this last week-end at the Sacramento Autorama. The guy started with a bare shell less front clip and a stripped frame. Fab 9 rear with a massive tub job.

 

Found these in this great video of car haulers and how race cars were moved in the 60's. Great video with a LOT of super stars of the 60's too many too new for HAMB, the grump, sox and martin, ford drag team etc.

 

Good video there Loudbang. I have always been into haulers as well and really enjoyed watching the guys load the cars up at the end of the day. Some put them up on the haulers pretty quick and it was interesting to watch. I always wanted a Hodges bed but never fulfilled that wish. They were really reasonable in price. I did have an open trailer built that would haul two cars but sadly sold it to some guys that wanted to run two cars at Bonneville (back in the 80s-when I lived in SoCal).

 

For sure that was "My era" in the video when I was racing every weekend. I was drooling over them all, all we could afford was flat towing with bolt on hubs.

 

You want to talk about loading quickly one time the Grump was driving the black arrow Plymouth Hemi and something (I never did find out what) had him in wild man mode. He came steaming up the return road much faster than normal with the end of his cigar glowing hellfire red like a steam train getting up a head of steam. Never even stopped just DROVE RIGHT UP ON THE TRAILER crew people were jumping out of the way and he hops out and says "Get loaded up we are out of here". Well they were all loaded and gone in the fastest get out of town I have ever seen.

 

Loudbang, I remember several instances like you relate. Some of the older rigs that were basically stake trucks without sides needed steep ramps that were not easily loaded at a slow pace so the fast loading (for lack of a better term) was interesting to say the least. The guys that I raced with had a nice pickup and open trailer with a front mounted box but I was really grass roots. I always drove my cars and hoped for the best. I limped home a few times and was towed back home by my brother on the end of a rope when the failure was severe.

The thing that I find somewhat curious though is that I did not break more than I did. It seems today it is not too difficult to break things when I put my foot in it. Maybe it has to do with old parts because I know I did not baby my cars back in the 60s.

 

Hi Jim D, The car haulers are for sure very cool. But they represent the big Dollar guys. Us small fry used tow bars and tow spindles. We used to tow 100 miles into Pennsylvania to race that way. Without the tow spindles, if you broke the rear, you were screwed or had to pull the 3rd menber and put in a pipe over the axles. I am sure you remember those days.

All is not lost on the tow tabs, I now use them to mount the tie downs for the straps with forged eye bolts.
I am sure we did not break as many parts back then was because the tire technology back then sucked. I hardly broke stuff back in the 60s, When I build the black car as it is now, I have broken ever thing in the drive train several times, yet the car has yet to best the times from 1969. Granted, the engine is not as radical. That should change next time at the track.

Butch knew every one in town ( He was a local cop) and could borrow the flatbed from the local towing company. Pix below. Yes, that is a can of Bud 8:30 AM. That is the the way it was back then.About 1969/1970

Tow tabs


Early track day

 

Looks like Bluegrass Dragway just south of Lexington Ky, circa 1977, after the tower was remodeled.
Also, car using a Zoom clutch, apparently, and that company appeared mid 70s, as I recall.

 

Jim great pic and good stuff all around. You are correct on the tires and sticky track but I have broken too much on the street in the last 10 or 15 years. Broken rear end parts mostly so I am blaming it on old parts I suppose.

 

Cool hot rod .

 

Interesting looking slicks looks like they have treads on them?

 

56 Converted from drag car to Bonneville racer. 206 mph in 2013.
Dave

 

the 61 had just won it's class at US30(Gary)
the 57 was dad's project with a buddy, they sold it unfinished, never to be seen again.

 

this is dad's 57 in the eighties. yes it was cool then! it's in the garage to the left of the straight axle car in the pic above.

 

Scotty cool pictures. If I had to make a guess and if the 61 was running in an F class (depending if it was NHRA or AHRA (not sure which banner US30 was running under) I would imagine that the year was probably 1968 with a 270hp. No fuel injection script on the fenders, which is not a sure thing just another guess. In 69 they bumped the class down. Whatever year cool pic with all of the trophies.

 

if you look at the checkered flag plate on the hood it looks like it says AHRA. i've got a pit pass that i think is from that race that mom wrote 1964 on the back. not sure though. Mom & Dad are in florida i'll have to call and see if they remember. there's another cool pic that has Dad and another buddy holding the slicks in front of the car. by the way the guy in the pic is not my father it's his buddy who owned and drove the car.

 

Great pics Dave Gray and scotty t, thanks for posting. Here is one more.

 

FROM ANOTHER THREAD

 

Enloe, the coupe looks like a '65 with the roof vent. Wouldn't it be cool if the roadster was also a '65, making both 396's? Few built but many duplicated today.

 

The coupe is definitely a '65 and I zoomed the convert and don't see Corvette script on the hood; I think it too is a '65.

 

WOULDN'T THOSE BE 396 / 425 HP CARS?

 

If indeed they are both '65's they would be . 2157 built more then that exist now. When I used to go to Corvettes at Carlisle I made a game of counting them. Would see 6 to 10 every year. Kind of like all 67's 427's are now 435 hp.

 

I heard that