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

Just something about this car that I like.

 

I wonder if I can still get this poster....

 

Unique set of headers on that Plymouth.

 

James that’s because that’s what an individual could have built it in his own garage it wasn’t a factory car there were very few real factory built afx cars and they had money spent on them and trust me they looked way better in pictures than they did in real life

 

No doubt…Can somebody invent a time machine already…look at those pics of Al Berger at Detroit….such better times…

 

Leland Kolb's "Whiz Bang," at the '58 Nationals..Leland at left..Glenn Ward photo.


Dick Price roadster, at right, racing a the Marine Air Corps base at Tustin, early 1950. Robert Caanan photo.


Fred Waterworth's Bantam coupe, 370" Olds...Fred ran out of Ak Miller's shop in Whittier....58 Nationals, Glenn Ward photo


Warden & Cole, Lefty chassis, at San Gabriel...Steve Gibbs photo


Walt Nichols leaves the Santa Ana line, C.J. Hart with the flag. Nichols brothers Olds powered dragster with Quincy Automotive sponsorship...Larry Rose photo


Pete Seaton ran a number of cars, including this Barris custom '55. Karen White photo, at Santa Maria


Kenny Safford at Pomona


Very early at Santa Ana...Screwdrivers of Culver City photo


Charles Kleckner, Great Neck, New York, won B/MR at the '58 NHRA Nationals. Glenn Ward photo


Norm Catton, at right, blown flathead, Santa Ana, April 1957...Life Magazine photo


'34 roadster at Saugus, around '54.


T coupe at the '58 NHRA Nationals


Mickey Thompson goes off against Ed Losinski, Pomona, 1954. Photo can be found in Robert C. Post's "High Performance," one of the best histories of drag racing...ever.

 

A very young Shirley with first husband Jack...

 

Don Rackemann/Lou Baney Yeakel Cadillac roadster at Saugus. Danny O'Brien built it around 1952. It might have been the first fuel roadster to run a Hydramatic, built by Fran Hernandez. Photo at Saugus, around '55 or '56.

 

Goodyear & Serpa "Pacific Body Shop," 296" flathead...was once Harry Duncan's "Jitterbug," --- photo from Saugus.

 

Funny lookin'

 

Well, it is supposed to be a " funny car ".

 

The Goodyear and Serpa "Pacific Auto Body" coupe with a 296" flathead. The team bought the car from Harry Duncan. Norm Grudem photo.


Hello,

I liked the way the Pacific Auto Body Altered Coupe looked. It had history from other big names in drag racing and did their own thing in creating the coupe and push truck. I was researching early flames and this coupe had very small claws from the scallop tips. It seemed to be a transition from pure scallops going back from the nose to adding small claws. Then the next level of flames opened the claws and added the fancy swoopy ends, as we now see flames on hot rods.

Here is a version of the chopped 3 window coupe and truck from those early days at Lion’s Dragstrip. The photo is in the Altered Coupe lane of the Class Lanes at Lion’s Dragstrip , next to the return road to the pits. (Inspiration for the artwork...)

There were no color photographs of the Pacific Auto Body Altered Coupe and so I used a colorization program to see if some color could pop into the correct color patterns. This old Friday art was the result of the colorization program color choice and flames.

The colorization program is pretty accurate and as the grass is green, the sky is blue and the same design on the Ford pickup push truck is the same color. Then it must be the correct choice for the original color of the altered coupe.

Jnaki

Norm Gruden took some great photos back in those early days and most were black/white. B/W is less expensive and can be developed at home as well as printed easily in a dark room. Color processing back then was complicated and very expensive.
Thanks for a good base to work with in a program

 

Lew Arrington Brutus having issues...

 

Bandel Brothers ex-Surfers II...by Don Prieto:

 

I'm not sure how much journalistic license Don Prieto put into this story...but he is a great writer. The Bandel brothers did run this car for a short time, but Jobe and Skinner didnt' think that they were serious about getting Surfer performance out of the car and gave up on them. The car got sold to Gordon Tatum, and there is a long and convoluted history of it after Tatum.

 

That is true, clouded in mystery...it sold at the Hanna auction but no one can say where it went.
Jobe was completely fed up with the Bandel brothers, here's his notes:

 

I remember seeing Richie Bandel race at Connecticut Drag-Way. I couldn't believe that he could get all of his long hair in the helmet.

 

Wow, "Hellspoppin" with a supercharger instead of injected tubes sticking up.
I don't think I ever saw that before.

Jimbo