History Drag Roadsters............picture thread

Gary, I was only showing what Harold did after the Bantam, I should have showed his 33 Plymouth 4 door Tow/Push car he used when he raced the Roadster. I will delete the Dragster photo.

 

I post pictures of 67 Camaros? WTF?

 

post 1363 ,Oregon racers,A bitchin funny car that I happened to like.My point was let's not get so narrow, that we can't learn some history along the way..BTW,you post a Lot of great photos. Thanks!

 

The drag cars in motion and the days gone by thread have, in my understanding, more latitude than others because of their very nature. The 50's and 60's is the Golden Age of Drag Racing, particularly the 1960's. The 60's are days gone by, almost all pictures are pre 64, but it isn't really off topic if they aren't. As long as they are pre 70, even those have exceptions.
Ryan has never expressed any displeasure or chastised me for my posts, it's HIS site. I asked him recently if I was out of bounds, no problem with him as far as I know. When the ROADSTERS thread features NOT ROADSTERS it off topic. The dragster pictures can be posted on other threads. Simple as that really.

 

Jim Livingston (Woodburn Dragstrip Owner) very early 60's. Do I get a reprieve ?

 

Allright girls, you're both pretty, don't fight.....

 

Jim Livingston again, only this time with Ramcharger power and "Sickle Fenders" a move to Street Roadster class.

 

Santa Ana, no other i.d.

 

Tony Nancy 22 jr at 1959 Riverside
Hello,

Tony Nancy always had the reputation for having the shiniest, fanciest, most well built cars during this time period of the late 50’s into the 60’s. His famous 22 jr roadster was the prime example of his building techniques. This roadster was the epitome of race car looks, sound, and coolness. My brother always wanted to drive that car on the street as well as on the dragstrip. It has been in many magazines, but we were fortunate to see it up close at Riverside Raceway in 1959.

Jnaki

At the time, it took a lot of money to build such a cool looking, performing roadster. That was a category that most backyard builders could not match. But, it was awesome.

 

Running AA/A must have been real early look at the old cars in the pits

 

Do you know where that picture of the AA/A was taken? That looks a lot like the Corvair we had in those days.

 

No sure don't it was just in a batch of photos.

 

Don't want to pick nits, but the first two aren't roadsters.

 

Well, technically the Austin Healey does qualify as a roadster, seats two, no roll up windows.....

 

But, it wasn't raced as a roadster.

 

Austin Healeys, Triumphs, MGs and many others were raced as topless roadsters in SCCA amateur classes. Still are.

 

Try these LOL

 

I thought we were talking drag racing here. NHRA rules put Healeys and the like in Modified Sports classes. I doubt Norm Cowdry's 9 second Healey ever ran an SCCA road race.

 

Dean,
Didn't No Hot Rods Anymore put the Corvettes in Modified Sports as well? What about the early Thunderbirds? By the time I came along in the late 60's all the rules had changed.

 

Hello,

The sports cars had their own classes from the time we saw them in 1958-60. It was almost as popular as the big 3 Stock classes. As the Corvettes were modified, then they jumped up to the modified sports class to run with the Devin bodied cars, Sam Parriot’s Kurtis at Lions Dragstrip and other places.

Jnaki
sports cars:

sam parriot vs mod corvette

 

devin roadster
modified sports car: M/SP
Hello,
Here is the Devin bodied sports car that was in the modified sports car class. (M/SP) Since it was not a factory stock sports car, it had to be in a modified class. Lightweight fiberglass body, modified motor, all make it much faster than the stock Corvettes.

Jnaki

But, the one that stood out was this black primered modified sports car that ruled the sports car classes at Lions for a while. That black primered one sure looks like the one our friend had built for the sports car class at the drags. At the time, everyone else locally, was building Fords, Willys, Chevies for the gas coupes and sedan classes. He wanted to be different, so another different fiberglass sports car body plus a huge modified V8 with a 671. That was one of the only big V8 + 671 in a sports car besides that Austin Healey of Norm Cowdry. None of these modified sports cars ran in the SCCA as they were pure drag racing cars. The stock sports cars? Maybe, but certainly not the modified ones…
red devin:


M/SP:

 

Mike, you are correct. The NHRA, in the name of pure profit, muddied up the street classes so bad that after a while there was very little distinction. Gassers tried to run altered classes so they could still race when the gas class, street roadster class, and sports car class were all lumped together in "competition" eliminator", or what ever they called it. They wanted to make the show more "professional", and the racers and crowds suffered for it. The computer controlled stops have made that class a joke to watch. The only thing NHRA has done right in the last 30 years is to run top fuel Harleys this year. Now THAT is a show!

 

That's more like it.

Bad decisions make good stories.

 

Top Fuel Harleys make you giggle and shiver a bit!!! You have to be down in the staging area to get the full benefit!

 

Until I watched those guys, I thought funny car drivers were insane!

 

Note back wheels tucked INSIDE body









From sixgun

 

I humbly apologize in advance to anyone offended that this batch has no caption or photo credits attached I post them as I find them. Mea Culpa Mea Culpa. If any of these are your work please send me a PM and I will add the info immediately.







Different headers

 

Loudbang, PLEASE just keep doing what you're doing.

 

Here's my newly acquired 1930 Model A Coupster that we believe was built and ran somewhere in the 1954-1957 timeframe in Street Roadster:



If you have any recollection, information, or pictures of this car back in the day, please let me know.

I have a thread dedicated to this car here too.

 

Jerry Hays Street Cleaner