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

wow! What's the back story on this one?

 

I have the magazine article, but I found this first.
Quite a valuable car as it was one of only about five thousand built with the 350 hp 327.

http://www.dragzine.com/news/flashback-friday-tommy-stringfields-1128ci-triple-engine-nova/

 

That looks like Barb Hamilton in the Willys.

 

'58 NHRA Nationals, Art Chrisman in the Hustler I on gas vs. Ted Cyr in the Cyr & Hopper "Ole Blue," which they towed back to the Nationals to sell, but when their new blown Chrysler TE-440 car lost, they rolled Ole Blue off the trailer and raced it, beating Chrisman in this race and taking Top Eliminator. "For Sale" signs still on the car. The win didn't sell the car, so Ted towed it back to Escondido CA and put two blown Chryslers in it.


A/R at Fremont...before the roadster and altered classes were combined.


The Hustler I, seen on gas above, got a top-mounted blower and a dose of nitro, but not before Chrisman boomed the front-mounted blower, damaging the body and there was not time to repaint it before the first Smoker's meet...didn't matter, Chrisman won top fuel there.


Rod Stuckey leaves the line at Half Moon Bay, his pink wagon tow car behind...this may have been the run where Rod was badly burned...


Bob Gorman's Bantam-bodied coupe at Pomona, maybe '54...Here he ran a flathead, later a Studebaker, ran 124 with it.


Saugus, from the Baker Collection...shows that full bodied cars were evolving from street-driven (the '34) to the full competition -- the 40 Ford which has lost its street equipment and gone full competition. It is interesting to recall that support for early drag strips came from community leaders and police officers who wanted to stop street racing, yet even by the mid-'50s, street-driven cars were becoming uncompetitive because of this evolution...of course, some hot rodders may have just sold their street hot rods to build a comp. car, or upgraded to competition only.


Pete Ogden in his Desoto-powered roadster, maybe Vacaville. Pete was a noted builder who later fabricated Pure Hell and a number of other famous cars. Romeo Palamides was an early caster of magnesium wheels, as seen on the rear of this car. My dim memory seems to recall that the Palamides Wheel Company somehow evolved into American Racing Equipment...corrections are always welcome.

 

Thanks! Helluva story. My kind of racer.

 

The '61 Ford, is Jim Price, 390-401 hp, he was sponsored by Pope Ford out of Renton,Wa. In 1962 he ran two different '62 Fords, one was a "Factory Lightweight". His main competition was Portland's Bill Ireland, and in '64 they both had Thunderbolts, Ireland had "Oregon Ford Dealers" as a sponsor, and Portland auto dealer Marv Tonkin, supplied Jim's. What a thrill to have (2) of these cars racing locally,notice the tow-bar brackets on both cars.

 

For the last many years, The "Orange Crate" has been displayed at car shows, but now thanks to our own "Saltracer 219", it runs ! Gary re-built the Blown Olds. I watched it many times in the early 60's.

 

Race car turned show car returned to a race car. COOL!!

 

The late George Whalen's Rebel Cuda in action at Pocono Drag Lodge.

Rebel 'cuda. by Jack Thomas posted Feb 14, 2009 at 8:40 AM

 

Ray is one of my Dad's racing friends. Really, really like this pic.

 

Does that wagon in the other lane have a friggen jet engine in the back!!! Sure
looks like it to me, and it says "Flamin Funny Wagon on the side!!!

 

Yes, It does have a jet engine.

 

That's the way I remember it. Palamides into American Racing.

 

Anyone?

 

A friend sent this to me, Albuquerque Dragway around 64.

 

If this is the car that was featured in Hot Rod magazine in the sixties it belonged to two brothers who lived in Long Beach, Ca. A friend of mine, John Hoven, tracked them down in the early seventies in an effort to find out what they had learned about the centrifugal blower in a drag race application. They invited him down to their house and I rode with him one evening. They showed and told him everything they had learned and then gave him boxes full of parts and pieces and said "we're done with it, why don't you give it a try" to which he gladly accepted. He never got around to trying it; experimenting and testing gets awfully expensive when you're trying to run a fuel funny car every week. That box of parts is still floating around southern cal somewhere just waiting to be found.