I'm supposed to be picking up most of a 1941 Ford pickup here in a week or so and my son and I are wanting to build it for drag racing. I've seen a number of Willys pickups that were drag raced "back in the day", but can't recall any others. I'm hoping you guys can post some pictures of non-Willys pickups that were seen on drag strips in the past. Thanks
This was a somewhat later build than from "way back", not pretty but ran like stink, had big block Ford power, this is at Woodburn Dragstrip.
Early 2000s.Traded a roto-tiller for this rough '40 Ford pickup. The plan was to build a street/track hot rod. Frame was junk so I used a mid;'60s Datsun pickup frame with torsion bar front suspension. No front sheetmetal so I eventually adapted '37 passenger car front. 302/C4. Looked kind goofy so I blew it apart and chopped it. Final version. Only took it to the track twice...too short of a wheelbase, too squirrely, wouldn't hook up...managed to scare the crap outta me though. Just drove as a "street" truck for 10 years.
Hello, When I was wandering all over the newly created Lion’s Dragstrip Museum on the first grand opening day, I saw a yellow Ford Truck parked out in the back lot. It was as if the timeline went back to 1959 and I was 15, again… I was staring at a memory that has always been in my 2nd favorite 56 Ford truck model. The first favorite was a custom Tahitian Red/Candy Apple color modified custom truck that was one of the first customs we saw in So Cal as little kids in our Westside of Long Beach neighborhood. But, this one was "the" truck we saw consistently at Lion's Dragstrip almost weekly from 1957 to 1960. I was able to shoot a quick photo of the newly updated truck at the first edition of the Lion’s Dragstrip Museum in Long Beach. It is the 2017 updated style, but pretty accurate in its early form. The rest of the paraphernalia would be added later in the final display. I had to shoot and run as the saying goes. Inside the museum later in the day's displays. Jnaki In the February 1959 issue of Drag News, this ad popped up and was an instant flashback to those days of filming drag racing at Lion’s Dragstrip. 1959 Lion’s Dragstrip Charlie Ettien on right side of staging lane. (yellow) My brother and I saw it run fully loaded and completely empty. It was impressive either way. Not bad for a daily driver that is a workhorse and a weekend drag racer. The following year, we started our 40 Willys Coupe build and entered in the B/Gas and eventually C/Gas class. The road was going to be "rough" ahead for us... Who would have thought that this GMC Supercharged Hemi Motor was in this 56 Ford Truck then and now? A 58 year old memory of a most unusual daily driver truck, of the time period. Empty bed truck in competition: B/Gas class. Fully loaded or with implements in the bed: C/Gas class...YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
