I have come into the ownership of a 1932 bantam roaster body. The plan is for an early a/altered drag car. Any pics to get me going?
Hello, Here is one of the longest adventures of a Fiat Altered Coupe with a fantastic history, straight from So Cal. Early history to modifications, to National Champs to continued racing and then today, an avid participant in all of the local So Cal "NITRO REVIVAL" shows and Cacklefests. Also, an avid participant of the Lions Dragstrip Museum displays... Jnaki My brother and I were fortunate to be at Lion's Dragstrip for the start of this long history of the Altered Coupe and the current development of the latest version is a sight to see. Thanks, Ron... The information below was from a previous post on Iconic Cars Then & Now... Ratican, Jackson, Stearns, Fiat Altered Coupe From this in 1960 to this in 2017 June 2017 Lions Dragstrip Museum Cacklefest 1959 Lions Dragstrip Staging Lanes We have followed the escapades of the local So Cal group, Ratican, Jackson, Stearns group from the time we first saw them at Lion’s Dragstrip during our early days. We knew they were sponsored by our favorite speed shop, Reath Automotive. When, Reath was still in the old store on 10th and Cherry Ave. That race car photo is the first black and white that I have seen since I filmed them at Lions Dragstrip in 1959-60 era. Ron Stearns told me that this configuration was the longer chassis version. By the time they had a new shorter chassis, they later, traveled back to the Indy Nationals in 1961 for their record breaking event. I filmed them at Lions from the first time I saw that Altered. Then we went to the Bakersfield Smokers March Meet in 1960 and they had a great run all the way to the race against the Boudakian Bros Fiat Altered. Ratican, Jackson, Stearns A/Altered Fiat Coupe long wheelbase version History: “This was the first one we built with a 112” Chassis…" Ron Stearns Lions Dragstrip 1959-60 The engine was a 1957 Olds 394 CI, built up to about 420 CI. Even though, they were Lions Dragstrip and So Cal locals, we saw them race at the 2nd annual, Bakersfield Smokers March Meet in 1960. Bakersfield March 1960 An early history of this racing team: photo WDIFL 1958-60 “Then we had a new, Joe Itow, chassis made which was 98 inches. This is the original car, shortened, it is in my garage." 1961 shortened wheelbase The young team of Ratican, Jackson and Stearns winning the Nationals at Indy in 1961. Restoration: "And, we still do car shows, as well as cackle it.” Ron Stearns June 2017 Lions Dragstrip Museum Cacklefest 2017 June 24, 2017 Price Transfer Lions Dragstrip Museum grand opening event, "The big second cackle." The recent 2022 NITRO REVIVAL: photo Randy
Hello, When my brother was in his teenage cruising days, I was too young to go along. So, I had to wait to hear the “goings on,” from his high school group’s days and night’s worth of stories. I knew that in 5 years, I would be driving and going to the same high school, which leads all of us back to hot rod/drag race central, Bixby Knolls. Heaven to a lot of young teens who grew up here and those that drove into the whole Long Beach area to cruise, race and tell great stories about the teen scene. Mostly, the kids were from Long Beach Poly HS, but other friends from Lakewood H.S. Milikan H.S. Wilson H.S. and Jordan H.S. were all a part of outlying friends when cars gathered at other locations. Needless to say, those schools had their own cruising grounds, but sometimes, they blurred together at various functions. Our specific area had some big time names pop up over time and local legend status grew by leaps and bounds. Tom McEwen was well known and followed his friends from elementary school into high school. After each group of teens go through high school, they just seemed to know it was time to move on in the cruising grounds to further their future careers. So, the new crop of teenagers and their cars moved right into the scene and some also became legends in the area. Jnaki My brother used to tell me of the “older” guys that had countless races on the local cherry avenue drags location. Of course, his group were the next generation to start their hot rod/drag race adventures and looked ahead at how everything functions and where to go, etc. Tom McEwen, Bruce Rasner, Bob Brooks all lived and frequented the Bixby Knolls area. They also happened to have some fast cars and competition race cars in their build histories. There is so much history in their drag race/fast car stories, some written in magazines and others passed on through word of mouth. As the years progressed we all know of tom McEwen’s drag race history and accomplishments. Note: Our (my) first encounter with Altered Coupes was the sight of the Red Fiat Coupe with an injected hemi motor at Riverside Raceway in 1959. In 57 and 58, we had seen some Altereds at Lion’s Dragstrip, but they did not have ties to our Long Beach area history. This Red Fiat Coupe was low slung, sounded great and was fast. It was sponsored by Reath Automotive, their location was from near our high school. Bruce Rasner, Tom McEwen, Reath Automotive A/Altered Coupe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2eHol_N2iA From that first sighting to the other months of Lion’s Dragstrip activities, the altered coupes and sedans made everyone stand up and watch some of the best looking builds to run at Lion’s Dragstrip. In 1959, most of the Gas Coupes and Sedan/Street Roadster classes either drove to the drags or used a tow bar. The highly modified race car classes used two wheel trailers at first, then moved on to larger 4 wheel trailers to bring the excitement to the drags. Note 2: Glen Stokey Lion's Dragstrip What would a record setting B/Dragster motor do in an A/Altered Fiat Coupe? Those Reath Automotive sponsored racers swapped motors, just to see what would happen. The Bixby Knolls racers had a powerful A/A Fiat Coupe that we saw at the huge 1959 Riverside Raceway East vs West drag race event. It was fast, looked great and had ties to the local speed shop, Reath Automotive. Bruce Rasner, Tom McEwen and Reath Automotive A/A Fuel Altered 1959 Riverside Raceway Glen Stokey 1959 Lion’s Dragstrip Together, the power of the 671 supercharged motor in the lightweight Fiat Coupe body made perfect sense to set records at Lion’s Dragstrip.
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