Terrific thread elgringo! I have a vague memory of what I think was a '40 Studie 2 door in black primer at Caddo Mills in about '60 running B/G with small shoe polish lettering along the door below the window that said "Pittman - Edwards". (sorry, not a Willys but an early "level" gasser). I could be confusing the memory with a similar car raced by "Fennel & Powers" at Caddo. I had a picture but it disappeared after "brand-X" and I divorced).
I am glad that you like the thread blackrat40 and it's good to see that it is bringing back some old memories. This footage 1960 Lions Drag Racing footage was just posted on The Jalopy Journal and it is a fantastic video. The Willys Coupes are at the 3:05 mark (looks like the Grist Brothers against an unknown 37-38 Willys. Then at the 13:30 mark and the 17:30 and the 21:10 and at the 23:05 there is a still shot of what might be the Pittman and Edwards car without lettering. There is another one at the 25:20 mark. There are at least 4 different Willys Coupes in the video and that seems like a lot for 1960 at Lions. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/?p=31265
Good question. Maybe some of the west coast guys can help with this. Here it is at one of the early NHRA Winternationals. "Bones" Balogh at the wheel. C/GS Class Champion. Looks like 62 or 63?
hello, the red willys with the white wall tires and the black rims was ks pitman in the early days before all of the sponsor logos on the door. in the drag news of the day, it shows an ad that he was the record holder for his class. it was a fast car. here is a compilation of that car. pure racer, no sponsors, just fast and a consistent class winner. thanks and enjoy the video... jnaki
This car was found in a small airport hanger in the 1980's or 1990's in Arizona. This car is now the Big John tribute car that was in the Rodders Journal a few years back. Ken McIntyre (Mid-America Willys Club) owned it and he and Big John used it to recreate the modern day Candy Red version. After Maz died the car was sold and hasn't really been seen since that I know of.
El Gringo...Photo was taken by Bill Collins at Great Bend contrary to what DD Denny says about the scoop...The handwriting on photo is Bills..He always marked his photos..besides,the photo has a tree in the background..NO TREES at Caddo Mills... no biggie ,but keep the facts straight.I was there with Bill also.
Thanks for the clarification jnaki there is only so much that you can learn from books and it's great to get first hand information. Thanks for taking and sharing this video fit age with us. Here is a little more on your Drag news picture. Do you know anything else on the White Willys (do you think that the White Willys with black lettering could be the Jardine Headers car in the picture with the Safeway Sandblasting car three posts down? ) and the 37-38 Willys coupe in the video? Also there is another Willys that looks like the KS car in the video but the rear fenders are in primer do you think that is the same car? Also here is another shot of the Pittman and Edwards car. It looks like it was red early on and at some point it was painted Matador Red, more of an orange color that was used on the 57 Chevys
Thanks for your comment on the Willys Coupe labeled Great Bend. The confusion was probably my fault. The picture is labeled Great Bend but I originally said that it was taken at the Nationals in Great Bend. The Nationals at Great Bend were in 54-55. Do you have any idea what year the picture was taken at Great Bend? I appreciate your help getting the facts straight.
Thanks for your post. I had heard about the Willys that was found in the hanger but never knew which one that it was. I wish that we had some early information on the history of the Graham Cracker. It looks like an early car.
Excellent thread and photos. Just a brief side question. In the upper photo in post #67, the lettering behind the door says, "Hydro by C&O". Seeing as how it was flathead powered, I was wondering if it had a Hydro behind the flathead? I have never seen or heard of a flathead-to-4 spd hydro adapter. Anyone know the story? Maybe a one-off adapter?
Joe Airoso should know about the Safeway Sandblasting car. He told me that they asked him to drive it early on but he stuck to driving his Willys Coupe instead. I will see what I can find out. Here is another shot of it.
Being Lions spectator as a kid, I saw a bunch of those cars over the years and I can still hear the scream (wail?) those cars made as they ran down track. They sounded better when they all had collector headers. The old hydros must have been real horsepower eaters, but obviously their flathead didn't suffer.
Nope the set back rule had nothing to do with the stock engine location. The Rule was the engine relocation was limited to a maximum of 10% setback from the centerline of the front spindle to the front sparkplug. What that meant was 10% of the wheelbase, so a 100" car could run at 10" back. Didn't matter where the original engine was located
Glen Ward and Carl Taylor had been running a 34 Ford and in 1957 swapped their 402-cid blown Caddy into a lighter '35 Willys and recorded 123.28 mpg in 12 seconds flat. This car was then sold to C.J. "Pappy" Hart in 1958, and both he and his wife, Peggy, drove it at Santa Ana-Peggy to a speed of 127.62mph. So I think the Robert Martinez car might be one of, if not the first Willy's "Gasser" - Even though the first year of the gasser classes was 1956 (IIRC)
It was definitely very early as far as gassers go. Some of the earlier ones might have actually been classified as Fuel Coupes. Here another very early Willys Gasser 1956, and another shot of what I believe is the Ward and Taylor car taken in 1960.
Yes that was me, I said that the picture was taken at the Nationals at Great Bend in 54-55 and I agreed with you that it couldn't have been taken that early based on the Hood scoop and edited my post. The picture was still taken at Great Bend but we are not sure what year. I will do some digging around based on the clue provided (winner at that race) and see if I can find any clues to the year. Thanks everyone for keeping me straight on the facts. That is why I started this thread, to get the stories and facts about these early cars while we still can. We have been losing a lot of the Willys gasser LEGENDS.
So the plot thickens..... Is it is possible that the 1956 scoops came out in late 1955 or that they came out in 1955 ???? and that one was put on this Willys Coupe when they first came out? studying this picture closely there are some interesting things about the car, it doesn't look like the factory paint job and the headlights are moulded in without rings, expanded metal grille and that lower piece of stainless trim should have 2 more shorter pieces below it if it was a 40 deluxe model. Calvin Rice won at Great Bend Kansas in 1955 If you click on the link there is a video of the Calvin Rice dragster today. http://nhra.com/story/2016/6/1/night-at-the-museum-calvin-rice/
No problem, thanks for your participation. I think that the earlier style scoop was off of a 55-57 Thunderbird. Here is another shot to keep things moving. Notice the factory 40 deluxe hood trim and the headlight rings
hello, if you continue to look at the rest of the video, you can clearly see ks pittman next to his red willys jacked up in the pits. look at the rear fender...it is black primer. i am sure he put on bigger and wider slicks to make it faster. m&h slicks were just hitting the gas coupe scene, then. so, the video could have been put together in the wrong order...sorry jnaki
hello, pittman had one of the early willys coupes at lions in 59-60, but it was not the only one. this thread is going a little sideways, nice, but sideways... so, look at this video i took in 1958 at riverside raceway. this sedan rips and watch the shift...woo hoo...ok, my question is: who drove it and who owned the car? i have been searching everywhere...no luck... anyone???? thanks, jnaki
Attn Gringo and Denny...The damn scoop that you are bitchin about happens to be an accessory scoop. Nothing to do with Ford Trucks or Thunderbird,,,,Why don't you guys post your ages on your profile page??? Niether of you are old enough to have seen those scoops in the 50s.I was..and I sold some at our store in Dallas....Enough said about the Willys as I come to the conclusion .neither knows what the fuck your talking about...Only what you have read somewhere. Please don't trouble me again.
I said that this was before my time in my opening post and also posted a picture of my dads Willys coupe in this thread. I wasn't there and am trying to learn from those that were there while we still can. I am not arguing with anyone and thank you for the information that you have shared and thanks for the information on the scoop. No hard feelings. Once every one is gone that lived these times all we will have left is a bunch of pictures with no stories or information to go with them.
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