History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

This is really early history, not in motion, though. Bob Rounthwaite and Tom "Acmo" McLaughlin's "Thingie" in 1951. I think this photo was shot as Saugus, not sure. 326" GMC, note how all the weight is moved to the back and the engine is up in front for better weight transfer. These guys were members of the Glendale Coupe and Roadster Club, another member was Don Montgomery, whose book provided the information, thanks to the George Klass site for the photo. I think Acmo is on the left, met him in the very early '60s...he was a master hot rodder who ran a gamut of cars, from a Hollywood Graham with this GMC to a '41 Ford sedan. Bob Rounthwaite ran a beautiful '34 lakes coupe that made the cover of Hot Rod Magazine. These guys were what hot rodding was all about.



I think that this is the "Thingie" above after Bob and Tom sold it, full body and flathead this time, Pomona, early '50s. Photo also from the George Klass collection.

 

hope this works

 

another

 

D.a.

 

getting ready

 

Rick, thanks for posting...third picture looks like D.A. Santucci? If so, here is another earlier picture of D.A. in a roadster, looks like Buick powered (?), from the George Klass collection...

 

ya.. thats D.A. in blue shirt..the other is Gorden Collett in the other picture...took them while waiting in staging lane...i didnt know D.A. had a roadster ...

 

Norm Reis in 35704.

 

Anyone know this car from back in the day?

 

Some of those old drag cars look rather scary to drive to be honest with you.

Just saying!!!!!!!!!! Jimbo

 

you are right

 

pit shots

 

more

 

here's another from Windsor dragway

 

George It was nice to see the photo of Gene's 554 coupe and my '32 in your listings. The photo was taken at Colton at the NHRA Regonal Championships on May 15.1955. I was proud of the fact that my coupe turned the fastest A/F time at any NHRA meet in 1955. But I could see that the days for the GMC engine were numbered so I switched to a Chrysler in 1956.
A number of years ago a fellow in Texas got the body to my old '32 coupe. Later Dave Crouse, in Colorado, restored the coupe to the way it was when Larry Shinoda owned it before I had it. It has been displayed at the Grand National Roadster Show and other shows.
Colton was a good strip to race on except it was short and you did not want to over the hill at the end. It was just a small aircraft strip. Good times.

Don

 

Bob Rounthwaite owned the Thinge. Tom "Acmo" McLaughlin owned the GMC engine. Both were Glendale Coupe and Roadster Club members. Bob sold the Thinge to Jake Smith, also Glendale Coupe and Roadster Club member. Jake added his flathead engine and body panels. The driver sitting over the rear end was unique at that time. The "rail job" came "out of the hole" quicker than the competition.
The top photo was taken by Bill Coleman, also a GCRC member, at the Saugus drags run by Lou Senter and Lou Baney. Bob is on the right and Tom on the left with his hand on the roll bar. The lower photo shows Jake in the dragster.
Don

 

Thanks, Don, for filling in the details...I didn't know your old coupe was found and restored as Larry Shinoda had it

....somewhere in the back of my mind is the fact that when you ran a blown Chrysler in it, you used a Gilmer belt drive, I think that this was the first time the now standard Gilmer drive was used on a blown Chrysler....

 

I built a Chysler in late 1955 with a Scot blower on it to replace my 12 port GMC engine. Weiand gave me a 4 carb manifold that I fabricated a rectangular log manifold on top. I believe that Don Yates had built a blown flathead with a Gilmer belt drive that was shown in a magazine and Don's engine also made a few passes in Art Chrisman's 25 dragster. I thought the Gilmer belt idea might be good for me. There were no racing pulleys available so I used steel industrial pulleys. Unfortunately the diameters were small and the 2" belts would shear teeth unless I was careful.
Later I even tried a triple chain drive setup to replace the cost of blower belts. Around 1960 Weiand came out with his blower setup so I switched to a GMC blower and Weiands stuff.
Proper Gilmer drive pulleys came out in the very late 1950s. Remember in the late 1950s guys like Art Chrisman and Doug Hartelt were trying front drive blowers, but they had some problems. Finally Cragar, Weiand, Delta Machine, Isky and others started making blower drive setups.
Since Don Yates only ran his Gilmer setup a couple of times perhaps I can claim credit for the first to continually race with a Gilmer belt drive. Who knows?
Don

 

Don, I think that this is your coupe when Larry ran it, looks like Pomona (personally, I liked it better when Don had it, with the fenders, required at that time for fuel coupes/sedans:

 

...and, speaking of coupes, here an another couple from the George Klass collection:

The Masters-sponsored "Master's Drag Coupe, beautiful gold-with-red-stripe in the Dragliner tradition, Chev-powered, saw it at Santa Ana, maybe '58...well built, strong runner



Jay Cheatham, Sunnyvale, CA, ran an Olds...Sadly Jay was killed at the first Smoker's meet in '59 in his gas-burning dragster.

 

Did Charley Allen ever have one of these cars? I remember in about 64-65 in front of the gym at West Covina (CA) High School someone doing exhibition burnouts. Seems to me the car had blue sides.

 

My memory is sort of faded on the Dodge Chargers, but I think that Jimmy Nix had one, and Jim Nelson maybe? Didn't Dragmaster build them for the Chrysler Corp? I don't remember Charley Allen having one, but do remember his early altered wheelbase MoPar.

 

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's contributed to this thread. This history is priceless!

Great stuff!

 

Here is another shot of the "Thingie" at Pomona, from the Norm Grudem collection, posted on Don Ewald's site. This is really early Pomona, notice the Hollywood Graham behind "Thingie," I think Tom McLaughin ran one, but then again that is his GMC in the dragster. (Pomona was surrounded by orange groves back then, and pump houses to water them. There was a pump house at the end of the track for years; you can see one in the background)



And, since Don Montgomery mentioned Don Yates in an earlier post, here he is in the Vesco and Yates Fargo 4-banger at Saugus, 1955, from the same collection. Don later went on to drive top fuel cars, but his real love was fuel 4-bangers. He was also a pretty good bar fighter, Jim Ward told me one Sunday that he had to bail Yates out of jail so he could drive for him...

 

Could have sworn it was Charlie Allen. But the car was a Dodge Charger with a blown wedge and fender well headers, and my memory tells me the car had blue sides, but memory isn't what it once was. Did Nix or Nelson ever do exhibitions at schools? I couldn't see something like this happening today, we just stood around and watched. Somebody out there has to know.

Found this article on a web page. Another southern Calif kid saw the same thing.
I read your "historical notes". For quite sometime now (years) I have
been trying to find info on the exhibition cars that made an appearance
in 1964, known as the Dodge 'CHARGERS'. Your article mentions these 2
cars in the very last paragraph. I was beginning to wonder whether the
actual existance of the cars was maybe some kind of a figment of my
imagination. But back in the spring of `64, a red white and blue, with
blown injected hemi 426, came to my high school in So. Calif. It's
driver was a young fellow named Charlie Allen, He fired that big
beautiful beast up right there on my very own campus, and absolutely
made the hair on my head stand straight up, and if that wasn't enough,
he then put that GORGEOUS monster in reverse, backed up a few yards, and
did a about 4 burnouts, holy shit, right there in front of my great big
wide teen-age eyes! I WAS HOOKED FROM THAT MOMENT ON!!! My greatest
wish, would be to someday build a clone of that car.
Anyway, after all these years, yours was the only article that ever
made mention of the existance of any of thse FX cars. They were probably
the first to be designated FX, for "factory experimental". And I have
never heard the name Charlie Allen again since.
If you have, or know of any place that I can find any info on him
and these cars, could you PLEASE let me know.I would like to know what
ever happened to the man that started my love of drag racing (C. Allen).
And I would be most pleased to find any info on the actual specs and
diagrams of these fabulous cars. I've always said that I believe those
cars were the great grand parents of today's Funny Cars.

with regards,
Bruce Beaven

He says Hemi, I say wedge. Flip a coin.

 

According to Dave Wallace, Johnson's car was hauled around by Allen to its dealer display dates at the end of '64, after which he bought the car and put it in storage until mid-'65 when he sold it to finance his purple Dart funny car. It apparently has never surfaced.

As a side note, Big Mike Burkhart's Nova was painted red on one side and blue on the other (with white down the middle). Many people thought he had two cars because they saw "the blue car at Green Valley" or "the red car at Dallas"!
(David Ray photo)

 

The Chargers did go on tour, not sure if they did exibitions but they may have...and if they contracted for local drivers, Charlie Allen could have been one of them...here is what may be his first funny car, at Irwindale, from Don Ewald's site:

 

You are correct, this got my curiosity up and I found this site...apparently Charley Allen got the engine first, then the car:

http://www.allpar.com/racing/chargers.html

 

I remember Charlies altered wheel base car at Irwindale. The Charger that I saw at school didn't have an altered wheel base. Charlie was based in Covina , Ca. I believe, but that is what I think I remember. LOL

 

Found this source as well: http://moparmax.com/features/2006/i_3-chargers-1.html